In the Hire Success System, a "Baseline file" refers to a small database describing the Primary and Secondary personality types and the high and low range within each of the 20 Trait Scales representing the characteristics and traits of the most successful employees in a particular job or position in the company.
You look around your office and see many people doing different jobs, most happy and satisfied with their job. Once in a while you overhear one employee say to another "I'm glad I don't have your job." Have you ever wondered why they may say that? It could be that their personality characteristics are so different from the person who actually does the job, that they know they would never be happy if they had to do the same thing.
It takes all kinds of personality types to build a successful organization. Some must be leaders: efficient and demanding, while always looking at the "big picture" and the bottom line simultaneously. Others just want security: a good pay check and well defined guidelines in which to work. They will keep doing the same tasks over and over, day after day and be quite happy.
Other positions need people who are relentless with detail,: very neat and orderly. A bookkeeper, accountant or computer programmer should all be focused on the details. Where would the business be if they didn't pay rigid attention to every detail?
The company has an image too, and people who are outgoing, friendly, love to be with other people, and have a good time can be a real asset too! Perhaps some of the people in the advertising, sales or customer service department have this type of outgoing personality. The bookkeeper or the clerk can't imagine themselves having to talk with strangers every day or introduce themselves and try and sell a product. At the same time, the top sales person can't understand why anyone would want to work all day inside an office.
These are just a few examples of how the different personality types interact with each other and build a strong foundation for a company. When their talents, skills and personality traits are fully utilized to their advantage, the employee usually enjoys what he or she is doing for the company and will have an excellent chance of being a top performer. Once you begin to think about the roles each of these people play, you'll be soon begin to see the common characteristics in the most successful people doing certain jobs.
When the Hire Success Personality Profile is used to measure the strength of some of these key traits, you will have an accurate and objective way to identify these key elements and determining the "range" which most of the successful employees score. This information is transferred into a "Baseline File" where it is used by the Hire Success System to provide a visual frame of reference on the Summary Report. The interviewer can then see at a glance exactly where the Applicant's traits fall either inside or outside the "baseline" range, and if outside, how far outside they may be. Having the ability to see this information makes it easier to identify Applicants who come very close to the Traits exhibited by the most successful employees in that job.
When it comes to using existing employees to develop a "Baseline File", the larger the sample, the better. Not all employers, however, will have the luxury of having dozens of employees that can be used as a baseline. We recommend using no less than 3 and preferably at least 5 employees to develop a baseline. Whatever situation your company may be in, consider the following in the "Baseline" development process.