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SAS

“Using SHL’s assessments we were able to quickly identify the best 100 applicants to interview. Focusing our efforts on these allowed us to utilise our resources most effectively.” Ellinor Markhus, Senior Consultant, SAS.

The background

SAS Group, is the Northern Europe's largest airline and fourth largest in Europe. Operating since 1946, SAS Group carries more than 36 million passengers every year, serving 147 cities in 32 different countries, with a total of more than 1,500 daily flights. With a workforce of over 32,000 people, SAS Group has built its reputation as a high-quality employer.

The challenge

Thousands of candidates apply to the airline in the hope of being selected for one of 10 places on its prestigious management training programme. With such a high volume of applicants the company was finding it hard to identify and select the best recruits quickly. SAS also wanted to make sure that the recruitment process was fair and every candidate was receiving an equal chance to succeed.

The solution

SHL was approached to create a tailor-made solution for SAS’ specific recruitment dilemma. The solution consisted of a number of strategic assessment tools introduced into the process at key stages. After a job analysis to identify the necessary skills for the position, SHL introduced QuickSift, an online questionnaire that quickly establishes the degree of fit between the candidate and the key competencies required for the role.

The selected candidates then took SHL’s Ability Screening Online (ASO), an Internet-based assessment that measures individuals’ abilities in verbal and numerical reasoning. The top 100 performers on these tests proceeded to an interview from which a further 25 per cent were selected. The remaining candidates were then invited to an assessment centre where they took further ability and personality exercises provided by SHL.

The results

“Using SHL’s assessments we were able to quickly identify the best 100 applicants to interview. Focusing our efforts on these allowed us to utilise our resources most effectively. The prior assessments also provided us with a great deal of information with which we could use to inform questions asked at interviews”, explained Ellinor Markhus, Senior Consultant, SAS

“Sifting out two-thirds of applicants at the first stage using a powerful and cost effective online tool saved SAS time and money” said Ova Schulze, Senior Product Consultant at SHL. “SAS could then invest time interviewing those that they already knew had the intellectual and behavioural capability to do well in the programme – no time was wasted interviewing those that simply would never grade.”