Danger: Hiring While Blind

Why would an employer or candidate want to fill a role if they have no idea if they are psychometrically matched? If you aren't using a reliable and accurate psychometric assessment while hiring, you're hiring while blind.

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Employers, do you really want to hire someone if you have no clue if they are psychometrically matched to the role?

Candidates, do you really want to work for a company that has no idea if you are psychometrically matched to the role?

If you scan the job boards today and read listings for available positions, most are dry recitations of the job description, as bland as unbuttered toast and about as interesting as reading the phone book. Others are pathetic attempts to sell the job opening to any warm body that comes along. They have the attitude of a carnival barker, screaming, "Are you a Coding Ninja? Come work for Acme Tech today! We have a foosball table and every new employee gets a gift card good toward the purchase of non-dairy creamer at the local supermarket."

Some will require a Masters degree and five years experience in a technology that's only been around for three yet pay just $1 above minimum wage.

We exaggerate, but not by much — the job more likely pays $2 above minimum wage.

Even if you were a coding ninja who likes non-dairy creamer, how would you know if that's a good job for you?

The challenge may be even harder for employers. They are scrambling to keep staffing levels at a minimum level, either by retaining current employees or by experimenting with unconventional ways to hire new people.

Job candidates are being very selective about where they want to work, and for good reason. This has shifted the negotiating dynamic between employer and candidate 180 degrees from where it was in the recession of 2008. Does this mean that employers should now be desperate to hire anyone who will apply?

Regardless of the power dynamics in today's job market, both candidate and employer should exercise an appropriate level of discernment and selection when deciding on a hire. Employers should screen candidates based on fit and candidates should do the same when deciding on a role and work environment. Both employer and candidate should go into the arrangement with their eyes fully open to make sure a good match is made.

Even when jobs desperately need to be filled, there is mutual danger for both employer and candidate when hiring while blind.

Hiring is an Investment in a Relationship

The benefits and risks of a good or bad employment relationship apply equally to the employer and the worker. Finding a good match is critical to avoid a WOMBAT situation — a waste of money, brains and time.

The most accurate way to ensure a good employment match occurs is to use a solid and reliable psychometric assessment (like the Core Values Index) when screening job candidates. Use a tool like eRep's Top Performer Profile™ to determine the ideal psychometric profile for the role, then screen candidates against that TPP score, selecting those with highly matched scores for further review and interviews.

Using this combination of role profiling and candidate psychometric screening ensures the employer adds a member to the team that is highly aligned to their role. They are set up for maximum productivity and dramatically lower turnover. Candidates who move into a highly aligned role are engaged and outperform their unmatched peers.

The costs of ignoring this TPP+CVI approach are high. Positions left unfilled cost money in lost opportunity through lower sales or reduced production.

Turnover costs money even when you re-fill the position right away (yeah, right!)

Filling roles with workers who are disengaged costs money in lower productivity. Like negative ripples in a pond, one disengaged employee dropped into the team can drag down their peers, causing them to be less productive or even quit. (Toxic co-workers are the second-biggest cause of employees leaving, behind toxic managers.)

When you are in a hurry to fill a role (or to get hired if you are a job seeker), it may seem counterintuitive to spend the small amount of time to conduct a Top Performer Profile for an empty role, then have job candidates take the CVI as part of the application process, but in actuality it couldn't be easier. A TPP takes less than two hours to conduct, and the CVI only takes about 8 minutes to complete. eRep makes it all a seamless process, coordinated and organized in an Applicant Tracking System that automatically ranks candidate CVI scores against the TPP to show which ones are most suited to the role.

It's insanely simple yet amazingly accurate.

1. Conduct a Top Performer Profile for the role.
2. Create engaging job listings without overselling.
3. Screen candidates by their CVI profile match to the TPP score.
4. Conduct interviews with your top candidates.

Using any other approach is hiring while blind.