If I were in the shoes of the business owner and had to choose which person I would hire, I would choose Jamie. Avery does offer great qualities, such as high performance, but a major disadvantage to selecting Avery is the lack of consistency. With having to fill an essential opening in a company, I would need someone to be there consistently and be there for others to ask questions or to help others. Avery being able to have a high performance inconsistently will not build a solid foundation for the company and other employees. Choosing Jamie will provide consistency. Though Jamie does not go above and beyond, they consistently offer pretty good results. This can assist the company to have a person in an essential position with consistency to offer help and support for all.
A job that would be better suited to hire someone like Avery than Jamie is a job that is perhaps jobs that are more challenging and has a greater reward at the end, like sales. A job like this can better suit Avery because she is a high performer, but needs that push for consistency. A job that challenges, has risk, and offers something rewarding at the end can allow Avery to display her high performance. This job would make Avery more valuable than Jamie because Avery can perform above and beyond; a high-stakes job needs one who does more than the bare minimum. Jamie’s “pretty good performance” will not suffice in a challenging, time-critical job.
A job that would better suit Jamie is a job that has a routine and stability, like a manager who oversees daily operations. This would suit Jamie because it offers consistency. Jamie will know how to perform their day-to-day job and be able to perform “pretty good” without having to push themselves to the limit every day. While there may be challenges, Jamie can learn the job inside and out with their consistency and good performance. Jamie would be more valuable to this job because it requires and needs consistency of good performance. Without the consistency of good performance of Jamie, operations can fall apart and get out of hand, overall disrupting business operations.
5 replies on “Week 5 – Blog Post: Typical vs. Maximal Performance ”
Hi Haly,
I totally agree with you. While both Avery and Jamie bring good qualities to the table, I would be more likely to hire Jamie in most scenarios. A consistent employee makes it easier to predict behavior and outcomes and plan successfully. You also bring up a good point that high-performing employees like Avery are a good fit for jobs that involve more risk. It seems like this type of employee works best under pressure while others might feel too overwhelmed. Another area where I think high-performing employees would succeed is in creative roles like product design.
Great work!
Hello Haly,
I 100% agree with you on choosing Jaime for the position. I loved your use of the word foundation in the description. I found it perfectly encapsulates what the meaning of an essential role is. When I wrote my blog, I talked about how important consistency is when the role is essential. If the person put in that position is only high performing sometimes, it doesn’t matter whether they have high rewards, it doesn’t balance out the lack of performance for the rest of the time.
Hi Haly,
I agree with your choice on hiring Jamie over Avery. I think that in the long run it would benefit the company more to hire someone who will produce them consistent results. You did a great job coming up with examples for jobs better suited for Jamie and jobs better suited for Avery.
Hi Haly, I really liked how clearly you broke down the pros and cons of both candidates. I agreed with your point that consistency is especially important when filling an essential position. I’ve seen firsthand in my own leadership role how one person’s dependability can have a big impact on the rest of the team especially when others rely on them for support or guidance. I also thought your examples of job types were spot-on. You made a great case for Avery thriving in a high-risk, high-reward role like sales. I hadn’t considered how the right environment might actually help someone like Avery push themselves more often. And your point about Jamie being a strong fit for operations makes a lot of sense those day-to-day responsibilities need someone reliable.
Hi Daly,
I also chose to go ahead and select Jaime for the new job opening. I agree with you that having someone that will be consistent is way more valuable to the organization. I did want to mention I like your perspective on Avery excelling in a sales position or something where there are more rewards on the line. Overall great post!