Intervention(s)
This study will be conducted in 62 factories of Shahi Exports Pvt Ltd. with a self-administered screening tool and training tool consisting of managerial and leadership skills. We will be doing 3 follow ups.
The factories in the first treatment arm will receive only the screening and training tools (T1)
The factories in the second treatment arm will receive the screening and training tools and the technical tool (T2)
The factories in the third treatment arm will receive only the technical tool (T3)
The control units will not receive any of the tools apart from using the screening tool. We will use the survey app embedded in the survey tool to measure characteristics, traits, and practices at baseline and endline for the control group. The information from these surveys will not be shared with HR as they would in the other treatment arms.
Introduction to the tools:
1. Screening tool: The screening tool contains a series of psychometric questions, questions about management skills, leadership skills and soft skills. The screening tool is app based and self-administered through tablets. The results from this tool will be recorded on an online portal that can be accessed by the HR manager in-charge of hiring. They will see a display of results based on the screening score. At the end of the study, we will also see to what extent the HR department has adhered to our recommendations. This will be a secondary result. At the backend of the screening tool, there is a proprietary formula that scores each section and then weights those scores to decide which training the user would need to undergo. The overall time to undertake the screening tool is 60-90 minutes. This must be done at a stretch.
2. Training Tool: The training tool is a collection of modules and lessons mapped to the screening tool. These lessons are based on leadership, stress management, conflict resolution and other topics that would help make participants into better supervisors. Based on their screening result, each supervisor would have a unique learning path carved out for them in the training tool. Once they have completed their targeted training modules, they will have access to the entire tool including modules that they weren’t recommended. They can do these at their own pace. The training tool has a gamified interface that rewards participants in the form of coins and stars based on their progress in the app. The training app, along with being self-administered, is self-paced. The participants can take their time to complete the modules.
3. Technical tool: The technical tool is a digitized screening test internally developed by Shahi based on the technical assessment done in the existing hiring framework. It has been developed with the objective to assess nine key competencies required for a line supervisor. The tool aims to establish unbiased and standardized hiring and promotion processes across all units in Shahi. This tool is being used for the hiring/promotion process in Shahi currently. The test is divided into two primary sections: Selection and Promotion. The test consists of 50 multiple choice questions broadly covering themes such as professional skill, managerial skill, technical knowledge, and organizational context. This standardized test will administer a set of questions to prospective supervisors, calculate their scores based on their responses, and rank them by their predictive productivity at a supervisory role.
The trial allows us to test for both the effect of the different tools and their complementarity.