7 Reasons You Need a Predictive Index Job Target

Solving Workforce Analytics Challenges

At work, there’s one thing that unites almost all of us: the frustration of making bad business decisions because we don’t have the right data at our fingertips. If you’ve ever hired someone based on a glowing resume or stellar interview, only to find out a few months later that they’re not thriving in the role, you’re not alone. Many leaders have experienced that sinking feeling of realizing that despite all the effort invested in the hiring process, something just didn’t click. 

What’s even worse is when poor decision-making stems from ignoring predictive performance data. How many times have you heard about—or perhaps been involved in—hiring someone based on a gut feeling, only to be blindsided by their underperformance? It’s a story as old as business itself, and it comes down to one critical point: we can’t rely solely on resumes, interviews, or even instincts to make the best decisions for our teams.

That’s where the Predictive Index^® (PI) Job Target comes in. Let’s talk about why it’s time to start incorporating this tool into your workforce analytics strategy to make more informed, data-driven decisions. Trust me—it’ll change how you hire, coach, and even promote employees.

A Personal Perspective: When the Job Doesn’t Fit

Let me tell you a little about myself. I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, with honors no less! On paper, you might think I was destined for a career in tech, but here’s the truth—I wasn’t hard-wired for that job. While I had the education and would have been enthusiastic in interviews, my natural wiring wasn’t aligned with what the role truly demanded. 

What do I mean by that? Sure, I could sit at a desk coding all day. But did I want to? Absolutely not. My strengths—connecting with others, taking fast action, helping people solve problems—weren’t a fit for that world. So, I pivoted to sales, where I get to use my natural strengths every day. This story might sound familiar to you or someone on your team. This is why understanding job fit from a behavioral and cognitive standpoint is so important. 

A PI Job Target would have told me this long before I had to figure it out on my own. Thankfully, I found my fit, but wouldn’t it have been easier if I had a tool that could show me from the start what roles would actually make me thrive?

Why You Need a PI Job Target

A Job Target is a tool within the Predictive Index framework that identifies the ideal behavioral traits and cognitive abilities needed for a specific role. It provides a data-driven benchmark to ensure candidates or employees are a strong fit for the job, helping to align natural strengths with job requirements for optimal performance and satisfaction.

1. Increase Job Satisfaction

Finding a job that feels like a natural fit is essential for long-term engagement and satisfaction. Think about it: the closer we get to roles that allow us to lean into what lights us up, the more engaged we are, the less stressed we feel, and the more we perform. A great fit reduces those dreaded “Sunday Scaries” and increases overall happiness. Why shouldn’t we help people find jobs they love, right from the start?

2. Hire the Right Person the First Time

Hiring is expensive. Period. When you hire based on a resume alone, you’re missing two huge pieces of the puzzle—learning agility and workplace behavior. The PI Job Target helps you get the right person into the right role from day one. You’ll avoid the costly cycle of turnover, and instead, build a team of people who are aligned with what the job actually requires, not just what their resume says. If you’re looking for data-driven hiring methods, this is it.

3. Gain Performance Insights

Why is one employee thriving while another is struggling? The PI Job Target offers clarity on this. It gives you a lens to understand which aspects of performance are linked to natural alignment with the job and where there might be a behavioral gap. Leaders can then offer targeted, data-driven coaching, communication, and support to help employees close that gap and thrive in their roles. Instead of generic performance reviews, you can pinpoint exactly what will drive success and take action.

4. Build Lateral Movement and Promotions

Promoting someone without understanding their behavioral alignment with the new role can be a double-edged sword. Not only do you risk losing a top performer from their current role, but you might also set them up for failure in the new position. The PI Job Target helps you avoid this by ensuring that lateral moves and promotions align with a person’s natural strengths, putting people in roles where they’ll continue to excel.

5. Create Career Pathing

One of the most overlooked benefits of using the PI Job Target is the ability to map out long-term career paths. People often don’t realize their potential or how their strengths might align with roles they’ve never considered. With the PI Job Target, you can guide employees toward growth opportunities that align with their natural behaviors, creating a win-win situation for both the individual and the organization.

6. Predict Functional Team Performance

When you’re managing a team, understanding how each member aligns with their role can make or break performance. Using the PI Job Target, you can compare team behaviors to job targets and understand why the team is performing the way it is, as well as predict who on the team will become a high performer, based on their job fit. Maybe it’s a perfect fit, or maybe there are a few behavioral gaps that need to be addressed with specific coaching or role adjustments. It’s like having a roadmap for maximizing team efficiency.

7. Identifying Team Gaps

One of the most exciting uses of the PI Job Target is when you pair it with broader team design and analytics. You can identify gaps within a team or department, and then use that data to fill those gaps with people whose natural behaviors match the roles needed. It’s about leveraging data not just to fix problems, but to get ahead of them and create high-performing teams by design, not by chance.

The Power of Forward-Looking Solutions

The PI Job Target doesn’t just help you solve today’s workforce challenges; it sets you up for future success. By adopting a forward-looking approach, you’re  addressing immediate hiring or performance issues and you’re paving the way for long-term growth, innovation, and team cohesion. These strategies allow us to not only optimize for current success but to think strategically about where we want to go as an organization. 

At the end of the day, it’s about being proactive, not reactive. We all want to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again, whether that’s a bad hire or a lateral move that goes sideways. The PI Job Target gives us the data we need to make better, more informed decisions that drive performance and happiness for the entire team.

Let’s get started using data to make better decisions today and build the high-performing teams of tomorrow.