The right fit between employers and employees is not always based on colleges and grades. Increasingly, companies as diverse as Citibank, Airbnb, and McKinsey & Company, are using a test developed by Koru to predict whether applicants will succeed, according to Business Insider.
Seattle-based Koru offers employers more than test results. The test is based on Koru’s study of the employer. Koru determines the specific employee factors that matter to the employer’s success. In the process, current employees are tested to identify the profiles of the better performers. Koru calls its study of individual employer performance drivers “fingerprinting.”
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The Koru test measures what the company calls the “Koru 7.” The seven personality traits matched to company fingerprint include grit, rigor, impact, teamwork, curiosity, ownership, and polish. On the basis of the 20-minute online test, Koru uses machine learning and predictive analysis to determine which candidates will be the best match for the employer.
The employer’s needs drive the prospect’s evaluation. Koru co-founder Josh Jarrett said, “In the fingerprint we define what the important metrics are for the organization. It could be we’re looking for performance in the first two years, it could be that we’re looking for retention, it could be that we’re looking for future leadership.”
Diversity factors into the scoring as well. Traditional employee screening processes tend to result in similar employee pools. Koru co-founder and CEO Kristen Hamilton said, “In Silicon Valley they’re getting very serious about diversity. There’s a lot of data showing diverse teams are more effective. The customer base is so diverse and to really serve that customer base you have to reflect that diversity. That’s very serious.”
The Koru test, to which candidates are given a link after submitting a resume, consists of three areas: past experiences, work style, and work scenarios that “test how people would judge situations.”
When you complete the Koru test, your profile represents your unique metrics that are then used to evaluate how well you would fit with the employer.
According to Hamilton, “We come with a point of view, we have the Koru 7, that’s our IP, we’ve developed that. That’s our point of view of what millennial talent and companies need.”