“The problem we’re trying to solve is that there are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there’s fifty feet of crap, and then there’s us. It’s an unfair game… We’ve got to think differently.” Billy Beane, Moneyball
Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland A’s baseball team had many constraints. The club’s owner controlled the budget; the team manager controlled the way the team played, and the players controlled their own behaviour.
The hiring approach used in Moneyball went against traditional hiring approaches of hiring off personality and other basic credentials and instead using statistics and real data to hire the right people.
It revolutionised the way the baseball industry assesses the value of their team, and how they go about selecting who will make the cut to join their team.
Like Beane, you’re going to face some challenges and you’ll come across some negative people that lack the same ambition as you. They will dismiss change because ‘that’s how it’s always been done’.
If you’re trying to disrupt the status quo and at the same time, beat competitors that are much bigger and better funded, you’re not going to do it by copying what they do.
You need to think differently. Using traditional methods when you’re at a disadvantage is a sure-fire way of losing the battle.
How to perfect the role of hiring and recruitment
Get the job ad right from the beginning
While hiring and maintaining an employee base is a complex task, businesses need to focus on where it begins: the job ad.
Gareth Jekel, Performia Director says “Imagine if you’re a business, and you spend $10,000 on marketing for a new person to come in. I could get 500 resumes, or I could get no resumes,” he says.
“So one of the simplest things to do is just try and work out what your culture is and put that into your ad.”
“The job ad is the cheapest and easiest way to actually filter candidates.”
If you look at ads used by the Australian Defence Force: they’re usually adrenaline-filled, showing images of men and women conducting high-impact and dangerous tasks like jumping out of helicopters. On the other hand, a job ad for an office environment online might showcase work-life balance.
Which type of people will either ad attract?
Neither are wrong, but not enough businesses consider what message their ad is sending. Either way, ads need to always include the basic ingredient that there is a job to get done and value to add to the business.
Then obviously the people that do come in have already actually responded to something in your ad that makes sense to them and they’re passionate about.
We can tell you from doing lots of split ad testing and measuring the candidates, it’s amazing how fewer candidates you might get when you get the ad right, but you’d end up wanting to hire 80% or more instead.
Learn more by scheduling a free Performia Discovery. You will walk away with tips that will already start you on a more productive path.
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