How Selection Consultants Change the World

By Adam W. Hilliard, SIOP Blogger

Both now and in the past, you’d be farfetched to find a child without some dream of grandeur, whether it be saving the world as a secret agent, exploring new frontiers as an astronaut, or running a country as president. It’s not often that those dreams are truly realized, as we settle into our lives of happy stability and somewhat more…attainable visions. However, one of my early mentors wasn’t shy of encouraging that dream to stay alive, and for that I’m going to make the bold statement that selection consultants can and do change the world on a daily basis.

1.    Making managers’ and applicants lives easier – There are few things more stressful than the hiring process (aside from maybe the firing process) for managers. Is the candidate creatively “embellishing” their resume? What about on an interview?

How do you tap into the lower half of the iceberg unseen in the hiring steps? By providing organizations with tools such as assessments, structured interviewing, automated online applications, hiring managers have a greater view of the candidate, and can make more well informed decisions. Candidates are also processed more quickly with less ambiguity, and thousands of applicants walk away from the process with a comparatively better experience. It may not completely change recruitment processes nation-wide, but it’s a pretty good start.

2.    Improving working culture – Somewhat interrelated with #1, longer ago, I thought it was always in the best interest to present the most desirable traits of the job to applicants. I’ve since changed my tune. Sure, airing negative features will decrease the total number of applicants but you know everyone you see in that interview is ok with the entire job, not just the 3 weeks PTO and 401k. Better job fit means fewer counterproductive work behaviors, fewer developmental conversations, and less air of negativity around the water cooler. These people come home happier at night and have better work-life balance. It may not completely change the blurred lines between work and home, but it’s a pretty good start.

3.    Improving GDP – I see this with a lot of manufacturing client startups. If every hourly worker is hired using a more rigorous process and is 10% more productive in a year, with a value of 50,000 in output, then produces 5,000 more in revenue, multiply that by 400. The company just gained a net $2,000,000 and produced more for less in a year. Add in decreased cost of safety incidents/workers’ comp, absenteeism, and turnover, the company then runs less aggressively against its margins, and can consider expansion sooner. Certainly this affects the GDP on a small scale, but it is a purposeful, additive, and positive gain. It may not completely change the economy, but it’s a pretty good start.

Eat your heart out Mrs. Radu; for we can change the world. Granted, I don’t expect this career choice to bring me the fame and fortune as some of the aforementioned titles, but you know what? It sure makes for a great sense of fulfillment when I go to bed at night.

Comments

[Adrienne Colella]

Adam-Great post! I am always glad to see the impact of I/O Psychology in the spotlight.

[Adam Hilliard]

Montarious, feel free to add me on linkedin, and i'd be happy to talk to you more about our field.

[MontariousUsher]

Great Post Adam, I am currently a first year I/O student. I am just learning about selection and testing. Your post really stimulated my thinking, your short post took an abstract concept and made it a little more interesting, so thanks! I have not decided what my primary focus will be in the I/O field yet, but I would love to know the pros and cons of your current job as a selection consultant. Thanks in advance, and again thanks for sharing.

[Adam Hilliard]

Good morning Nuts4ideas,
Thank you for your feedback. My initial post was referring external consultants (as I am speaking from personal experirence as one), however I don't think our impact is limited to just external I/O Consultants. Rather, the principles embodied by I/O Practitioners can be implemented as an internal or external consultant.

The true difference between internal and external consultants comes in the organizations they work for, more specifically the proprietary tools/assessments developed within the organization to target specific positions. With all that being said, any external consulting organization worth it's sale should have a plethora of data to support a wide variety of outcomes resulting from the use of their assessments. This being a public forum, I do not want to use this as a venue of my own personal organization.

However, more generally, I would say that if you were interested in hearing more, I'd encourage you to reach out to a number of external firms and ask for them to "prove" why their assessments work, and how they may work for you. After all, one of our biggest assets as I/O Psychologists, is that we are grounded in firm principles of statistical measurement, which is part of our biggest selling point in the first place!

[Nuts4ideas]

Hi Adam. Nice post. It's always wonderful to hear about anyone who goes to bed with a sense of fulfillment. Congratulations, that is an accomplishment!
Are you referring to external consultants? How do you think internal versus external selection assistance to management compares? How common is it for companies to hire external selection consultants? From my limited experience, other than the use of head hunters to find leads, I haven't worked anywhere that used selection consultants. I find your suggestion of the contribution to GDP interesting since I-O needs to find more ways to conclusively demonstrate value. It seems possible to conduct studies to compare the effectiveness of organizations that use selection consultants to those that don't. Are you aware of any studies that support your hypothesis that the use of selection consultants increases employee performance and therefore organizational effectiveness?