If I were in the shoes of this business owner, my choice of candidate would be Jamie. While Jamie’s may have a lower potential than Avery the far more consistent and reliable results they provide a good starting point to work with and have a positive result. The struggle to provide more than the “daily needs” is something that I feel could easily be worked on over time as Jamie became more comfortable within the company through proper coaching to help get them up to a level like Avery but holding onto that strong and steady consistency.
I believe a job that would best suit Avery would be something spontaneous and never too repetitive. Something like a consulting firm that deals with one-off issues as they come in each providing its own challenges and unique problems. I feel that such a scenario would allow Avery to put her best foot forward with a strong performance and high quality, while not falling behind or dropping off with each case as nothing will be directly “repetitive” like your typical desk/office job. Showing that someone who is better in the moment as things come each time like Avery can provide the best results for the specific type of consulting being done.
Jamie on the other hand I believe would better suit a job that is routine-based, with similar work and expectations day after day. For Jamie, I think a job in manufacturing or maintenance would be a perfect fit for his level of performance. These types of jobs often run day in, and day out and rely on consistency in order for perfection to be achieved. Whether that comes from following a specific guide or general process for the work done they would perfectly fit and incorporate Jamie’s consistency without needing a large potential out of the gate. They also offer enough variation so that Jamie is exposed to some potential and able to grow it as he works, without needing to make drastic changes out of the gate, or while he completes his necessary tasks each day. Someone with a lower consistency level in such a job (like Avery) may begin to change how things are done to bring in some variation to the repetitive nature of the task, which in manufacturing could lead to quality issues, and other problems arising that someone like Jamie could easily avoid.
