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Belbin Theory Explained
Belbin’s Team Roles theory is a framework that categorises individual roles in a team based on natural behavioural patterns.
A British researcher, Dr Meredith Belbin, conducted thorough research in the 1970s and 1980s to identify how individuals contribute to team effectiveness.
Belbin’s theory suggests that people have preferred roles in a team, and Dr. Belbin identified nine distinct Team Roles, each with specific characteristics, strengths, and potential weaknesses.
The 9 Belbin Team Roles
You can dive deeper into each of the 9 Belbin Team Roles here, but we’ve provided a high-level overview below.
- Coordinator (CO): This person focuses on the bigger picture and team objectives. They delegate effectively and maintain team cohesion.
- Shaper (SH): Dynamic, driven and goal-oriented. Challenges the team to improve and overcome obstacles.
- Plant (PL): Creative and innovative thinker who generates new ideas and solutions.
- Monitor Evaluator (ME): Analytical, logical and objective. Provides critical analysis and sound decision-making.
- Team Worker (TW): Cooperative and diplomatic. Promotes team harmony and fosters collaboration within the team.
- Resource Investigator (RI): Outgoing, enthusiastic and optimistic. Explores external opportunities and brings in new ideas and resources.
- Implementer (IMP): Practical and disciplined. They are adept at turning plans into action to ensure tasks are completed efficiently.
- Completer Finisher (CF): Detail-oriented, perfectionist. Ensures tasks are finished to a very high standard.
- Specialist (SP): Provides in-depth knowledge and expertise in a specific area.
The Importance of Team Roles in Recruitment:
To demonstrate the importance of team roles in recruitment, try this quick exercise;
Think of anyone excellent at their job. It could be you, a Line Manager, or a Colleague, past or present. It can also be more than one person. Now, think about what makes them excellent, their strengths and weaknesses, and what differentiates them.
Write down some thoughts before you continue reading.
Done? Just before going back to your list…
One of Belbin’s principles is that any job requires someone who is eligible and suitable for it.
- Eligibility for a role involves having appropriate qualifications, job knowledge, technical skills, experience, or learning potential.
- Suitability is about having the right personality traits, behavioural attributes or personality to suit the role’s requirements.
Now, look back at your list and consider whether each comment fits under Eligibility or Suitability. How many suitability comments do you have compared to eligibility? Bet it’s more…
So here’s the clever part: Belbin accurately defines these suitability characteristics and provides a common language to describe and assess each of them. By accurately assessing role suitability, we can make more informed hiring decisions and recruit people who are suited to the role and who fit the team and/or organisational culture.
Using Belbin as a Recruitment Tool
Let’s look at an example. Say we are hiring an Accountant, assuming the job description provides an overview of the role’s requirements. The description will typically include information about the “person specification,” i.e., team player, hardworking, reliable, etc.
The problem is that job descriptions can often contain generic statements that are not easy to measure or assess through the recruitment interviewing process. Belbin addresses this problem in a few simple steps.
- The Hiring Manager, who could be a recruiter, HR professional, or anyone who knows the role well, completes a Belbin Job Profile. This only takes 10-15 minutes.
- The Belbin Reporting system creates a Job Profile Report that accurately assesses the behaviours required for the role. The report includes an indication of the preferred team role rank order and an indication of the level of “intensity” for each team role—basically, what might be essential, useful, or unnecessary behaviours for the role. Click here for a sample Belbin Job Profile report.
- Prospective candidates complete the Belbin Team Role Test and can be provided with a copy of the report for reference. This adds value to candidates through feedback/self-perception for this and future roles. Click here to see a sample Belbin Self-Perception Report.
- A Candidate/Job Match Report is generated to compare the candidate’s behavioural profile against the role requirements and accurately assess their suitability. Click here to see a sample Candidate/Job Match Report.
- Belbin Scotland can provide support for further assessment or interpretation of reports, and we normally provide any quick discussion required free of charge. Contact us here if you’d like to learn more about this.
- The Belbin report can also be used to develop bespoke, behavioural competency-based questions for use at interviews.
A key benefit is that questions can be developed that are much more relevant to the specific requirements of the role rather than more generic questions about being a “team player”.
For example; if the role requires someone with a very high attention to detail. (Completer-Finisher) The interviewer may ask, “Can you give me an example of where you have had to work to high-quality standards?” – getting to the root of the candidate’s suitability for the role with the right questions and to guide your hiring decisions.
Who would use Belbin/Psychometric testing for recruitment?
Many types of psychometric tests are used in recruitment, and many require formal qualifications or accreditation from different psychometric test providers before they can be used.
Belbin reports can be used by anyone directly or indirectly involved in a recruitment process without accreditation. Typically, reports are used by the Hiring Manager or someone working in Human Resources or Recruitment. Belbin can be particularly useful for hiring en masse when companies deal with a large recruitment drive, and KPIs depend on mass suitability for roles and candidates to match.
Belbin Scotland can provide reports to support the recruitment process and offer a short Belbin Workshop/Training Session on how to get the most out of using the Belbin Reports in practice and gather valuable insights. Belbin offers a three-day Accreditation Workshop for anyone serious about using reports regularly.
Benefits of using Belbin Reports
Some of the main benefits of Belbin reports to support the recruitment and selection process include:
Accurate Job Descriptions
Improved Job Description accuracy by using a common language to define and measure the required behaviours.
Candidate Assessment
Accurate assessment of each candidate’s behavioural style, strengths, manageable roles and potential weaknesses
Effective Selection
Candidate /Job Match Reports provide each candidate with a clear visual indicator and narrative text, enabling an effective behavioural comparison against role requirements.
Low Cost
Belbin provides a low-cost solution compared to many other psychometric assessment providers.
Real-Time Reporting / Efficiency
Reports are generated in real-time and can be automatically emailed to the Hiring Manager / HR / Recruitment / Candidate.
Candidate Attraction
Providing candidates with a copy of their Belbin Self Assessment report adds value as they can use this to develop their CV or Interview answers further.
Adding value to the candidate can help make you a more attractive employer in the marketplace. Click here to download our free guide to Improving your CV or Interview Answers using Belbin Team Role Reports.
Objective Decision Making
Belbin reports provide greater objectivity (rather than subjectivity) when assessing candidate behaviours compared to conducting an interview alone, which can increase hiring confidence.
Better Team/Company Culture Fit
Providing a combined Team Profile Report, including any prospective new hire, offers better insight into team/organisation fit.
Improved Task/Responsibility Allocation
Belbin reports can allow more strategic alignment and assigning of tasks/responsibilities to new or existing team members to capitalise on strengths and minimise weaknesses.
Effective Talent Management
Beyond talent attraction, Belbin reports can support ongoing talent management processes by identifying individual and/or team development areas. You can use reports to tailor training and development delivery and support team members’ personal growth.
Enhanced Job Satisfaction / Employee Engagement
Matching individuals with roles that align with their natural preferences or behavioural styles can lead to higher job satisfaction and engagement levels.
Reducing Staff Turnover
Hiring employees that suit the role can lower staff turnover rates and lead to a more stable, content workforce.
Do these benefits sound appealing? Contact Us Today to start using Belbin for your Recruitment drive.
Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what a Belbin Scotland customer had to say about their experience using Belbin for a recruitment campaign.
Belbin Scotland Case Study
“Within the third sector, you are often recruiting for roles that are more bespoke to a programme and/or way of working, and that may not always follow conventional job titles.
With the support of Belbin Scotland, we have used the Belbin Assessment Tool to support the development of Job Profiles and as a tool to consolidate agreement on the skills and attributes the recruiting panel are looking for.
It can help surface different perspectives and support agreement on what is really important in the role before you have even spoken with candidates. It helped us be more specific in our advertising of the roles and go into the recruitment process with more confidence about the type of person and skills we were looking for.
Would highly recommend this as a process.”
Leona McDermid – CEO at Aberdeen Foyer
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Click here to visit our FAQ section, which provides answers to a range of Belbin recruitment-related questions. If you can’t find an answer, contact us today, and we will respond as soon as possible.
We may also add your question (anonymously) and our response to our FAQ if it might benefit others.
You can get in touch, and we’ll provide a no-obligation discussion about how Belbin can enhance your recruitment and selection process and job requirements. On request, we can give more information, sample reports, costs, case studies, testimonials, and client references.
