Big Data Blasts Some Long-Held Beliefs

What myths are being exposed by big data? According to a recent article in The Economist, “number-crunching has uncovered some surprising correlations.” For example, Evolv, a company that works with big data, found that:

• Employees who, when filling out their online applications, used a browser that didn’t come standard on their computer (software they had to install like Google Chrome or Firefox®) performed better as employees and changed jobs less often than those who used the program that came preinstalled on their computers (for example, Internet Explorer® on PCs).
• Employees with criminal records, who are often excluded from applicant lists, performed a little better as customer service workers than those without a record.

Involv’s report on big data also found that for measured populations:

• There was no difference in employment outcomes between those who had job-hopped and those who had not.
• Long-term unemployed were similarly not any worse as employees than employees with no unemployment history.
• Supervisor quality was the top factor in retention and profitability—more important than “every experience or behavioral-based characteristic of the individual employees themselves.” (Employees with good supervisors were 6 times more likely to stay than those with the worst supervisors.)
• Workplace friendships, often the result of referral hires are a strong factor in retention.
• Highly communicative trainers outperform highly organized trainers.

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New York Times Chimes In

And then comes the New York Times with more. It says that Tim Geisert, chief marketing officer for Kenexa, noted that an outgoing personality has been thought to be a prerequisite for a successful sales career, but the data are showing otherwise. The most important factor is the courage to keep at it in the face of “No.” (Some term this “call courage.”)

Call center operator Transcom, according to the Times, will adopt an Evolv program designed to measure honesty. It does it by asking a question, say, Are you comfortable working on a computer, and do you know simple keyboard shortcuts? If the applicant says Yes, then later in the test he or she will be asked to use the shortcuts to cut and paste or be asked to explain the keystrokes involved.

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But the point of the test isn’t to measure honesty—that’s a by-product. The actual point of the test is to predict how long the applicant will stay on the job. Big data analysis shows that those with high honesty scores stay 20 to 30 percent longer than those with lower scores.

Finally, the Times also reports that online matchmaker eHarmony® is going to become a matchmaker for applicants and employers.

In tomorrow’s Advisor, statistics problems, how to use small data, plus an introduction to the unique audit guide that helps you find problems before the feds do.