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Pursuit NHA: Using OPP’s flagship products in a sales management consultancy
Background
Pursuit NHA is a business consultancy specialising in recruitment and training for sales and management teams. Pursuit benefits from 26 years of experience in helping businesses worldwide solve their various problems and challenges, producing results at both a strategic organisational level and at the individual team level. Pursuit attended OPP’s Level B Programme to qualify in the use of the MBTI® and 16PF® instruments, and its consultants now use both tools in a wide variety of different selection and development applications.
What convinced Pursuit to use psychometric tools for this work?
Pursuit’s core business centres on advising companies on recruitment and training – in short, on how best to use their most important asset, their people. Chief Executive Andy Ferguson explains: “Having experienced the MBTI tool in the past, I liked the awareness it gave me of the impact I had on others, and vice versa. In a managerial context, that understanding is vital: why do people do things? I thought this idea could be transferable to many business contexts.” Interested in the self-awareness angle, and convinced of the robustness and wide-ranging applicability of the psychometric tools on offer at OPP, Andy set about incorporating some key tools into Pursuit’s offering to other businesses.
Having the MBTI and 16PF instruments in its toolkit means quick access to a depth and breadth of insight that complement Pursuit’s menu of solutions. For example, the MBTI framework can be used as a starting point for development centres or teambuilding interventions; the 16PF can provide a comprehensive structure for the recruitment process; or the two tools can be used in combination to help people through coaching work or outplacement. Mark Akehurst, Consultancy Manager at Pursuit, elaborates: “We believe in the importance of the whole picture, and take a holistic approach to understanding people. As well as acting as excellent conversation-starters, these tools can help a consultant probe deeper and gain a real insight into who someone is.”
The Level B Programme
Andy says that OPP’s Level B Programme, which qualifies participants in both the MBTI and 16PF instruments, was appealing because it took a combined approach to understanding personality. This was a key attraction as many other companies offered courses that adopted a ‘trait-only’ approach, but Level B included the additional ‘type’ focus (for an explanation of the distinction between type and trait, see our article on the subject). This effectively means that two different and complimentary approaches to understanding personality can be combined for added resonance, precision and depth of insight. This fitted with Pursuit’s ‘holistic’ philosophy, as well as giving access to two tools that Pursuit clients find interesting, illuminating and resonant.
Of the workshop itself, Andy describes the trainers as “very, very good. The session on statistics especially was surprise, as the participants were anxious about a subject that had the potential to be as dry as dust – but the trainer really brought it to life.” Following the success of the Level B qualification for its UK staff, Pursuit persuaded one of its international franchisees, Dynargie, to commission OPP to run MBTI Qualifying courses across six countries. This allows Pursuit and its partner organisations to offer a consistent face and service offering across its European operations.
A case in point: recruitment and ‘Brand Me’
As an example of how a psychometric tool can be used to great effect, Mark describes a technique used by Pursuit dubbed ‘Brand Me’. This is used in coaching to help individuals think about the direction they want to go in their work – for example when looking for a job. Because people generally find it difficult to know where to start in ‘marketing’ themselves, a Pursuit consultant will generate ideas by administering a questionnaire such as the 16PF and delivering feedback to the individual. This allows them to identify their own strengths and weaknesses, which can then be used to develop a strategy and a ‘brand’ that acts as an excellent structuring theme for interviews.
Equally, the self-awareness provoked by a psychometric can be a way for leaders to know what defines and distinguishes them from others. “Great leaders understand themselves,” says Mark, “and this is how they can best understand others too. A framework like the MBTI prompts leaders to consistently think about their own preferences and use this knowledge on an everyday basis, rather than forgetting what they learnt. It means it’s accessible and constantly useful.”
As well as acting as a confidence-booster for individuals, psychometrics can reassure organisations doing the recruiting that they can have confidence in their decisions. Mark concludes: “As an interviewer, the 16PF is an excellent tool. It’s objective and valid, so eliminates the making of assumptions. You can be certain that you’ve gained an insight into someone’s motivations and drivers – a really in-depth understanding of where that person’s coming from. In short, you get a better, clearer, validated result with the 16PF.”
For more information about using the MBTI or 16PF instruments in your organisation for individual, team or leadership development and recruitment, please contact our Sales team on +44 (0)845 603 9958 or by email at enquiry@opp.eu.com.
® MBTI, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Myers-Briggs are registered trade marks of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Trust. OPP is licensed to use the trade marks in Europe.
® 16PF is a registered trade mark of the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing (IPAT), Inc. IPAT is a wholly owned subsidiary of OPP Ltd.
® OPP is a trade mark of OPP Ltd.
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