Role Model™

Glossary of HR Terms Role Model™

What is Role Model™?

The Plum Role Model™is a science-based feature within Plum’s talent assessment platform that defines the behavioral traits, problem-solving abilities, and personality strengths required for success in a specific role. By instantly transforming job descriptions into validated behavioral blueprints, Role Model™ enables organizations to benchmark candidates and employees against what great looks like, beyond résumés, gut feel, or outdated credentials.

Why it matters

Traditional hiring often leans on resumes and subjective impressions, which can introduce bias and miss high-potential talent. Role Model™ flips that script. It provides a fair, scalable, and data-driven framework that prioritizes human potential, soft skills like adaptability, innovation, collaboration, and decision-making, to predict long-term success. This leads to smarter hiring, stronger internal mobility, and more equitable workforce decisions.

Where it fits in the HR stack

Plum Role Model™ sits within the talent acquisition and talent management layers. They integrate with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) for recruitment, power Match Scores for pre-hire assessments, and align with performance and development systems to support internal mobility, leadership development, and succession planning.

Common use cases/Examples

  • Creating standardized, scalable benchmarks for hiring.
  • Comparing candidate assessment results to role-specific Match Criteria
  • Identifying internal talent ready for future roles or promotions.
  • Supporting workforce planning and DEI initiatives by focusing on behavioral fit, not just experience.
  • Streamlining global hiring with consistent, validated role requirements.

Examples of companies that use it

  • Enterprises hiring at scale across departments or geographies who need consistent role criteria.
  • SMBs and startups looking to quickly define roles and reduce hiring bias.
  • Organizations in fast-changing industries (tech, finance, healthcare) using Role Model™ to identify candidates with transferable soft skills like resilience, agility, and strategic thinking.

FAQ

Role Model™ can be generated in two ways: automatically using AI and validated data (via Plum Role Model™), or collaboratively through a Match Criteria Survey completed by hiring managers or SMEs. Both methods result in a behavioral benchmark specific to the role.

Yes. Organizations can use Role Model™ as-is or refine them with internal input to reflect their unique needs, culture, or strategic goals.

Candidates complete the Plum Discovery Survey. Their Plum Profile is then scored against the Role Model™ behavioral blueprint to determine job fit, generating a Match Score for easy comparison and decision-making.

No. Role Model™ also supports career development, internal mobility, succession planning, and leadership identification by aligning roles with the behavioral strengths of current employees.

Role Model™ focuses on measurable, scientifically validated human skills, rather than education, resumes, or tenure. This helps reduce unconscious bias and ensure fairer, more inclusive hiring and promotion decisions. Plums Role Model™ has been independently audited and shows no adverse impact across race, gender, or age.