Contact Us
Questions, comments, ideas for future content? Contact us below.
Part 1. There's way more than 3.
There used to be a popular phrase. “Nobody ever got fired for hiring ...
Innovators in the recruiting space since 2001.
Our sister company. Helping people become better job seekers.
Visit Hirewell.com
October 30, 2023
Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.
I want to like it but I just can’t
Call me old fashioned but I’m a big citing-my-sources guy. Also data & statistics. Love ‘em.
But sometimes I’ll read something so questionable it makes me wonder how many other false facts I believed.
Take this article from the USA Today (strike 1 btw): “Workers with in-person jobs spend about $51 a day that they wouldn’t remotely, survey finds”
It pulls from the Owl Labs 2023 report.
It starts ok. The headline is a quantifiable number. $51 a day going into the office. Without digging into their data collection, we can assume it asked for receipts and added it up. I’ll buy it.
Next up: work life balance. 49% of workers feel it’s easier to maintain a work-life balance in a remote job. When I see the word “feel” my warning signs go off. We’re not talking about quantifiable data, but sentiment.
Sure, how people feel about things is still relevant. Feelings drive real behavior. But it’s important to recognize the difference. Fine by me.
Then it takes a turn: “46% of employees find it easier to build colleague relationships when working from home.”
Oh. Come. On.
I have no doubt that 46% of people say that. But it doesn’t make it true from a functional standpoint. In-group favoritism pops in, i.e. of course people who love Thing A will overstate Thing A’s greatness. Classic homerism.
The difference between “building relationships” and the previous sentiment example: you could do a sociological study to evaluate how humans best build relationships.
I’ll interject my own bias. I’m an outlier. I’m one of those weirdos who has made dozens of real life friends that I first met online (‘sup Nate). And I work mostly remote.
It’s easier building relationships in person. Full stop.
Why am I yelling at clouds right now?
Because everything you read influences the decisions you make. Not just personal, but business decisions.
Basing any decision on Dubious Data is a mistake. Call BS when you see it.
Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.
More blogs from James Hornick
Idiocracy is real.
I know a company that passed on a candidate. Because their follow up ‘thank you’ note was ...
It's not a list of names.
One question comes up in every new client call and illustrates how most buyers don’t ...
About that remote work piece
https://vimeo.com/1065534824?share=copy
The Internet: where nuance goes to ...
Revisiting Remote Work, 5 Years Later.
Going to the office has a cost. And staying home does, too.
A few ...
Story time!
https://vimeo.com/1057933590?share=copy
A few years ago, I went on a sales call that I ...
Coming Soon...
See all Talent Insights Blog entries....
Our Latest Featured Episode
No results found.
Executive search isn’t some mysterious dark art. You’re not paying for secret handshakes and a magic Rolodex.
But that’s exactly what legacy firms want you to think.
They sell prestige. They sell access. They sell fear. And some companies buy it—because no one wants to screw up a high-profile hire.
Here’s the truth: access is the easy part. Executives respond more than anyone. The real challenge? Fit. Immersion. Results after the hire. And most firms skip that part entirely.
Jeff Smith and James Hornick rip the curtain off the smoke-and-mirrors world of exec search—and explain why most firms are failing their clients (badly) in The 10 Minute Talent Rant, Episode 109, “What Everyone Gets Wrong About Executive Search.”
Episode 109
No results found.
Our Shows
