More Tips for Explaining Low Scores
In Chally e-News, Issue 7, we provided information on a new support tool that proved to be beneficial to many of our clients. It introduced "expanded" explanations of those scales used for Chally's standard profiles so that a dialogue could be opened with candidates who have one or more low scores.
The shock of a very low score on any profile is often the hardest barrier to overcome, especially for those candidates who have been quite successful in other positions and now feel that their competence is being challenged.
Besides having a very detailed explanation of most skills and the low scoring indicators, you may find it useful to preface any review discussion of a profile(s) that has a very low score with these four key ideas:
- Remind the candidate that Chally norms are based on successfully employed people - not the population at large. Even a score of 5% means that the candidate scored stronger than 5% of successful people.
- The typical successful person has some very strong features, and therefore, by necessity, will have some equal and opposite weak features. The greater the strength, the lower the opposite score. For example, famed baseball home run hitters Sammy Sosa and Babe Ruth also have extremely high strike out statistics. The more one has developed specialized abilities and become a master in specific areas, the less this person is to have above-average scores everywhere else. To have average scores everywhere, one would have to be the proverbial jack of all trades and master of none.
- A low score applied to the right position can actually be seen as an advantage. For example, to have a high Initiative score, one has to be able to tolerate a high degree of risk. High initiative leads to strong innovation but also a higher ratio of failure. For an entrepreneur, high initiative is great. Success 60% of the time is enough to grow a business. But, you certainly don't want high initiative in your heart surgeon or your airline pilot. In these jobs, you can't tolerate 40% failure. In business, if you have to guarantee reaching your goals, you can't be too much of a risk-taker or an initiator.
- Most successful organizations attempt to have exceptional or specialized people in key positions. These stars must then be supported by counterparts who have the strengths to cover the stars' weaknesses. In fact, it is usually a waste of talent to a have a star in one area wasting talents on tasks that someone else who doesn't have special talent could do just as well, or better. This is why we don't worry about whether a pitcher can hit, or whether a great writer is a good editor. It is more effective to maximize a person's strengths and reassign weaker areas elsewhere.
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To review our "Explaining Low Scores" article from Chally e-News, Issue 7, click here.
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