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What do the Oakland A’s and the New England Patriots have in common? They’ve each applied Moneyball techniques. Author Michael Lewis, describes in his book, Moneyball, how over a five-year period, the Oakland A’s used analytics to win more regular-season games than all but one major league baseball team while spending fewer payroll dollars per win than other teams. Oakland’s data-driven approach has spread to other sports, helping teams identify predictive skills as well as develop a talent acquisition strategy in an effort to produce more wins.
In today’s labor market, many employers base their hiring decisions on characteristics that bring relatively little value to their organizations while ignoring more valid selection criteria. For instance, in Moneyball, computer savvy MLB general managers developed methodologies for finding hidden gems amongst obscure players.
For example, in its simplest form, the Moneyball concept is this: quantitative statistical analysis can more precisely predict a player’s future performance than previous evaluation models. In the U.S., both baseball and football are using analytics to guide personnel recruitment and performance. With the lowest payroll in the American League and 94 wins, the A’s had the highest return on their talent investment for 2012. In the NFL, the New England Patriots paid the lowest cost per victory of all teams in the playoffs last season. In sports, analytics continues to produce results.
Similar concepts could work for you, too. But, before you turn to technology, consider the following first:
What does winning look like? Define what a hiring win is. Is it hiring someone for the long term? Is it hiring someone who will ideally match your culture? Is it finding someone you can groom to be a top leader? Is it all of the above?
What are your strategic objectives? For example, strategic objectives may apply to specific business processes, business disciplines, etc. After looking at each individual objective, hiring managers can quantify the impact that each identified talent pool has on achieving an overall corporate “win.”
Use Predictive Talent Selection Technology to Field Your Team
Like in sports statistics, there is a tremendous proliferation of HR data and metrics available to hiring managers. HR executives are now in a position to “play ball” by taking a leadership role when it comes to making the most of their company’s talent investment. HR executives, like the new breed of savvy baseball executives, can use sophisticated tools and metrics to maximize their company’s return on its talent investment.
Strategic thinking and decision frameworks will enable you to level the playing field. So don’t sit on the sidelines, create a winning team and boost your hiring average.
