Leading the Service Profiling
Senior-level psychometric profiling for ACFO, DCFO and CFO appointments
Senior leadership roles within Fire and Rescue Services demand sound judgement, effective leadership, and resilience under pressure.
Our senior-level psychometric profiling provides clear, objective insight into leadership behaviour, judgement, and motivation, helping senior leaders and HR teams make confident appointment decisions and plan early development.
What Our Profile Offers
Our approach supports evidence-informed decision-making by clarifying how senior leaders are likely to behave, decide, and respond under pressure. It is used to:
Designed for senior FRS leadership, the Leading the Service Profiling reflects public accountability, organisational complexity, and political scrutiny. It is suitable for recruitment, promotion, and senior leadership development.
Go beyond test scores. Get promotion decisions backed by expert psychological insight.
Our psychometric assessment package combines evidence-based tools with the expertise of an occupational psychologist to provide a deeper, more meaningful evaluation of promotion potential.
Designed to fit efficiently into your promotion process, the assessment battery typically takes around two hours to complete, followed by a 1.5-hour validation interview. This ensures that results are not simply generated—they are professionally explored, validated and interpreted in the context of the individual and the demands of the specific role.
Our occupational psychologist then analyses the complete assessment profile and produces a tailored, role-specific report, highlighting:
- Suitability and fit for the promotion role
- Key strengths and potential development areas mapped to the NFCC Framework
- Insights into behavioural and psychological factors relevant to performance
- Targeted probing questions to support a more focused and effective follow-up interview
The result is a robust, objective and professionally interpreted assessment that gives decision-makers the confidence to make better-informed, evidence-based promotion decisions.
Saville Wave Personality Questionnaire
This a comprehensive workplace personality questionnaire. It measures motives, talents, and competency potential for mid-to-senior professionals and executives.
Hogan Development Survey (HDS)
Identifies behavioural risks that may emerge under sustained pressure. These risks often sit close to strengths and may only become visible at senior levels. Early identification supports performance risk management and development planning. To gain a complete picture, the HDS is complemented by everyday personality assessment, which provides insight into resilience, emotional stability, and other key traits.
Saville Swift Aptitude Assessments
These are fast-paced psychometric tests used by employers to measure cognitive ability. They evaluate skills like verbal, numerical, and abstract reasoning under tight time limits.
Why these tools
The assessments are internationally recognised, evidence-based, and trusted for senior leadership use. They provide:
- Reliable insight into leadership traits, values, and judgement under pressure
- Practical outputs for recruitment, development, and coaching
- Early visibility of behaviours that could derail performance
What differentiates this service is occupational psychologist-led interpretation, ensuring findings are translated into clear, defensible insight rather than technical psychometric data. Together, the tools provide a comprehensive view of leadership potential, strengths, and development needs.
Delivery and Outputs
Our occupational psychologists turn assessment data into actionable insight to support senior appointments and leadership development.
- Validation Interview – A one-to-one discussion with the candidate to explore and confirm assessment results, ensuring findings accurately reflect behaviours, motivations, and potential.
- Personalised Report – Highlights key leadership behaviours, strengths, and development areas, and provides practical advice on leadership risk, potential, cultural fit, and targeted interview questions.
- Feedback & Coaching (Optional) – Provides tailored feedback and coaching following the appointment to support onboarding, and offers constructive feedback to unsuccessful candidates to aid their development.
These insights support selection decisions, final interviews, early development planning, and coaching conversations, all delivered with sensitivity, confidentiality, and a strong developmental focus.
