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Recruitment: Should You Trust Your Gut?

You’ve interviewed all the candidates. Checked, double-checked and triple-checked their CVs. Trawled through their social media profiles for anything unusual. Spoken to your peers to canvass their opinions. You’re ready to make the hire.

Or are you? Stop and think a minute. When making recruitment decisions, what do rely on first and foremost to guide you thinking - data, or gut instinct? Would you rather crunch the numbers, or listen to that angel on your shoulder and that little nudge in your tummy?

Perhaps nowhere else than in the world of recruitment do workplace decisions matter more. Good selection decisions can change a company. Bad ones can do so too, as you may or may not have experienced. What should you rely on when it comes to making crucial recruitment decisions - your stomach, the numbers or a bit of both? Here are 5 tips.

Algorithms are your friend

Research suggests data can be pivotal in deciding who to hire. A study by the Harvard Business Review found that applying a formula across a clutch of prospective candidates was more effective in choosing the right person than relying solely on natural intuition.

The study found that a basic equation which assessed the strength of candidates was far more reliable and successful - by at least 25% - than human decisions. “If you simply crunch the applicant data and apply the resulting analysis to the job criteria, you’ll probably end up with a better hire,” the report said.

CVs contain a wealth of information

CVs don’t just tell you about a candidate’s previous experience, skills and education. They tell you lots of other things too, such as whether a candidate can spell properly, construct a sentence and use persuasive language. They can also tell you a bit about the person behind the bits of A4 paper - personal interests, hobbies and the like. But a word of warning: focus more on specific, concrete achievements before you decide to hire someone because they like running and cooking too.

Instinct is important too

Using data to inform big decisions is all the rage, but spare a thought for poor old instinct, which has had its reputation somewhat unfairly tarnished over the years. There is still a lot to be said for gut reaction, especially when trying to choose one candidate from a pool of similarly-skilled ones. If you have 5 potential hires, all of similar experience and with similar skills, gut instinct could make the decision for you.

Cultural fit

Another sphere where you might find it difficult to use data and facts is cultural fit. Deciding whether someone will fit well in your company, get on with the team and be an all-round good egg isn’t an easy task. And we’re not sure whether there’d be any spreadsheet, equation or number-crunching app that would help you determine this. For cultural fit, instinct is almost certainly your go-to.

Bring the two together

Research gathered together by 888 Casino finds that what might be the best way to fix the problem of data versus gut is, quite simply, to bring them both together. Their infographic weighing up hard facts and intuition makes a strong case for the benefits of both, especially in the world of business. For example, data can help companies be more productive and more profitable than competitors. On the other hand, intuition can be extremely effective and is relied on by many senior teams.

So the next time you need to make a decision - which won’t be long - perhaps save yourself the time and trouble deciding whether you should rely on instinct or data. Find a way to bring the two together and you should be on the right path.

Quotes about instinct and intuition from amazing minds

“I never guess. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

“You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” - Steve Jobs

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Irma Hunkeler .