Geplaatst: 19 Jan, 2023
Increase the ROI of your Recruitment Processes Today
Human resources is sometimes considered a tricky industry when it comes to return on investment (ROI). It is often difficult to obtain quantifiable data in relation to the work being carried out given that typically the HR department does not generate any direct income (mostly indirect). Investments in recruitment processes often make the executives quite nervous, as projects and programs often do not produce tangible short-term results. While the idea of a “more diverse workplace” or “greater employee satisfaction” seems like a good thing, the question remains whether this translates directly into a significant increase in revenue or improved productivity. Nevertheless, calculating return on investment offers HR professionals an excellent way to demonstrate the value of the profession and the work. In this blog we will provide some examples on how you can increase the ROI of your recruitment processes today.
Return on Recruitment Investment, what Factors Do You Take into Account?
Three quantifiable factors that are essential to get insights into the ROI of your recruitment process are the number of quality hires, time to hire, and cost savings. Percentages and also financial amounts can be added for all these factors. Insight into the above will be of enormous added value in mapping out the total return of investments on your recruitment processes and will contribute to lowering the existing doubts about HR investments.
Quantifying Quality Hires
How do you, as HR responsible, express the number of quality hires in numbers? First, it’s essential to determine what a quality hire is and how it compares to a miss-hire. If you have determined this you can make a proper comparison with your previous hires that did not meet the standard that you have determined beforehand. You can take the costs of the recruitment process per candidate and the costs of a mishire into account to come to a financially quantifiable measure.
Quantifying Time to Hire
The time and resources it takes to get to quality hires is another useful recruitment metric. The shorter this process is and the fewer candidates you have to talk to get to a quality hire, the higher the ROI.
Cost Savings on the Recruitment Process
By focusing on the above you can make a big profit on your investment in the recruitment process. These cost savings can be quantified per hire for your current recruitment process, but also after changing certain steps. If you make several changes to your recruitment process it is best to do this step by step so you can determine the ROI of each change you implement.
How Does BrainsFirst Contribute to an Increase in the ROI on the Recruitment Process of their Clients?
BrainsFirst has helped multiple organizations to improve the ROI of their recruitment processes. By combining cutting-edge neuroscience, gamification, and tailored selection parameters we:
- Increased the number of ‘quality hires by up to 44% across more than 15 different clients and different vacancies. In addition, an increase of up to 12% in atypical* hires who perform well in the role.
- Reduced the time to hire by 20%.
- Achieved cost savings of around 20% on the recruitment process for many of our clients by increasing both the effectiveness and efficiency of the entire process.
- Achieved a 91% reduction in unconscious bias.
All this is possible because of the 100% remote pre-selection tool: the NeurOlympics.
*We managed to increase the acceptance rate from 2 to 12 percent. The unique application of gamified neuroscience allowed the client to assess thousands of applicants online. The selected candidates were increasingly found to have atypical backgrounds but consistently add tremendous value.
Geplaatst:
The Foundation of Structured Interviews
There is no doubt that structured interviews are more reliable than the non-structured variants. By structuring interviews you reduce bias, such as the effect of the first impression. As soon as you, as a recruiter, see an applicant, you have (unconsciously) already made an initial judgment about someone, and there is a fair chance that this judgment will influence the nature of the questions and ultimately the final conclusion. For example, candidates with a migration background are more likely to be asked questions about the level of their integration and therefore fewer questions regarding the job. Research shows that these candidates receive a less positive review than native candidates. However, this difference is significantly less or even absent if a structured interview has taken place.
Benefits of Structured Interviews
A structured interview is more effective in determining a person’s competencies. This means that you are more likely to hire the best candidates. Most of the time because there is more focus on the facets that can provide real insight into someone’s performance on the job, such as skills and experience, and factors such as the first impression and glibness make a less important contribution to the decision-making process. Structuring job interviews:
- Increases the validity of the interview
- Reduces influences from bias
- Increases the effectiveness/chance of a good hire
- Ensures that you can better compare interviews and candidates
The Difficulty of Structuring Interviews
Structuring interviews occasionally provokes resistance from selection professionals. With years of experience in selecting candidates, this structure can feel redundant and can also be difficult to implement. Using structure does not mean that you can’t have a personal conversation or that you can’t dig deeper. As long as you go back to the predetermined set-up so that you ask all candidates the same questions. By doing so you can compare them in a fair way.
But how do you get to such a structured interview? Asking the same questions to all candidates is just one of the conditions for an objective and effective interview process. For example, do you base the questions on the CV? Then there is a lot of bias in the answers, they are difficult to compare and the output is mainly based on someone’s past. Applying structure is not the same as an objective approach. However, it is an important step in this.
How to Structure Your Interviews
To structure an interview effectively, you need to have a clear picture in mind of what kind of person you are looking for. Formulate a number of characteristics and competencies that are important for the position in question. Some traits are more important than others. Give each competency its own weight, so that you know how heavily you should count it in the review. Then translate these characteristics and competencies into very concrete questions that you ask each candidate.
A good method to formulate these questions is the STARR method: Situation, Task, Action, Result, Reflection. With this method, you ask for practical examples. Do you think the competence “problem-solving ability” is important? You then can ask the following STARR questions: “Can you tell me about a difficult situation that you encountered in your work (or during studies for starters)? What was your role in that situation? What was your approach and what was the result? ” Rate the substantive answers of each candidate with a grade, look at the candidates with the highest score and you have the most suitable candidate for the position!
Nowadays, a digital assessment is often used to find out in an objective way – preferably as early as possible in the process – which candidates you should invite for the first interview. If you have already obtained value-free information about the candidates in this way, you can also use it to conduct a more objectively structured interview by basing the questions on the measured hard output.
A Breakthrough in Interview Techniques
A good assessment can provide insight into the candidate’s characteristics and competencies without being influenced by socially desirable answers. This information gives you insight into the candidate’s match and also clarifies which questions are relevant for the interview for the position in question. The crux here is self-knowledge versus compensation, or, for example, a certain coping style. Are you looking for someone who works in a structured way, but does the candidate score low on this? Then it is important to know whether the person is aware of this and has learned to deal with it. If this naturally less structured candidate, for example, has successfully completed a time management course and applies these lessons, the conditions for a structured approach have been created. This is called coping. In order to find out whether a low score on a predetermined key performance indicator will also cause a problem in practice, a structured questioning of self-knowledge and compensation technique is crucial. And therefore extremely valuable.
Hard Interview Building Blocks for Successful Interviewing
BrainsFirst helps companies to measure what they are looking for in candidates for a specific position. Together with experts, we determine which skills and which behaviors are really important for the position that is being recruited for. With this input, a profile is made for the desired natural behavior, a model based on cognitive skills. By playing the NeurOlympics, validated assessment games, a brain profile is created for each candidate. The degree to which the previously drawn-up target profile and the brain profile match provides a reliable estimate of a match for that specific function. In this way, it is objectively measured to what extent the candidates naturally possess the desired skills and you can ask questions about this in the interview. This is how you kill two birds with an interview: you base the questions on hard (biological) output measures and you can find out in a structured manner whether someone knows themselves well, knows how to use their own cognitive pluses in a smart way and how to compensate for the qualities they might lack.
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Nature or Nurture: Is Messi a Born or Made Talent?
Lionel Messi is one of the greatest footballers the world has ever seen. In the hunt for “the next Messi,” scouts, agents and trainers from all over the world are searching for the success formula. One of the crucial themes here: is an exceptionally good footballer born this way or created over the years on the pitch?
To be able to answer this question, we first have to go back in time to the Greek philosophers Plato, Aristotle, and Hippocrates. In the year 400 BC, a discussion began about the origin of an individual’s traits. This discussion later became known as the nature & nurture debate. In this debate, one question remains central: Is a person shaped by genes (nature), or by upbringing and environment (nurture)? Was Messi pre-programmed to become a six-time Golden Ball winner, or did he become so good through coaching, extremely long and varied training hours, and pushing himself tremendously hard?
In this discussion, Plato and Aristotle were diametrically opposed. Plato believed that each person is formed by an individual soul that controls the body, while Aristotle described that man is formed by the world around him. A third philosopher and also a physician, Hippocrates, had a different view.
The Personal Development Potential
Hippocrates emphasized education and environment. It is important to eat well, exercise enough, and listen to what your body needs. In addition, Hippocrates wrote that there are other factors that must be taken into account. Every human being is born with a maximum potential to which he/she can grow, a personal development potential. This potential may or may not be reached based on all kinds of environmental factors. This view still stands after decades of philosophizing and discussion and is even today the subject of much scientific research.
We are Bad at Assessing Talent
In general, scientists are convinced that the mix between nature (predisposition) and nurture (upbringing & environment) within top sports is necessary to belong to the elite talents. Yet in practice, you often see that the focus of youth training is still largely on nurture. Experts in the world of football are quick to say whether someone is a talent or not, but once we start looking for future talents, people often turn out to be less good at predicting than they thought. Take, for example, the efficiency of the youth academy of an average top football club. It should be overflowing with future talent, but in practice only 2 to 3 percent of all that “talent” makes it to the first team, let alone the absolute top. How is it possible that we think we can assess whether someone is talented, but in practice, we are often disappointed?
What is Talent?
For this, we must go back to the definition of talent. Van Dale describes talent as “the innate ability to do something well”. A fairly general definition that doesn’t actually say very much. Yet a large proportion of people only focus on half of the definition namely the subjective “to be able to do something well”. After all, it’s pretty easy to give your opinion on whether someone is good at something. On the other hand, only a small group of people actually pay attention to the first, more objective, half of the definition of “the innate ability.” Why, you might ask? Because most people simply know (or want to know) much less about this. Yet, in practice, this should be a big part of the evaluation of whether someone belongs to a talent.
ta·lent (it; o; plural: talents)
- innate ability to do something well; = aptitude, giftedness
- a person with a lot of talent
- (Bible) certain weight of gold or silver
Talent Profiles of Top Clubs
Nowadays every club has its own talent profile, with which they try to identify potential talents. After all, today’s top talent is not guaranteed to be tomorrow’s top talent. A good example is biological early bloomers. At the time, these footballers appear to be great talents. They win more duels, are faster, and have better stamina. These talents are then chosen in the selection over other boys who are physically behind. However, you often see that these late bloomers have much more potential to become professionals, but due to the early selection, only a small part can reach the top.
Looking Objectively at Football Intelligence
Every year, many factors are added to the list of objective characteristics of a talented footballer. Take, for example, physicality, speed, tactical ability, strength, and experience. Most of the traits on this list are easily measurable without any subjective bias. However, we are now at a point where we have pretty much reached the ceiling with all these factors. Still, there is room for improvement in the objective part of the definition of talent: “the innate ability”. For example, in the area of football intelligence (cognition). This is currently only taken into account as a subjective measure in both scouting and the academy and is often referred to as football cleverness.
BrainsFirst Comes to the Rescue
BrainsFirst belongs to the group that recognizes the importance of innate ability and with that cognition in top sport. Eric Castien, former sports journalist and co-founder of BrainsFirst came up with this idea during the time he was working on his book “The Royal” along the fields of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. While in Spain, Eric heard many conflicting stories regarding talent. Some described a footballer as stupid, others as brilliant. Intelligence was generally considered a must for a professional footballer, but often people had difficulty articulating this concept clearly. There was an urgent need for a shared understanding of what football intelligence entailed and how to make football intelligence measurable. One thing was certain: everything starts in the brain.
Research into Cognition & Football
Following these insights, two researchers from the UvA, Ilja Sligte and Andries van der Leij, started researching how the existing talent recognition toolkit could be expanded with the cognition of a footballer. At the highest level, a player must be able to act with lightning speed, excel in problem-solving skills, and be constantly aware of everything that happens around him. All these skills originate in the brain and this brain potential appears to be established as early as 14- to 15-years-old. So the ideas of Hippocrates were not so crazy after all. Both nature and nurture are important for the performance of an individual.
NeurOlympics – Measuring what You Want to Know
The NeurOlympics – the assessment games developed by BrainsFirst – is the tool for talent identification, helping you determine if players have the brain potential to become a top football player. Cognition is a new piece of the puzzle that has been talked about for some time in football player assessments. Until now, it was only included as a subjective judgment: “Kevin de Bruyne is a very intelligent footballer who always keeps the overview”. But is that really the case? And was that already visible at the age of 14? Now we can measure it objectively! In addition to all the already mentioned factors that make a footballer a talent, we can also include football intelligence in future talent decisions. This way BrainsFirst helps clubs to invest primarily in the (potentially) best players. Think of it as adding a small but increasingly important piece to the Talent puzzle.
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Essential Skills for a Successful Elite Trader
Everyone wants the best candidate for every open position. Especially when your company is growing rapidly, the right employee will accelerate your success. Therefore, there is a lot to gain in terms of growth and finances, but also a lot to lose if you don’t make the right assessment when filling the relevant vacancy. Now, imagine you are searching for new recruits in the trading business, you might think: what are the essential skills for a successful elite trader, and how do I recognize them? With this blog, we will address these questions.
Trading
A good example of the type of candidate, where you choose for certainty, is that of a ‘trader’. Whether a trader trades in currencies, forex, or commodities, with long or short cycles, as a market maker and/or as a Quant trader, there is always a lot at stake. The question arises: in the selection process, do you take an old-fashioned gamble or do you prefer to make a data-driven decision, a scientifically substantiated choice?
The Brightest Minds in Class
Now, as a trading organization, there are many ways to find and add the right traders to your workforce. From campus recruitment to large social media campaigns, the common denominator is that they target the brightest minds in the class. After all, the smarter the trader, the easier it is to create an edge in his or her portfolio. With this, you can achieve even higher returns than an ‘average’ trader. But is the smartest boy or girl in the class always the best trader? Or are there other factors that determine future success?
The Trader of the Past
Most traders have a background in econometrics, mathematics, and technical physics, or beta studies in which success seems to be correlated with IQ. And that seems to be correct, one of the components of an IQ test is the testing of numerical skills, precisely the skills that appear to be available within the studies mentioned. But having exceptional numerical skills alone is not the key to success. Much more is needed to achieve an exceptional result.
IQ – An Outdated Concept?
By means of the famous IQ test and the testing of numerical skills under time pressure, the selection process seems to imitate the real skills of a trader in his daily work field. Please note: most applicants take several such tests in their search for a job as a flash trader. There is therefore a learning effect, something that is difficult to take into account in your considerations.
In addition, it is good to ask yourself whether numerical skills and the ability to perform under time pressure are the decisive factors that can predict the success of a trader. Especially in today’s labour market, with shortages looming in many sectors, it is time to look at new, innovative ways to improve your selection process.
The Distinctive Cognitions of a Trader
When you monitor the actual behavior of a trader, independent of the market in which he or she operates, you will never see him or her complete an entire day of tasks from an IQ or Aptitude test. You will see them observing, taking in details, making a complex analysis, making important decisions, and at the same time considering the smallest change, the smallest detail. All this at lightning speed. When your mental capacity can put a lot of information in context at once and you can combine the hyper-focus, which is sometimes necessary, with lightning-fast decisions, then you have the skill set of the trader of the future. Research at 4 large trading houses has shown that selection does not need to be more stringent than an average procedure. However, identifying the right skills and assessing them is extremely important in view of the shortage in the current labor market. Where possible, you want to broaden your talent pool and not let any talent get lost during the selection procedure.
As J. Bernlef once said: ‘To see something, you first have to be able to recognise it‘.
Are you curious how trading organizations are already selecting differently on the basis of specific cognitions? Read the case of IMC – The BrainsFirst Challenge – Are you wired like a trader? Contact us and we will take you through our brain approach.
Geplaatst: 12 May, 2022
A Working Memory Hero on Duty
Have you ever walked from one room to another to realize that you have forgotten what you were up to? Yet when you retrace your steps, your previous intention magically pops up in mind again? Or have you ever forgotten your keys, your car, or even your kids on a busy day? All of this relates to working memory and, more specifically, to what we can and cannot do with it. BrainsFirst game based assessments give insights into working memory and more!
The Four Components of Working Memory
Working memory is part of our conscious awareness at any given time of day and has four components. In the first place, it allows us to store our immediate experiences and a little bit of knowledge. Secondly, working memory plays a key role in processing different types of information, such as visual and auditory information. Moreover, it allows us to reach back to our long-term memory and retrieve previously stored information. Finally, working memory processes this previously stored information from the perspective of our current goal. For instance, you are using your working memory abilities right now, while reading and thinking about this text!
Working Memory on the Job
Working memory capacity is our ability to take what we know and what we can hang on to and leverage it in a way that allows us to satisfy our current goal. The current goal isn’t something like “I want that job” or “I want to be the best soccer player of all time”. It’s rather mundane, like “I like that job opening” or “ I want to get that ball”. We tend to maintain 4 up to 10 things in working memory, which we are subsequently able to use for about 10-20 seconds. Working memory is associated with a lot of positive effects on overall performance. People with a high working memory capacity tend to be better storytellers, recognize patterns more easily, and usually perform well on standardized tests (e.g., IQ, SAT).
Working Memory: On the Cutting Edge
It is important to take working memory performance into account when assessing someone’s cognitive abilities. For instance, at some jobs, it’s important to have a large working memory capacity. Think about, for example, a stockbroker who needs to connect many streams of information to come up with new strategies in order to make as much profit as possible. Or think about someone who is in the sales department and has to convince clients to buy their product. This grand finale, the orchestration of all the working memory activities together, determines if the sale will be a success or not. By assessing working memory (and other cognitive abilities), it is possible to assess someone’s true abilities, which can be a valuable aid when trying to find the right employee for the job.
Spiderman: A Working Memory Superhero
A character that we expect to possess extraordinary working memory skills is the Marvel cartoon hero “Spiderman”. Spiderman is able to keep an extreme amount of information in his working memory with a microscopic level of detail. This enables him to experience the world around him when needed in slow motion. These abilities would make Spiderman a perfect candidate for the job as a stockbroker. This is of course just fiction and far from reality but it is a nice example of how good working memory abilities can help you in everyday life.
Contact Us
Are you interested in the possibilities of measuring the brain skills like working memory of your employees, or do you want to recruit the perfect candidate for the job based on their true natural abilities? Read more about attention, anticipation, and control and the Spiderman for your position! Contact us and discover the BrainsFirst Assessment Games today!
Geplaatst: 13 Jan, 2021
Brain-Based Talent Identification Enters J-League
Kyodo News Digital & BrainsFirst Join Forces
The Japanese firm, well-connected in Japanese sports, and the Amsterdam-based Sports-tech company BrainsFirst start their collaboration this month with a focus on offering talent identification services to Japanese professional football organizations. “We decided to partner with the Amsterdam-based HR tech company to support the mission of helping clubs make better talent decisions, namely by offering them objective performance data.
KD very much believes in technology like NeurOlympics cognitive testing to further improve talent recognition in professional football,” says Yuki Maeda, KD’s Manager of Team Solution Project.
The common goal is to enable a more fact-based, data-driven, and scalable process of talent identification & evaluation. Especially in times of Corona, remote testing is of great value. BrainsFirst offers an online validated assessment games platform by combining gamification and its neuroscience-based technology. BrainsFirst enables clubs to assess the football brain potential – or game intelligence – of a player. This kind of data is seen as a crucial piece of the overall talent puzzle. According to previous experience i.e., The Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain, applying BrainsFirst as an early-funnel recruitment step leads to more justified admissions & rejections and consequently a higher efficiency in the overall process. “We are extremely excited to enter the Japanese market together with Kyodo News Digital as an experienced partner in Tokyo. Together we can support Japanese professional football to focus on the best talents. We really can make an impact by adding another piece of the puzzle in the performance matrix of a future pro player. Japan is definitively ready for such supportive data analytics.” says Jens Urlbauer, Director of Business Development of BrainsFirst.
About BrainsFirst
BrainsFirst BV was founded in 2012 to define the context-specific required cognitive functions of elite football players. Since 2014, the data collection, analysis & interpretation leads to a considerably higher number of justified admissions & rejections in talent academies. Long-term partners include Dutch clubs like PSV Eindhoven, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord, and the national association KNVB. Clubs in Germany, Belgium, England, and Spain kicked off, too.
Like to Know More about this Deal or the Services of BrainsFirst in General?
Please contact Jens Urlbauer. Director Business Development Tel.: + 49 173 513 04 89
Geplaatst: 28 Mar, 2018
BrainsFirst as an Alternative to the IQ Test
BrainsFirst Looks Further and is therefore the Best Alternative for the IQ Test
Since the beginning of 2017, after 5 years of scientific research, the alternative to the IQ test has been launched. The motto? You can see better, by looking better. “If you know what you’re looking for in a new colleague, but can’t recognize it from the outside, you’re still not going to find it easily,” says co-founder Dr. Ilja Sligte. BrainsFirst gives you a look under the hood.
The Controversy of the Classical Intelligence Test
Everyone has probably done one: an IQ test, or an alternative of this. They come in many shapes and sizes, but most of them consist of a combination of a number sequence, a series of figures, and a verbal task. Based on different assignments, the overall score is assessed. Then a sum score is given. This score is a gross representation of how ‘ generally intelligent ‘ someone is. The scores are divided in a way, that the average is always 100. Approximately 2 percent of all people score higher than 130 or lower than 70. Over the years, there has been a lot of discussion about the IQ test. In many cases, this measure seems too coarse and too irrelevant in order to be able to predict performance. It is difficult, but not impossible, to look for a good alternative to the IQ test. Should we no longer have a look at someone’s personal qualities? Everyone is good (or less good) at something. It is always about the context: Does what is requested fit by the abilities of the person?
IQ on the Work Floor: Very Important!
Many employers use IQ testing, or an alternative, to screen their potential employees. Sometimes this can also be of added value. For example, if the function is only for the real Einsteins. For by far most functions a high classical intelligence score is of less great value. Moreover, its use can even lead to a huge mismatch. Therefore it is important to think well about an alternative to the IQ test. With the advent of burnout and the bore out, it is important to match people with a function that is exactly challenging enough. in a way, people do not feel overloaded with work but are sufficiently valued in their capacities.
Read also: Brain test trumps IQ test (Source: The Financial Telegraph)
What is the Best Alternative to the IQ Test? Match on Cognitive Abilities!
By focusing on what people are good at, the match between functions and candidates can be improved. Does anyone find it fine to switch much between tasks, or just to work for a long time concentrated? Does anyone make easy decisions or does anyone prefer to take a little longer? Does the function require a great deal of creativity, or is proper protocol work important? All these questions are important to get someone in the right place. The answers require a good alternative to the IQ test. This can be found by testing for cognitive skills. Cognitive skills are, for example, decision-making, speed, anticipation, accuracy, and concentration. Everyone scores better on specific skills and probably less high on other skills. The combination of factors determines whether someone ‘ got what it takes ‘ to be successful in the open function.
BrainsFirst: The Matchmaker between Brain & Job
BrainsFirst looks further and is thereby the perfect alternative to the IQ test. We look at the extent to which one’s cognitive qualities correspond to the desired cognitive target profile. If it is about a dynamic function, then being able to switch quickly is a pre. Does anyone need attention to detail, or does it require an overarching view? On the basis of 16 different cognitive skills, we look at the extent to which a candidate would be suitable for the job. The probability of the correct match will be much more nuanced and more reliable.
For this reason, companies such as GITP, ABN AMRO, and Deloitte choose BrainsFirst to examine potential employees ‘ capacities. Want to learn more about the best alternative to the IQ test? Book a meeting with our intelligence expert Ivar Schot, or download our onepager about talent matching.