Staffing Agency: Potential Vs. Experience
Staffing agencies, here’s a new job hunt mantra. It isn’t what you’ve already accomplished, but what you are going to accomplish that matters. World Wide Specialty Programs specializes in Staffing Agency Insurance.
If that sounds like a cliché, it’s not. It’s a study. “The Power of Potential,” summarized in the Stanford Graduate School of Business news page, was conducted by scholars at Stanford and Harvard. It found people get more excited about individuals with potential than actual, proven performance. What’s more, employers are willing to pay more for those “high potential” candidates.
Researchers conducted experiments in a wide array of fields from art and leadership to advertising. In one experiment, participants were asked to rate the success of a future comedian based on two ads, each with slightly different copy. The first, said “Critics say he has become the next great thing.” The second version claimed “Critics say he could become the next big thing.” The second ad, promising potential, did twice as well as the former one.
The study attributes it to uncertainty. When people are unsure, they tend to think more (i.e. if they don’t know what you can accomplish, they are more likely to think highly of you).
There is evidence of this preference all over. Take Linsanity himself, former New York Knicks hotshot Jeremy Lin who received a $25 million dollar offer from the Houston Rockets despite only getting quality minutes in 26 games. The Knicks don’t know how well he will do- they are banking on his potential.
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel created a $100,000 dollar two year fellowship for 24 young people to skip school and start a company instead, banking on the intelligence of their entrepreneurial potential rather than the traditional safety net of a college degree.
Apply this mentality to the job hunt. As a staffing agency, when you are sending a candidate to an interview, if they can communicate their potential to contribute to a firm, it sets them up for a higher chance of success. When an employer is deciding between two candidates, if one shows more potential, they have a better chance of getting the job. However, this must be backed by substantial claims; hollow proclamations of potential will actually have the opposite effect.
World Wide Specialty Programs has always had a singular purpose – to design, develop and provide Staffing agency insurance programs for staffing agencies. Our method is simple: track those changes; listen to emerging needs, and respond. We work with over 2,000 insurance brokers nationwide. We know the staffing industry better than anyone. Contact us today for more information about our Staffing Agency Insurance solutions.