Kolbe Certified™ Consultants Colin and Catherine Nanton used the Proven Kolbe System™ to help a large Canadian nuclear site diagnose and reduce department turnover by more than half.
Chalk River Laboratories, Canada’s largest science and technology complex, was on a mission to revitalize and transform themselves into a world-class, state-of-the-art facility, but they had a personnel problem they couldn’t figure out.
The Safety Department Manager called Kolbe’s Certified Consultants, Colin, and Catherine Nanton, about high employee turnover. This department’s job is to make sure radiation levels in the facility stayed below set standards but they had employee turnover of 20% each year for their technicians, while the rest of the company only saw 12% turnover.
20% Department Turnover
New technician hires were intelligent and highly qualified, but shortly after joining the organization, they were routinely applying for different and higher-level positions. Although the rest of the company only saw 12% turnover, this position had turnover of 20% year over year.
Kolbe’s Proven System
To identify the natural strengths of the team and discover trends among high-performers, the Kolbe Certified Consultants obtained Kolbe A™ Index results for existing staff.
These results showed that the company had been hiring people who were predominately very detailed, specific and structured, and who weren’t naturally hands-on.
By using Kolbe RightFit™ software to identify the requirements of the surveyor role, the team made an important discovery.
The RightFit profile for the position prescribed someone who has natural strengths in working on-site with a hands-on or tactile approach and who didn’t have the same strong need for specificity, structure and detail, that many on the existing team already had.
They recruited new candidates, gave each of them a Kolbe A Index, and compared their results to a Range of Success™ that was developed for the position. Each candidate received a letter grade based on their natural fit, and eight people ended up getting hired.
Lasting Results
Two years later, the turnover rate was cut by more than half and all personnel hired using Kolbe’s Proven System and RightFit hiring software were still on the job.
20% turnover rate reduced to 8% using Kolbe RightFit
The cost of training and development for this position was greatly reduced and the turnover rate has remained low.
I love articles like this that showcase the real power of Kolbe in the long run in an organization. In the beginning of the process, I find it necessary to provide some people with certain conative instincts examples of success stories to get them on board. This is one I will use to help people understand how important conation really is and its many benefits.