When Companies Ignore the Statistics

Earlier we discussed an example of statistics that show that someone is not doing their job well. In this case, umpires in baseball. As technology advanced, it was shown that umpires are wrong considerably often – enough that their errors are drastically affecting the game.

It’s been argued that maybe umpires should be assisted with computers, to help make sure their calls are accurate. Despite all of this evidence, MLB – and a lot of baseball’s supporters – have met this idea with serious opposition. “The human element is a part of baseball” they claim, and they are generally unwilling to accept the idea that errors are bad for the sport. They believe that even though evidence shows there is a problem, the status quo is still the way to go.

Right here we see similarities to what happens with employers. They see that their employees are generally unsatisfied with management or leadership, and decide that while management may need to make a few changes, it is otherwise the employees that are simply misunderstanding the intent of leadership, and few changes get made. Even though technology shows that the employees are being unfairly treated, they refuse to make the hard changes necessary to fix it.

But once again, assuming that management is being conducted correctly is simply ignoring evidence. Going back to the baseball example, the belief that umpire mistakes are a part of baseball ignores the fact that hitters in baseball are being punished for doing their job correctly. When a player takes a pitch out of the strike zone, they’re doing their job correctly.

When a pitcher pitches inside of the strike zone, they’re doing their job correctly. They’re human too, striving for perfection in their job. When the umpire gets the call wrong, they’re unfairly punishing the hitters and pitchers for doing their job.

Companies, like baseball, need to be willing to make significant changes when evidence is found that people are being unfairly treated when they are doing their jobs correctly. When a pitcher throws a pitch for a strike, they should be rewarded for a strike. When an employee does a good job at work, they should be treated like someone that is valuable at work.

That is the purpose of doing this type of research – to uncover problems that may not be apparent by any subjective analysis. But it can only be useful if businesses are also willing to open themselves up to the idea that changes need to be made, and that the data needs to drive those decisions. Related Blog