Z_A

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Employee Mood Analytics: Don’t Just Measure the Symptom, Measure the Cause!
Z_A
Last modified on April 13, 2020 at 10:41 pm
In this post, I share my thoughts on the article, “Employee mood measurement trends” by Tom Haak, which amongst other things, describes three main means of measuring employee mood: traditional surveys, simple daily feedback tools, and passive data mining of [...]

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On April 14, 2020, Z_A commented on Pymetrics – Is customized AI solution for perfect match making in hiring? :

This platform makes me nervous. The connection between how I respond to red dots on a screen and some 90 traits is far from intuitive. In the end, I’m left with no choice as the applicant but to believe that the algorithm knows what it’s doing. Perhaps this is a good thing, since it disincentives me from trying to game the system.

On the other hand, something that may not get captured by this system is an applicant’s grit and work ethic. Not every one may be able to get through these cognitive tests. I’ve been wowed time and time again by how sheer grit has been able to help such people deliver outstanding results. Hopefully the algorithm has a way of measuring that too… But then again, the company can claim it already does without us ever knowing if it truly does.

That said, I must say that it is a step in the right direction and I agree that the competitive landscape is perhaps the biggest obstacle Pymetrics has to navigate in order to be successful. Good luck to them!

On April 14, 2020, Z_A commented on Artificial Intelligence and Ethics :

It’s funny how the world works. In most cases, innovation leads while regulations follow, and perhaps rightly so in most cases. So far, it seems as though big data mining is growing at such high rates, that regulators are struggling to keep up. In the places where laws are in place, the focus seems to be mainly on privacy. However, there’s this whole other issue of how the data is used. For example, while it is legally reasonable for my employer to be able to scrape data from my work emails, why should they be able to use it to detect that I’m considering other options outside the firm? If the culture is vindictive, that’s the quickest way for me to get a target on my back. That said, given the plethora of ways in which the data can be used, it’s unclear that regulations will ever be able to catch up.

On April 13, 2020, Z_A commented on Humu Nudges: Nifty Reminders or Lazy Leadership? :

Dan, I agree that there are many steps that can be taken to improve leadership within an organization before resorting to this product. However, while I won’t pay a hundred thousand dollars, I sure wouldn’t mind parting with a few thousand for it. It’s amazing how so many things can slip one’s imperfect mind in the face of mounting work pressures and life’s distractions. A tool like can definitely help to plug the cracks, make things more manageable and improve one’s overall effectiveness. That said, my worry here is twofold: 1) The number of nudges can become a metric for managerial ineffectiveness. But this is strictly personal. Last thing I need is some silly tool tracking me when I slip up with even things of little consequence. 2) One can become overly dependent on it, in the same way I’ve become too dependent on using calculators to perform basic arithmetic. This spells good news for Humu, because their product has the potential to become sticky, if deployed right. Still, it’s bad for the individual who can no longer function without it. All in all, like you, I’m bearish on it’s ability to penetrate the market quickly.