Weighted Scoring - Not All Job Requirements Were Created Equal

Weighted Scoring

In our last post, we discussed easy to use scoring techniques used to evaluate your candidate’s response. The evalution methods covered rates candidate responses based on criteria such as problem solving, communication, teamwork and so forth. However, not all job requirements are the same. For example, suppose your client has asked you to fill a customer service job. For this job order, the client has identified that the interpersonal and conflict resolution skills are more important than problem solving and analytical perhaps. So understanding these client priorities, how can you adjust your evaluation scoring grid that we showed you on our last post? In this post, we will show you how to weight your evaluation grid.

When the criteria is not weighted the assumption is that one requirement is worth the same as the other. Sometimes, hiring managers will value one skill or job requirement more than the other for a particular position. Weighting your rating scale will allow you to reflect your client’s priorities for the job. While weighting adds some additional complexity to the evaluation process, there are some benefits of doing so.

The exercise of weighting job requirements will help you to put a realistic framework around managers with unrealistic expectations. Weighting will help you make better hiring decisions especially when a candidate does not meet ALL the job requirements. In these situations, you can still determine if the candidate meets the job requirements your client values most. This will prove beneficial especially in situations when working with unrealistic clients on a job order for a difficult to fill position.

To weight the job requirements you can rank all the requirements or simply assign a value to each job requirement. Using the example above, we will illustrate focusing on the position specific portion of the evaluation form.

Example: Weighted Evaluation Form

Total:
	Poor (1)	Weak (2)	Average (3)	Good (4)	Excellent (5)
Position Specific: Behavioural Based
Teamwork (2) Please describe your experience in working with an individual to help that person succeed on a particular project or in their daily assignments? Probes: · How did you ensure that you gained the individual’s input with regard to how they could be successful? · What was the process you used to assist the individual in going from their current situation to one where they were successful in completing projects/daily assignments? · What was the outcome?				X
Ethics (3) Describe a situation in which you demonstrated a strong ethical stance at work, despite pressure to do otherwise? Probes: · What were the risks involved in taking the strong stance that you did? · How did you overcome the pressure to change or weaken your stance? · How did the position you took affect the relationships that you have with the others involved?					X
Conflict Resolution (1) Tell us about a time when you dealt with a client or co-worker who was irate and perhaps even verbally abusive? Probes: · How did you ensure your understanding of the person’s concerns? · What was your approach to dealing with the angry person? · What was the outcome of the situation?		X
Total:		2		8	15
Total Evaluation Score:	25

Above we have provided an example to illustrate an actual scoring situation.

Scoring Example:

Teamwork = 8 [Good (4) x weight (2)]

Ethics = 15 [ Excellent (5) x weight (3)]

Conflict Resolution = 2 [ Weak (2) x weight (1)]

Conclusion

Consistent scoring methodology is important not only from a legal perspective but because it will go a long way in helping you send better candidates to your clients more consistently. This is important because at the end of the day, your candidates represent you and your company to your clients. Also to ensure your candidates best represent you, ensure they are well-prepared. A thorough candidate preparation, will give your candidate a better chance to speak to their skills and demonstrate the quality of your service.

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