I recently gave the opening keynote at a conference focused on the Future of Leadership. My presentation discussed the best tools leaders use to take the terror out of hiring and promoting.

Perhaps you have felt like bringing in a new member of a team is a crap shoot. Resumes, interviews, and references may cause you to feel like you’re making an informed decision, but at the end of the day, if those are the only tools you’re using, you’re still gambling. The same goes for promotions. You may think you know the best person to move to the next level only to discover that he or she doesn’t excel in the new role.  Is there a way to take the guesswork out of hiring and succession planning?

There is. It’s what I call a “job benchmark.”

This patented process is unique and effective because it evaluates a specific job, not the people doing the job. Using an interactive process and an on-line assessment, we identify what communication style is best suited for the job, what motivators the work rewards, and what competencies are necessary to be successful in the role. This process removes the bias, personality contests and unknown variables that can affect hiring and promoting decisions.

A few years ago, I introduced Barbara, one of my clients, to the job benchmarking process when she needed to put together an executive team to support her in her new role as CEO. Barbara was astonished by the results. More recently, she called me to confess that when she needed to fill a role quickly, she hired someone without using the job benchmarking process. Within 2 months, she regretted her decision. “Shawn, I just let the person go,” she told me. “I wasted 2 months of valuable time and who knows how much this setback cost the company. I need you to help me fix this situation quickly. I’ll never make another hire without doing a job benchmark first.”

Forward-thinking leaders like Barbara are ready for a 21st century solution to the age-old problem of finding star performers.  They’re eager to use a scientific, data-driven process rather than resume roulette and interview intuition. They’re ready to take advantage of a tool that will aid in development, selection, retention, and management.

What about you? Are you ready for the future? Do you want to learn more about the job benchmarking process? Pick up my book Conversations for Creating Star Performers, where you’ll read more stories about clients who used job benchmarks to solve different kinds of management problems.  See sample lists of job accountabilities and take the free Talent Audit Job Benchmarking assessment. When you do, I’d be happy to review the results with you. As I shared with the audience at the conference, innovation has finally brought us better tools for putting the right person in the right role, for creating more employee engagement, and for significantly improving everyone’s chances for success.