There’s been a lot of fanfare lately about the use of data to predict “flight risk” with employees. But one could argue that this type of approach, while seemingly proactive on the surface, actually treats the symptoms and not the actual illness itself. The illness? Hiring the wrong people to begin with.
The reason we consistently make bad hiring decisions is actually quite simple: We rarely have the information we need to make an informed decision. We get a candidate’s resume, and then we ask a few behavioral interview questions, like: “Tell me about a time when you had to …” Then we ask ourselves an interesting question. How do I feel about this candidate?
Frequently the answer to this question depends on how much the individual reminds us of ourselves. Subjectively deciding to hire a “Mini Me” is common, according to Business Insider, which found that “…when we don’t have a rigorous, replicable set of criteria from which to evaluate a potential hire’s merit, we fall back on our most immediate instrument: ourselves.” The result is a lack of diversity that can negatively impact outcomes, including financial returns. On the other hand, a 2015 McKinsey report found that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.
HENRY KOTULA 