Use and develop human capital to its fullest potential
Identify capabilities and skills of employees via situational simulations. Ultimately place employees based on their inherent abilities and interests—identified through computer simulations—and not based on job vacancies.
Properly assessing an employee’s true talents and capabilities
Oftentimes an individual applies for a specific role in a company based off a job posting. If the company ultimately determines that the applicant “fits” the organization and hires him or her to the vacant position, the new hire’s career could potentially be limited to the specific position or department. Organizations normally limit an employee’s career path to the particular department that hired the person even though the person may be better aligned with another area of the organization. Companies cannot risk underutilizing the talents of its workforce by limiting career growth to just one area or function, both for the well-being of the company and of the individual.
Determine employees’ “best-fit” through intensive situational simulations
New applications of technology have revolutionized how people meet their spouse (match.com), train for their job (flight and war simulations), entertain themselves, and interact with each other (virtual portals such as Second Life). Why shouldn’t these same applications be used to find the perfect job for somebody? We propose that potential hires and existing employees take part in regular professional simulations utilizing virtual reality. Through these professional simulations, companies will gain new insights on an employee’s abilities and potential and break down silo mentalities, better utilizing the human talent of the organization. To do so, we recommend the following action plan:
- Develop virtual reality software which would enable an employee to act out various professional—or non-professional—situations.
- Perform as many simulations as possible in order to gain appropriate levels of data to infer a person’s potential based on his or her actions in the simulation.
- Frequently have employees participate in simulations to gain more data on an employee’s capabilities.
- Constantly revise placement algorithm as more data and results become available.
The Super Employee World software would be revolutionary as it would discover and objectively measure the capabilities of certain individuals in different business situations. A significant barrier for job rotation in a company is the assumed lack of knowledge and/or capabilities needed to fulfill a specific job. This software would be an objective method to test these capabilities. For the employee, it would mean the opportunity to prove a certain skill and therefore be able to progress to a different job. It would even be an opportunity to find out a skill or capability that was previously unknown since current or previous jobs did not utilize that skill. On the other hand, for the employer, this is an objective way to find out more about current employee skills and be able to place the right people in the right jobs with the organization, thereby unleashing the full potential of the company’s resources - employees. Overall, it implies benefits for both the employer and the employee.
Testing
To ensure proper use and functionality of the software, testing among management is necessary prior to implementation. Using senior management as “testers” who already excel in different functions could be helpful as a starting point for algorithm development.
Training
Whenever introducing new software, there is often adoption resistance making it critical for training. It is recommended to have a Super Employee World Expert in each department to serve as a resource for employees using the system. Additionally, an allotted training session where employees get to use the system and learn its functionalities is necessary in the principal stages of implementation.
- Austin Miller
- María Ángeles Pobre
- Frank van Roij
- Marisa Schwab
- Pieter Sleeboom
- Wolf Thyssen
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