How to Choose the Best Employees with Analytics that Predict Success

McKinsey & Company also cite that high performer can deliver 4OO% MORE PRODUCTIVITY than the average performer. There is a consensus that talent selection is essential for business success.

Despite this, most hiring managers use hiring tools that are woefully biased and inaccurate for making crucial hiring decisions. In Traits or Intelligence — What is More Important in Your Success? we set out the importance of considering the whole package — the candidate’s “talent stack” — their knowledge, skills, accomplishments and your behavioral traits.

We are committed to helping your hiring managers identify and hire best-fit candidates for critical positions without the guesswork.

Despite this, most hiring managers use tools that are woefully biased and inaccurate for making critical hiring decisions. They hire for skills and fire for lack of behavioral fit. Moreover, they struggle with retaining good hires because there is not a good fit from the employees’ perspective. You can stop this cycle with the right tools.

Here are the results of current practices:

74% of employers have been affected by a bad hire in 2017
$15,000 - the average cost of one lousy hire
$30,000 - the average cost of losing a good hire
66% of workers say they have accepted a job and later realized it was a bad fit, half of these workers quit within six months
75% of workers say they are loyal to their current employer
54% of workers say feel their company is loyal to them

The statistics in this article are from the CareerBuilder Dec. 2017 Survey [i]

In an earlier post we shared 11 Interesting Hiring Statistics, You Should Know. For example, On average, every corporate job opening attracts 250 resumes. However, only four to six of these people will be called for an interview, and only 1 of those will be offered a job. How certain are you that your best fit candidate was not left in the pile of 244 discarded candidates?

There is a ripple effect with bad hires. Disengagement is contagious. Poor performers lower the bar for other workers on their teams. Bad habits spread throughout the organization. According to Gallup, only 35% of employees are engaged. The opportunity costs of an engaged hire performer leaving are closer to four times their annual salary.

Ensure that you have the best available pool of applicants for every job opening. Hiring managers need put in the time and effort on the front end. Moreover, have proper procedures in place for evaluating candidates.

What Makes a Bad Hire?

How do you know if you have hired the wrong person? When asked what made them think they had made the wrong decision, employers who have made a bad hire said:

35% - while the candidate did not have all the needed skills, though they could learn quickly
33% - candidate lied about their qualifications
32% - took a chance on a nice person
30% - pressured to fill the role quickly
29% - had a hard time finding qualified candidates
29% - focused on skills and not attitude
25% - ignored some of the warning signs
10% - lacked adequate tools to find the right person
10% - didn't do a complete background check
7% - did not work close enough with HR

Overall, this is how employers categorize someone as a bad hire. The worker:

54% - did not produce the proper quality of work
53% - had a negative attitude
50% - did not work well with other workers
46% - had immediate attendance problems
45% - claimed to have skills that did not match what they actually are able to do

Do you want a different outcome?

Discard the well-established myths and implement some new approaches:

The discriminating factors for selection are human behavior and competencies. Use a tool that can predict career success and satisfaction based on behavioral Along with skills and experience, these are the key differentiators in determining performance.
Most hiring mistakes are not caused by an inability to do the work. They are caused by some friction between the new hire and the manager, a lack of understanding of real job needs, or a lack of motivation to do the actual work required.
First impressions do not predict on-the-job success or team skills. All they predict is presentation skills. They also exclude some of the best candidates who do not meet some contrived standard.
Intuition and gut feel do not predict on-the-job success, either.
The best people have accomplished more with less experience. This is the definition of a high potential person. Despite this, most managers want more experience, not less.
A track record of past performance doing equally complex work is a far better predictor of success than box-checking skills and experiences and conducting a behavioral interview.
The ability to find solutions to realistic job-related problems is a reliable indicator of thinking skills, creativity, planning and potential.

Our career assessment compares each personal profile with those from "high performing" individuals in the same role, which are established in our benchmarks. We can predict success with up to 85% predictive validity. SuccessFinder maintains the industry’s most rigorous standard of validity.[ii] This is based in part on the depth and breadth of our assessments. The tool has 85 statistically distinct behavioral traits and 35 specific career theme scales. These scales interface with 2,500 occupational titles and 500+ career success benchmarks.

Selection starts when you advertise the job. The job posting needs to focus on the four to six significant performance outcomes of the position. Select the performance benchmark that you will use. Share company value and culture in a separate document. You are recruiting them to do a job; fit is the criteria when you are choosing from among candidates who can do the job. Next, for those who meet the screening criteria ask them to write an answer to three to five performance related questions. Select the top 10 to 15 candidates and have the assessed against the benchmark. Interview the top three to five who are above the benchmark level you established. If none are above, keep looking. Do not select the best of a bad lot.

In the interview, switch from asking behavioral questions to asking performance-based questions. This requires that you know what the person who will be hired needs to do to be considered successful. Conducting a performance-based interview is straightforward. Ask them to describe in detail their most significant accomplishment. Also, ask a question regarding their an approach to solving a practical job-related problem.

It just requires some discipline. Knowing if you are getting the right answers is a bit harder. You will discover that clarifying expectations before the person is hired is not only the secret to great hiring but also great management.

New Hire Regrets

Employers are not the only ones making regretful decisions. Two-thirds of new hires say they have accepted a job and later realized it was a bad fit:

50% - quit within six months
37% - have stuck it out

Workers who said they had taken a job only to realize it is a bad fit said:

46% - mistake based on toxic work culture
40% - boss' management style
37% - job did not match what was described in the job listing and interviews
33% - a lack of clear expectations around the role

However, quitting isn’t always the right call.

It pays to take a breather, ask yourself what it is you don't like and see if there’s room for change. Starting a new job is a high-stress endeavor. So situations that prompt panic during your first days may seem different in a few weeks. But if you're determined to give notice soon after starting, make it a respectful exit. Most employers will not want to keep a new hire around if he or she gives two weeks’ notice right away. Ask if you can help with the transition in other ways, such as leaving notes on any work you have done.” - WSJ's Sue Shellenbarger

It is easier to land a new job if you leave your current one with all bridges intact.

First and last impressions are what people remember.” Jill Tipograph, Early Stage Careers

Fit is a two-way street

A fit occurs when there is a high degree of compatibility between the employee's values and abilities and the job requirements and employer's values. It is essential that any person recruited into an organization can function effectively within its culture.

Our analytics provide evidence regarding fit for both the candidate and the employer. Both need to consider fit carefully during the recruitment stage.

You are more likely to hire an expressive individual. They can sell their talents and interest in the position much better than other candidates. Our analytics level the playing field – you are recruiting talent – not the person who interviews the best.

Cost of A Good Worker Leaving

While the cost of hiring the wrong person is high, the cost of letting a good worker go is even higher. According to employers, the average cost of losing a good hire in 2017 was $29,600.

While workers say:

75% - they are loyal to their current employer
54% - they feel their company is loyal to them
31% - they are likely to change jobs in the next year

Allenvision provides end-to-end talent management solutions. We offer evidence-based analytics to help employers find, hire and develop great talent. We use SuccessFinder for our analytics. It is more than a cloud-based self-assessment test. We use a single tool that gracefully extends from the individual or team to the organization. We provide an elegant platform for making decisions across the employee lifecycle: recruiting, onboarding, development, performance, leadership, and succession planning. Our powerful talent analytics will help drive your critical initiatives.

Our talent analytics is an investment in your future success. Do not view the cost as an expense.

Still curious to learn more?

Let us know! We are incredibly passionate about behavioral DNA and the impact this scientific insight can have on your business. We have seen it proved out across our customer base and used it to build our team of highly engaged —and engaging—experts. You complete the assessment online, we then provide you report and personal feedback via video call. We offer our services worldwide.

Endnotes

[i] The survey was conducted online by Harris Poll from August 16 to September 15, 2017, and included a representative sample of 2,257 full-time hiring managers and human resource professionals and 3,697 full-time workers across industries and company sizes in the U.S. private sector.

[ii] Standard of validity and training required to interpret a behavioral and career assessment—level C1—as outlined by the American Psychological Association.