It's Time to Make a Change

It’s been years since I took the college SAT exams, yet one thing remains true. I scored miserably on these exams. 

Yet, I got into college and graduated in the top ten percent of my class at Northeastern University. The same thing happened when I applied to graduate school.

Hey, at least I’m consistent!

This week Harvard announced that they were nixing the SAT and ACT admission requirements. Well, at least for this year. 

I can get behind this decision.

If Harvard, one of the oldest universities in the country, can change the way they assess candidates and change with the times, maybe you can too!

There are a variety of assessment tools used by companies for employee selection, management, and culture building. In the wrong hands, these tools do more harm than good. 

One tool, which is supposedly used to “foster an environment of understanding and collaboration.” I remember the first time I was sitting in a meeting and someone said, “She’s a Blue.” Followed by, “You know what that means, right?”

I responded by saying, “Tell me more” and did my best to keep a straight face. After all, the people at the table were high-level executives. 

Apparently, with this tool, you can only be one of four colors. You can’t be a combination. Nope. Just Orange, Gold, Green, and Blue. This makes no sense to me.

Crayola just added 24 new colors in an effort to adapt to the times. Why isn’t this company following suit?

More importantly, why do companies insist on relying on non-validated tools to make critical hiring and leadership decisions? 

There are usually two reasons. Either, they’ve abdicated responsibility and told someone to go find an assessment tool, any assessment tool, that claims to do X. Or, they don’t trust the people they’ve put in decision-making positions to make the right decisions. 

Here are three things to consider when you find yourself in this situation.

1. Ask yourself: If you don't trust your people to make decisions, is it because you've hired the wrong person or they haven't got the help they need? Has the person you’re having trust issues with been given the proper training?

I’ll let you in on a little secret. When I first started in HR, I had no idea how to select candidates properly. Nor did I receive any training. My boss just assumed that when I was promoted to head of HR, that skill came with the promotion. It wasn’t until years later that I had the opportunity to attend a course, which had a profound impact on my ability to select for success.

1. Look at your current practices. What policies and procedures no longer make sense in this new world that we’re living in? I’m guessing you’ve got a lot of systems that are no longer practical and that some of these practices are weighing people down. 

Now’s the perfect opportunity to streamline your operation. Triage your policies into three categories--Keep, Update, Trash. Then start working on modifying those practices that need a facelift. Do this now.

1. Cut Your Losses. I’ve had three conversations this week with leaders who should have cut their losses months ago, and it’s only Wednesday morning. If you’ve done all you can to ensure the person in a particular position has the training and tools they need to be successful in their role, and they’re not making the grade, then it’s time to cut your losses.

This week’s assignment: Think about your organization’s hiring approach, as if you’re starting a business today. 

What would your modern-day approach look like?  

Take the time and actually write it out. What will be different? What new processes do you need to add? What do you need to get rid of?

If you’d like, send me your process ([email protected]) for hiring top talent in the post-pandemic world. I’ll take a look at your plan and provide you with feedback. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.