The science & data behind hiring great leaders – SAVCA Conference

The South African Venture Capital Association’s annual private equity industry conference is a high-level networking and information sharing event, that has been held since 2008. A range of keynote presentations and panel sessions focused on this year’s theme, “Hindsight, Insight, Foresight”. Debbie Goodman-Bhyat was invited to share insights on leadership, in the private equity sector and beyond.

Her keynote, ‘The Science and Data Behind Hiring Great Leaders’ provided key data points on how to stack the odds of hiring successfully, predictably. The learnings:

  1. Psychometric assessments are not an exact science!
  2. New data shows a low correlation between qualifications and top performance.
  3. Unstructured interviews and unconscious bias lead to poor hiring decisions.
  4. ‘Leadership’ needs to be defined for each phase in a company’s evolution.

For more info on the conference: http://savca.co.za/savca-conference-2018/