Authentic Resourcing Blog

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 I came across this video of Malcolm Gladwell talking about the problems of hiring the right people.

The author of ‘Tipping Point’ and ‘Blink’ cites hiring practices within professional sport, teaching and the legal profession to highlight how so many industries today have a mismatch between the criteria set out during the hiring process and the demands of a role. A mismatch which effectively leads to hiring the wrong people

Interestingly, as a recruiter, I have increasingly found my own judgment and subjective indicators become far better indicators for a successful hire than many of the objective measures such as assessment centres and competency based interviews. These tools are useful – but not as useful as they were in the past. 

I thought it was just me – but as Gladwell points out, it’s more to do with the changing work place.

He argues that the sheer increase in complexity in the modern workplace means that there is inevitably increased uncertainty in the hiring process – an uncertainty which cannot always be managed with measured objective assesments.

But instead, organisations should focus more on subjective, human measures.

All which comes down to an increase in the quality of the people involved in the recruitment process rather than just the assessment process used.

If you have some time, click here - it’s an interesting talk.