The Importance of BestWork DATA When Candidates Are Scarce
Many companies have found themselves scrambling to find enough candidates to fill their open jobs. A common question is why use BestWork DATA to screen out some candidates when there are not enough. The answer is that in those circumstances DATA becomes even more critical. When there are a lot of candidates, DATA screens out the the bad hires, usually leaving a group of candidates who can do the job. The selection process then sorts out the best candidates from that group and ultimately chooses the one to hire.
That is not the case when candidates of any kind are scarce. In the first scenario, there were most likely A, B and C level candidates. C’s were screened out first, and then the selection process hopefully picked out the A’s. When candidates are scarce, the population mainly consists of C’s and maybe a B occasionally. This means that a less than ideal candidate must be hired out of necessity. Would it makes sense to know exactly what is wrong with the C candidate being hired? That information is critical to avoid putting the new hire into a position that can cause a problem.
For example, a company distributing commercial gases had no alternative to hiring a candidate who lacked the level of compliance needed for working with the more volatile gases. Being aware of this issue from the BestWork DATA reports, the company only scheduled this person to handle other products and non-volatile gases. Recognizing the candidate’s limitations enabled the company to avoid a dangerous situation and to get the most from this new employee. Baseball managers use similar data to know each hitter’s weaknesses to avoid putting them into mismatches with certain pitchers.
It is important to understand the difference between Critical Job Behaviors and Important Job Behaviors. If a candidate does not have the hard-wired personality traits and cognitive abilities that are necessary for the Critical Job Behaviors, they will not be able to perform the job successfully. For example: A salesperson lacking those cannot close sales. A manager lacking those cannot manage others. An IT developer lacking those will make mistakes in their coding. Essentially, if any of the Critical Job Behaviors are missing, the job must be changed to accommodate that if that candidate is hired.
If a candidate does not have the hard-wired personality traits and cognitive abilities that are necessary for the Important Job Behaviors, it will affect their job performance, but they will be able to do the job at some level.
BestWork DATA enables companies to better select talent and use that talent more effectively, regardless of the availability of candidates. It dramatically lowers the risk of hiring in a period of talent scarcity.
© BestWork DATA 2021 All Rights Reserved
