You might have heard about what Cangrade does: we help businesses hire the best people by uniquely combining predictive analytics with an easy to use candidate management system that automatically grades every candidate, delivers an accurate prediction of future job performance, and lowers hiring costs.
This is WHAT we do. I want to take a step beyond that and tell you WHY we do it.
1. Hiring is broken
Evolution has in some ways poorly equipped us for living in the 21st century. It gave us the craving for high-calorie foods, a mind that is heavily skewed toward immediate stimulus and anecdote; and on top of it all, deeply-rooted biases in perception of other people (often more so than we are willing to admit).
All these things (minus craving donuts) makes the hiring processes extremely costly and challenging for most companies. Doing it right goes against the very human nature to trust our instincts.
Even the predictive validity of a well-constructed structured interview is on average less than 10%. Other anecdotal methods like checking references are even worse. The result is obvious: hiring success is basically left up to chance, and social justice and diversity are under-served. It’s a lose/lose situation.
Every time I see a solution in this space I ask myself: does it help to solve the fundamental issues, or does it just make them a little easier to manage? Or, does it actually make things worse? (No offense to video interviewing products, but’s that’s exactly what they do).
2. We are not the innovators - our customers are
Our customers are the true agents of change. I have a deep respect for their ability to avoid the natural tendency to rely on gut instincts. This is partially just because of who I am. I have a very customer-oriented mentality, and I try to make it a core value for everyone at Cangrade.
The other part is because our customers are the true agents of change.
I have a deep respect for their ability to avoid the natural tendency to rely on gut instincts and make what seems like a leap of faith—taking advice on important business decisions from a machine (for lack of a better term).
3. The game changer
Ruling out things that are downright invalid or even harmful, there is a wide range of available hiring solutions that are analytical in nature.
The most common problem is that they forgo thorough data collection and analysis for the sake of making an easy sale. PeopleAnswers for example (one of the better in the pack) bases their recommendations on an analysis of a company’s top 40 performers. This is merely the plural of anecdote, and not nearly enough data. Just because something seems like it can work doesn’t mean that it actually does.
High validity, combined with extreme ease of use, willingness to consult, and readiness to support, make us different from most. Cangrade takes a true data-driven approach. For smaller companies, we customize algorithms based on Big Data to fit their needs. And when company size allows, we can fully customize based on their own data (when the number of data points exceeds 500). These methods provide by far the highest predictive validity available (up to 36% in the current version) while at the same time mitigating adverse impact and ensuring diversity and fairness in hiring. High validity, combined with extreme ease of use, willingness to consult, and readiness to support, make us different from most.
There are other good companies out there. The problems that we are trying to tackle are bigger than any one company is likely to solve. We are always excited to exchange ideas, happy to partner, and never afraid to compete when necessary. It’s a classic non-zero-sum game for us. The winners and losers are mostly not companies like us—they are the employers out there, the job candidates, the employees, and the global economy.
If you would like to read more about what we do click here. And if you are hiring anytime soon, sign up for a free trial and see for yourself.
Image credit: Rob Boudon
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