Who are experienced employers more often: hardworking or talented

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

“We value hardworking workers,” say many employers, “we need those who work tirelessly to achieve results …” Scientists have found out if this phrase is sly …

“Those who work hard will be rewarded according to their deserts” - you have probably heard such phrases more than once, and maybe even sincerely agreed with them. Yes, you have to be hardworking and, clenching your teeth, stubbornly climb the career and social ladder through the years of work. But dry statistics show that every day these ideals are betrayed when employers prefer candidates with talent and untapped potential to those who have achieved good results through hard work.

Chia-Jung Tsay Scholar at University College London

We think that we can become outstanding professionals, gain new opportunities, including social mobility, if we are motivated and work hard. We are ready to subscribe to each of these words, but we still choose talent.

Tsai's research confirms what writer and pop sociologist Malcolm Gladwell has dubbed a preference for natural data. Tsai and Harvard psychologist Mahzarin Banaji asked 103 professional musicians to rate two performers on the basis of their written characteristics and recordings of the play of "Three Movements of Petrushka" from Stravinsky's ballet. In fact, it was the same musician, but in one description it was emphasized that he achieved results by hard work, and in the other that he developed his talent.

In the questionnaires, study participants indicated that they value effort and practice more than innate ability. However, when it came time to evaluate the "musicians", they gave higher marks to the talented person and predicted great success for him in the future.

Subsequent studies have found that experienced musicians are more likely to favor talent than newcomers, and it is the experts who usually make hiring decisions.

Tsai suggested that talent only plays an important role in the creative environment and expanded her research area. She chose entrepreneurship, where hard work and experience are valued, and real achievements are valued even higher than possible success.

The experience was similar to the previous one: the subjects read about two businessmen, in one characteristic emphasis was placed on experience and hard work, in the other - on innate talent. The entrepreneurs then gave a one-minute speech, presenting the same business proposals.

Again, the talented one received higher marks. Participants in the study noted that they liked his presentation more and were ready to invest in his enterprise or hire such an employee.

And it was the participants with significant business experience who were especially partial to talents.

In a separate experiment, Tsai found out how much the choice of natural data discourages employers and those looking for business partners. Participants in the study looked at entrepreneurs who were paired: outstanding innate ability and success achieved through hard work. In the characteristics of businessmen, work experience, leadership coefficient, and attracted capital were indicated. And again, participants with extensive experience were ready to give up some of the applicants with good indicators for the sake of their talented competitors.

Chia-Jung Tsay Scholar at University College London

We take risks when we reject highly qualified candidates with obvious achievements and give preference to those who seem to have an innate talent. But by recognizing that we subconsciously choose such people, we can better identify them and hire those who have more developed qualities for work and who are more likely to help us achieve success in the long term.

As for job seekers, it is better for them to focus on talents during an interview with an experienced specialist, instead of talking about hard work.

In further research, Tsai hopes to gain insight into why natural data is favored. Perhaps the fact is that people unwittingly perceive talent as a more stable characteristic and associate it with indispensable success.