Any seasoned HR professional or hiring manager knows there are times when you need a really specific sort of candidate, and settling for someone whose behavioral style doesn’t fit that mold just won’t cut it.
Sales hiring continues to evolve thanks to new emerging technologies such as predictive analytics that can predict and quantify actual sales performance pre-hire. Historically, individual sales leaders had to rely on gut feel and intuition in order to understand what traits and attributes contributed to selling success on their teams. With modern tools now combining both new and well-proven technologies, sales leaders and recruiters can move away from generalized lists of what makes a successful salesperson to a hyper-localized, job and company-specific list of the attributes driving sales success. When combined with data insights, a company can now predict pre-hire exactly how someone will perform.
Answer the questions below to assess if your human capital is powering or hindering your ability to execute. Are your managers fully aware of the motivational needs of their team members? Is your organization fully able to attract and retain your top talent? Are your development, learning, and training programs fully aligned with your business strategy? Is knowledge widely shared across the organization? If you answered “No” at least once, your talent is disrupting your execution and the success of your business strategy is at risk.
Hiring bias stems from cognitive bias, or mental errors in processing information. Sometimes these errors arise from memories and experiences inaccurately shaping perceptions of reality. Biases also result from our brains’ unconscious tendencies to pay disproportionate attention to certain details while overlooking others.
