Paula Duncan

She has 10 years experience designing and delivering competency based assessment, development and talent management programmes for a wide variety of clients. Traditionally specialising in assessment for selection to key appointments, her focus was on creating and embedding robust processes for large scale recruitment and promotion programmes and conducting high level executive profiling projects for key appointments.

Paula has also gained significant experience developing bespoke interventions for clients experiencing significant business change. She has focused specifically on reviewing business success profiles and creating targeted talent audit and management development programmes that support accurate and timely people resource management and development.

• Recruitment process design experience: in a wide range of areas and in the support of one off or on-going recruitment campaigns, internal re-structures, start-up organisations

• Assessment centre design experience: specialist knowledge in areas such as procurement, accountancy and HR at Chief Executive and Director level

• Training experience: helping organisations to develop their in-house skills in recruitment and selection, in particular interview technique and assessor skills

• Competency Framework Development experience: working with a range of organisations from SME's to expanding multinationals; developed a range of behavioural and value based frameworks that support businesses in understanding the characteristics their people need for success 

• Leadership Development experience: designing and running both workshop and assessment based programmes for clients within the UK and overseas

• Psychometric assessment experience: use of ability, personality and motivation instruments in supporting recruitment, selection and development; training in instruments including SHL, Saville Consulting and OPP ability tests, OPQ32, Wave Professional Styles, NEO-PIR, Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI), Hogan Development Survey (HDS) and Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI), SHL, A&DC work sampling exercises and a range of 360 degree assessment tools

Educated to Masters level, Paula holds an MSc in Occupational Psychology, a BSc in Psychology as well as Level A and B Certificates in Occupational Testing. She also has Certificates in Behavioural Assessment, Assessment Centre Design and Situational Judgement Test Design. Paula is a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and has their Certificate of Competence at Level B in psychometric assessment.

Paula’s approach is typified by her belief that ‘one size does not fit all’. She works in partnership with clients to understand their specific challenges and needs in order to develop a solution that provides the best possible outcomes. This bespoke and outcomes focus is a hallmark of all xué’s work.