Stephen Sieke, president of SRS Growth Partners, joined WashingtonExec’s Strategic Human Capital Council to discuss strategies and tools executives can use to fully leverage their employees and find the right hire.
The council started off the roundtable by discussing challenges executives may face in the workplace. The common solution to almost all of the problems was hiring the right people who report to these executives. In doing so, an executive can properly leverage his or her employees to address the challenges they face.
The common solution to almost all of the problems was hiring the right people who report to these executives.
Recruiting the right people, however, can be far more challenging and involved than initially expected. Sieke explained the key to finding the right individual is using behavioral analytics.
Behavioral analytics study two different types of behavior: fixed and learned. Fixed behaviors, known as cognitive behaviors, are the parts of an individual that cannot be changed, so it is crucial the hiring manager finds that individual a position that aligns with his or her cognitive behaviors.
Learned behaviors, such as education, are areas that can be changed. When trying to find the right individual for a certain role, the learned behaviors should be considered, but not to the same degree as fixed behaviors. Sieke said there are “right people and right strategy” for every position. While an individual may thrive in one role, that same person may not reach his or her full potential once moved, simply because the new role requires a different set of cognitive behaviors.
The behavioral analytics test Sieke shared with the group was the PI Behavioral Assessment, also known as the Predictive Index. This index measures four qualities and combines them to find what an ideal candidate for a specific position would look like. The four qualities measured are Dominance, Extroversion, Patience and Formality.
The Predictive Index is useful, Sieke said, because it drills down on gaps in the interview process. By avoiding those gaps, executives are able to find the right individual for the right position quickly and see a direct return on investment.