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People Matters - Newsletter - February 2025

Posted by: sabine-robinson

News

Why some promotions and new appointments fail and how to get it right

Hiring the right people into the right jobs or successful internal development remains a major pain point for many companies.

On paper, everything seemed perfect. The candidate had the great skills, the right experience, and an impressive track record. But months later, the promotion or new appointment is struggling.

Why does this happen? What’s the key to making your employee development and recruitment process more successful?

 

Why great employees might not always success in new roles. Empty chair waiting for new recruit

 

In the latest episode of our bite-sized conversations What Makes People Tick?, we break down the critical factors beyond skills and experience — the importance of natural behavioural drives, motivation, work preferences, job demands, and the role of management and organisational culture.

Some organisations assume that if someone excels in their current role, they will naturally thrive at the next level. But without understanding how a person prefers to work, what motivates them, and whether their natural style aligns with the demands of the role, even top performers can struggle.

 

The factors that influence success

A CV tells you what a candidate has done before, but it doesn’t reveal how they like to work or whether they will thrive in a new environment. A high-performing specialist may not succeed as a leader if the new role requires a level of risk-taking that doesn’t align with their strengths.

Beyond qualifications, successful recruitment and promotion decision require understanding:

  • Demands of the job – What exactly are we looking for? Does the role require autonomy or structure? Fast decision-making or careful deliberation?
  • Motivational needs and drives – A person’s natural behavioural drives and what they need to be engaged and productive?
  • Cognitive ability – How quickly can the individual learn and adapt, and how do they handle complexity?
  • Culture and value alignment – Does the individual’s approach to work fit with the organisation’s way of operating and their value and culture?

The role of objective people data

Hiring and promotions should be about more than just filling roles—they should ensure the right person is in the right environment to thrive. By using objective people data alongside experience and skills, organisations can make smarter decisions, improve retention, and create teams that perform at their best.

If you’ve ever wondered why a great employee on paper struggled in a new role, don’t miss this episode of our bite-sized conversations.

📢 Listen now and explore how to make better hiring and promotion decisions!

 


 

So, how exactly do you set your people up for success?

Why not dive further into this subject and tune into Fiona Brookwell and Michael Jones’ conversation on this topic.

The whole person shows up at work. Fiona and Michael give some additional insights into the concept of the head, the heart and the briefcase.

So, how exactly do our behavioural and cognitive drives, values and interests, and our skills, knowledge and experience influence our success at work? Do you know what drives your people? Does what you see at interview really reflect a person’s preferred work style? How important are the demands of their environment?

Through insightful conversations and real-life examples, they illustrate the importance of aligning individual motivations and drives with the right roles to unlock true potential.

Tune in to discover how understanding the correlation between the head, the heart, the briefcase – and the work environment – can set you and your team up for success.

 


Death of a Sales Manager – how not to promote

Why Managers need to understand their employees’ core behavioural drives and needs. A good salesperson might not necessarily make a good sales manager!

 

This light-hearted blog by one our guest contributors, Cecilie Gamst, draws on her family’s experiences and makes a profound point.

Her father, a natural salesman, thrived on the road. He enjoyed meeting people, closing deals, and the variety his work provided. But when he was promoted to Sales Manager, everything changed.

Instead of lively client interactions, he was confined to an office and drowned in paperwork. His energy faded, his enthusiasm dulled, and within a few years, he was edged into early retirement. A well-intended promotion had, in reality, crushed his motivation and effectiveness.

His story is a classic example of why organisations need to go beyond skills and past performance when making hiring and promotion decisions.

Just because someone excels in one role doesn’t mean they will thrive in another. Without considering natural behavioural drives and needs, companies risk putting talented people in positions that don’t suit them. The result is disengagement, decreased performance, and costly staff turnover.

At RPX2 Ltd, we help businesses make smarter decisions when it comes to recruitment, promotion, and employee development by simple scientific, data-driven tools.

Don’t let a well-intended promotion become a management mistake. Find out how we can help your organisation build happier, high-performing teams.

 


 

The Predictive Index is 70!

 

 

Happy Birthday, The Predictive Index. As an Elite Certified Partner of The Predictive Index, RPX2 Ltd is proud to continue to help our clients realise the vision of Better Work, Better World.

We are pleased to help PI celebrate 70 years of empowering organisations with a range of simple but powerful tools backed by science to understand, recruit, and engage your people effectively!

70 years ago, PI was just a paper-based assessment, today the Predictive Index provides a comprehensive suite of Software tools that puts them at the forefront of shaping workplace cultures and driving performance.

Leveraging the Predictive Index tools, we support our clients with

  • Recruiting the right people into the right jobs
  • Developing great Managers that are brilliant leaders
  • Building happier and healthier organisations

PI continues to help organisations understand and optimise their talent. Here’s to 70 more years of innovation and success!

Curious but not a Predictive Index client yet? Please just get in touch for an informal chat

 


Why not explore our other products and services at RPX2 Ltd and find out how our expertise can empower you to address your people, leadership, and performance challenges.

We’re excited to help you hire the right people into the right jobs, set your people up for success and build high-performing teams and organisations. Get in touch today.