Hiring the Right People

Several months ago, the Predictive Index (PI), a tool that provides data to build high-performing teams, completed a survey of the hiring process of 575+ organizations.  

The results of this study were surprisingly shocking.

• 64% of hires were good hires.
• 66% of companies do not use structured interviews.  
• 82% say that hiring decisions have biases.  

So, how can we improve the hiring process to find the best candidates for open roles?

With the PI tool, we can get insights into people’s drives and motivations in the workplace. Understanding candidates’ competencies, team dynamics, and work culture brings predictability and reliability to the hiring process. Many of us hire based on GPA, references, and resume, which gives us great information, but it can be biased.  

Here’s an insider’s look at how the PI software offers data to hire smarter. I will not dive into the whole hiring process. However, I want to emphasize an essential part of it that drives people to perform better. Hiring begins by defining the job title and the description of the role. The job requires certain character traits. For example, if we look for a marketing representative, we will need someone social rather than reserved. Creative and flexible instead of formal and by the book.

Once we have a list for the candidates, we send them a Behavioral Assessment (BA). This 5-minute assessment gives us great insights into how the candidates work, how they will communicate to managers and teammates, and adaptability to the organization’s culture. Understanding this data narrows our search and focuses on matching the candidate’s work style to the target job. Thus, increasing the probability of good hires. Let’s see how:

1. The organization posts a specific role and its description—for example, marketing manager. The ideal candidate’s traits/behaviors would be someone who tends to collaborate, is social, driven, and a motivating team leader.

2. The BA measures the character traits of the individual. They are summarized in these four factors: (A) Dominance, (B) Extraversion, (C) Patience, and (D) Formality.  

3. The graph below is an example of the BA result of the candidate, specifically how she/he lands on the range of the 4 factors.

• This candidate tends to work independently (A closer to let me drive)
• This candidate tends to be socially poised. (B closer to let me to talk it through)
• This candidate tends to prefer a variety of tasks. (C closer to give me a variety)
• This candidate tends balance between flexibility and structure depending on the situation. (D closer to middle)

4. HR or the manager draws sliders that target the behaviors we look for in the position. The orange bars are adjusted on the 4 factors below.

5. Matching the behavioral target (orange sliders) to the candidate’s BA brings candidate’s best-suited for the job to the top of the list.

Hiring candidates can be hard, resumes can be misleading, interviews may not always reflect the candidate’s ability to perform the tasks needed, and behavioral fit is difficult to determine. Utilizing data such as the BA helps your organization align the job requirements to the candidate’s behavioral tendencies, what kind of impact they would need to have on their teammates, and on the organization’s objectives.

Are you looking for top talent and trying to hire smarter? Use the BA assessment to gain insight into the candidate’s natural skills and how they can fit into your team.