Friday, September 21, 2012

When the Hiring Boss Is an Algorithm

As usual, most of the respondents either did not RTFA, or simply did not understand it because many of the respondents have got it exactly backwards.
Management did not just make up a set of characteristics they thought would be good (in this case hire local drone) and hire those after doing a drone-test. That's the way it had been done for the last few thousand years.

So here's what happened.
A company tests applicants for a very broad set of characteristics.
They track the performance of the hires.
They compare the success of the hires back to the characteristics found in the test.
They make a model of the successful hires and then use that model to select future hires.

Scientific model:
Construct hypotheses
Gather data
Conduct test
compare result to hypotheses
refine hypotheses

Anyone that is complaining about the algorithmic process and it's outcome has no idea how most people are typically hired.
For the most part, It still boils down to 1: being someone's buddy/relative and 2: looking like someone the HR boss would like to hang out with.
So I, for one, welcome our new algorithmic masters. ( having neither buddy nor looking like someone you would want to hang out with)

Also, this is very far from being new. I know of one upscale hotels started doing this a couple or three decades ago.
They gave all their employees a variety of tests and observed what characteristics were associated with the successful ones in the various positions.
Then, when people apply, they assign them to the position they'll be successful in. The end result is that successful floor-cleaners are happy and productive floor-cleaners, and people whose profile fits the front desk are happy and successful there. And it should be obvious that swapping those two people might create two very resentful employees. It really shows, too, if you ever stayed in a place like that how the good moods of the employees is almost Stepford-spooky.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/m_ul2dpBw2I/when-the-hiring-boss-is-an-algorithm

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