Management candidate? Take them for a drive to meet a horse, Fran Tindall, Training Journal, May 2009

I carried this article over from the last update when there were many other more weighty articles competing for space. I confess to a certain bias here because my choice of wife has meant that horses have been a big part of my life and made me significantly poorer than I might otherwise have been!

My first reaction was that this must be some kind of joke. But apparently there is some logic around the idea.

If you want to know if that person you are planning to recruit is really the type of person they say they are, you should get them to meet a horse. The theory is that, just as a person’s driving may reveal their true instincts and behaviour, a person’s attitudes to animals will reveal similar hidden traits. Apparently ‘one business leader’ – whose quote was less impressive because it was anonymous – insists on contriving situations where candidates drive a car and meet dogs and horses before a final selection is made.

The theory is that you can fool people but you can’t fool animals; they can smell anxiety, fear, stress and authenticity. Also, we do not cover things up when dealing with animals, they see us without the usual gloss that we put on ourselves, particularly when looking to impress potential recruiters.

It was here that I parted company with the reasoning behind the idea. I confess to being biased because, apart from the way they give pleasure to my family, I have no positive feelings at all towards animals. I also confess that my driving leaves something to be desired, to some extent revealing the worst features of my character.

But isn’t working in business about managing behaviour and, to some extent, hiding your innate tendencies? Do we really care about our employees’ hidden traits if they manage to overcome them in their work environment? We often hear about people who are totally different at work compared to home – dominant in the job but henpecked in marriage, and vice-versa.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting article that does not need to be taken too seriously but is good for sparking off an interesting debate, by the water cooler or over the dinner table.

Note from the blogger’s family (supported by horses and various other dogs, hens, hamsters and snakes). They believe that there is much truth in the article and that the blogger’s views are prejudiced by all the cheques he writes!!!

To access this article go to http://www.trainingjournal.com/tj/2120.html