In the light of the Barclays debacle, what if you could assess an individual's capacity for good judgement??

So we have another round in the horror stories relating to bankers and the catalogue of appalling behaviours and the hunters are out again raking up fear and anger. In this case they have manipulated (to their advantage) interest rates used to determine many other aspects of the world of money. It is no real surprise that this has happened as most bankers are undoubtedly smarter than average and if they can see ways to manipulate their environment in order to maximise their profits and thus their bonus' they will - it has always been so. They are not referred to as "money makers" for nothing and it is clear that many see themselves as superior or better than the rest of society.

No matter what one likes to say, the financial world is driven by greed; working so close to money, especially in quantities with so many zeroes, will undoubtedly infect the susceptible.

The check and balance, at least in most quarters, has always been the judgement the key players have displayed, judgement about what is right and wrong, based on values and influenced by context. On the whole this has worked, but these days the stakes are so high, the complexity and scale of these enterprises so great and, to be frank, the regulators are not as smart and always playing catch up. While there is a real question relating to whether the banks are too big for managers to manage, more fundamentally, and no one can guarantee how anyone will act in a particular situation, without the basic capacity for good judgement, decision making can only and will be poor.

So what value would you as a stakeholder place on being able to assess a person's capacity for good judgement, their propensity to follow rules, risk appetite and many other useful indictaors? Well one does exist and I have seen it work in a number of circumstances, so why has it struggled to gain traction within financial services.

Well one reason is is that the "HR" specialists are emotionally locked into tools that arguably identify a peron's "type" and have been heavily resistant to looking at anything perceived as "new". Interestingly this group seems to be very risk averse, preferring to do/use what everyone else does!! I have been involved in a number of meetings where HR has just sucked its teeth and effectively closed any further discussion on a tool that is available, being used in other sectors and would help.

There is an assessment that will help. It is not new, but based on over half a century of reserach and preparation. It is contextual in that it can show the differences in one's capacity at different times. For example the way one views the world will differ if one is nursing a loved one, getting divorced or just witnessed the birth of child.This tool can be used to screen groups, assess individuals and support coaching and development.

If you are interested then please get in contact and I will put you in contact with people who can help.