Episode 221: Hiring For Potential With Tony Payne, Founder of ApplyPro

In this episode, Tony Payne discusses the importance of hiring for potential over experience. He explains that hiring for potential can lead to faster, cheaper, and more diverse hiring, as well as increased sustainability for the business. Tony compares hiring potential to gardening, where you focus on the plant before it blooms and get more longevity out of it. He also shares strategies for scoping a job to prioritize potential, identifying and evaluating alternative routes to traditional degrees, and supporting employees with high potential. Tony emphasizes the need to overcome bias in hiring practices and predicts that hiring for potential will become more common in the future.

Takeaways

Hiring for potential can lead to faster, cheaper, and more diverse hiring.

Scoping a job to prioritize potential involves focusing on skills requirements and conducting job workshops with the whole team.

Alternative routes to traditional degrees, such as internships and apprenticeships, can be effective in identifying potential candidates.

Support systems, including coaching and training, are essential for developing employees with high potential.

Overcoming bias in hiring practices that favor experience over potential is crucial for increasing diversity.

The future of hiring is likely to involve a shift towards prioritizing potential over experience, with more companies adopting this approach.

Chapters

00:00

Introduction and Background

03:42

The Mindset Shift: Potential over Experience

06:24

Scoping Jobs Based on Skills Requirements

10:44

Exploring Alternative Routes to Traditional Degrees

12:26

Nurturing Employees with High Potential

15:05

Methods for Evaluating Candidate Potential

21:19

Conclusion and Contact Information