Unique Expr3ss! Methodology featured in BRW Online

Posted by Dr Glyn Brokensha | October - 22 - 2013 | 0 Comment

gbBrwExpr3ss! gained recognition in BRW on-line this week with a perceptive article by Ben Hurley.

Following our interview, Ben outlines how using rapid psychometric screening at the outset allows the “Looks Wrong but is Right” applicants to be brought forward for the consideration they deserve.  This increases your potential applicant pool, filling it with great “will-do” and “fit-to” people who might otherwise be overlooked.

The Google research he refers to is even more interesting and deserves some expansion.  They looked at 10,000 hires to determine how well or how poorly reading resumes and conducting interviews predicted success in role.  When I read this I was anticipating that they would find a low figure of about 15%, which would fit with other studies.  To my astonishment, Google found a zero correlation… i.e. there was zero benefit from reading resumes and conducting interviews… zero!

Here’s a link to Ben’s article in place on BRW on-line…

http://www.brw.com.au/p/entrepreneurs/expr_recruiters_psychometric_algorithm_CozT0ViOCjClVFMl16jIzH

And in case the original  ever disappears, here it is…

Psychometric tests during the job application process are determining whether an employer will even look at your CV, as companies turn to software to help them sift through applicants.

Australian technology and software business Expr3ss!, which seeks to replace recruitment consultants with software tools, has a growing portfolio of large clients. They include Nick Scali, Kennards Hire, Harris Farm, Krispy Kreme and Beaumont Tiles.

The company was founded in 2005 by doctor and psychotherapist Glyn Brokensha and former merchant banker Carolyne Burns. Revenue leapt by 80 per cent in the past financial year alone, says Brokensha.

He claims companies who spend the minimum $599 a month to use his software typically achieve an immediate return on their investment of 400 per cent or more.

“Employers spend an inordinate amount of time reading resumes often written by people other than the applicants,” Brokensha says. “Ten per cent of resumes are fraudulent, 30 per cent of them are misleading. Nobody ever puts a pertinent negative in a resume.”

By screening candidates on their values and attitudes, not just their experience and qualifications, employers can save vast amounts of time sifting through resumes and increase the quality of their candidates, Brokensha says.

The approach understandably attracts concerns that employers are rejecting capable candidates because they don’t fit in with a computer algorithm, and Brokensha acknowledges psychometric tests can be gamed.

“I don’t really believe there is any type of instrument which is capable of not being gamed,” Brokensha says. “If you give a good actor a psychometric evaluation they will turn out any kind of person you want.”

But the process is miles ahead of hiring practices that don’t use analytics, he says. Companies such as Google have used people analytics to achieve a far more accurate selection of the right talent than the haphazard approach of reading resumes and conducting interviews, he says.

Using his company’s test at the beginning of a hiring process could bring forward people that would otherwise be overlooked, he says.

“Ours is very brief, it takes six minutes to complete, it’s very non-threatening and looks like a Cleo quiz,” Brokensha says. “[At the moment] people hire on skills but fire on the attitude. This means you can . . . bring unlikely looking people forward.”

 

Ben Hurley BRW On-Line