Hiring Avery versus Jamie is a difficult choice due to the different advantages and disadvantages each would bring to the company based on their unique and very different skills. I would weigh the accountabilities of the job and degree of collaboration with teammates as key factors in my decision. That said, in direct response to the first question- I would be more likely to hire Jamie. The primary reason is that Jaime’s consistent performance would likely lead to less disruption and potential conflict with co-workers and therefore create a more productive work environment. In today’s knowledge-based economy, a greater amount of work (products and services) produced by companies requires collaboration and sharing of information amongst workers. I feel Jamie’s consistent performance would more likely lead to a team environment where collaboration and sharing of information occurs.  

If the work activities in the job description require mostly individual contributor accountabilities with minimal dependencies on collaborating and working with co-workers to achieve expected results, Avery might be the best fit for the job. Avery’s high-performance skills could result in the outcome of work exceeding performance expectations, and this could benefit the company. A direct supervisor could manage Avery’s tendency to “slack-off”, while having minimal to no negative impact to co-workers. If the nature of Avery’s work is primarily individualized, providing flexible hours could be an option that allows for Avery to achieve high results on a timeline that works best for Avery. A management approach for Avery’s supervisor might be to clearly communicate the expected results, clearly state when the work is due, and then get out of Avery’s way and enable Avery to accomplish great work. 

If the work activities in the job description require significant collaboration and dependencies with co-workers to achieve expected results, Jaime is likely the better candidate. I believe Jamie’s consistency would be valued by co-workers, lead to less disruptive co-worker/team conflict, and therefore result in an overall higher performing and productive team. A management approach for Jamie’s supervisor might be to assess Jamie’s job skill strengthens and weaknesses, then place Jamie on a team where Jamie’s job skills are complimentary to those of the team versus amplifying existing team weaknesses.