What's really important?

Friday, February 26, 2010 by Dana Harrison

On Tuesday I led a webinar about using Predictive Index® (PI®) in the hiring process - everything from using it to help define the position, to marketing it, to screening candidates, to training the new hire.  As often happens, a key point in the discussion was about using Predictive Index in hiring selection to help decide whether a candidate moves forward in the process.  The question here is how much weight to give PI, or, for that matter, any of the multitude of hiring assessments that are on the market.

I've been giving this a lot of thought trying to figure out how best to meaningfully answer this question and realized that this goes back to the fact that neither PI nor any other factor in considering a candidate should be the one deciding factor. 

When we're hiring, we're looking for an assortment of knowledge, skills and abilities that must be present in order for someone to be successful.  Let's say you're hiring a mechanical engineer who needs at least 5 years of experience in manufacturing, ideally in metals manufacturing.  When you screen resumes, do you focus on just one of these items?  Do you decide that anyone with experience in metals manufacturing gets a phone interview?  Of course not!  You look at the total package that a candidate brings and you compare that against the entire package that you're seeking.  You're also exercising wisdom in considering what factors are flexible and which are not.  For example, a candidate with only 4 years of experience, but who comes from a competitor who demands a lot of their engineers might be a candidate you pursue. In this case, the years of experience is flexible in light of other factors.

Matching a candidate's PI profile (or other personality indicators) works the same way.  Such personality assessments should be used wisely as a factor in considering candidates.  Hyperfocusing on any one factor can lead to missing great candidates and unwisely pursuing others.  Ultimately, no one factor is most important - knowing what you need, what your dealbreakers are and how to exercise wisdom through the hiring process is. 

 

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