‘Events like the Covid-19 pandemic and the Great Resignation only highlight the need for the fundamental changes we’re making to the hiring process’: Stephen D. Johnston, Chairman and CEO of GoodJob Software, LLC

“GoodJob is 100 percent focused on perfecting the process for matching jobs and candidates based on psychology and science — to create the best outcomes for employers and employees.”

Hiring has never faced greater challenges. From the Great Resignation to the loss of hundreds of thousands of employees to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is no longer a given that “if you hire them, they will come.” Employers must take the time to hire the right employees or face the insurmountable costs of never-ending sourcing, hiring, training, and retention efforts. In fact, HBR says 80 percent of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions, and those decisions can cost more than five times the annual salary of the bad hire.

That said, GoodJob Software, LLC, an AI-based software company, is uniquely poised to solve this problem for companies. GoodJob combines its PATH Assessment^® platform with machine learning and AI to identify the right candidates. The company operates worldwide.

GoodJob is headquartered in Birmingham, AL.

The Silicon Review contacted Stephen D. Johnston, Chairman and CEO of GoodJob Software, LLC, who spoke about how the company is making a difference in this segment and plans to lead from the front. Below is an excerpt.

Head to Head with Stephen D. Johnston, Chairman and CEO of GoodJob Software, LLC

Q. How responsive is GoodJob to the changing needs of candidates and employers?

GoodJob is uniquely positioned to support the needs of employers and HR professionals, who’ve been tasked with increasing retention while controlling costs. The right candidate and the wrong candidate cost the same amount on day one, but the wrong candidate costs much more in the long run. The tools we’ve been using to choose the right candidates aren’t working, and GoodJob is replacing those tools with science.

For candidates, they’re more interested than ever before in finding jobs that don’t just pay them but also nourish them — and the PATH Assessment^® does just that.

Q. How does GoodJob simplify the hiring process?

Companies that deploy GoodJob as part of their hiring process can quickly identify the best candidates before they’re even interviewed, saving time and money while generating better results.

Q. What can you tell us about your PATH Assessment^® tool?

Created by a group of professors from Harvard and Stanford Universities in 1982 and refined over the next 40 years, the science behind the PATH Assessment^® is a mathematical model that can predict an employee’s productivity and longevity with a few short questions. It works by identifying a candidate’s Purpose, Approach, Thinking, and Habits — the four modes employees function in at work — and creating a trait map so comprehensive that there are 13 billion possible results. We match these results to employees who are already successful in their roles so that a candidate’s match score is unique to each role and each company.

Q. What are your other focus areas?

GoodJob is 100 percent focused on perfecting the process for matching jobs and candidates based on psychology and science — to create the best outcomes for employers and employees.

Q. No doubt GoodJob is charting new territories in this segment. Given how frequently circumstances change, what plans for transformation are you pursuing to remain relevant now and in the future?

Our primary goal is — getting every available candidate to complete the PATH Assessment^® so that we can help them find roles where they’re wired for success. This is an evergreen benefit that will follow employees throughout their careers. For employers, we’re teaching them additional benefits for using the PATH, including leadership development and succession planning.

Q. How do you plan to counter challenges that you think GoodJob might face in the next five years?

We’re fortunate enough to be at the forefront of a movement to replace the 500-year-old hiring system of resumes and interviews with our AI technology. We’re intensely confident in how this will improve the lives of everyone who works, regardless of what new challenges arise. Events like the pandemic and the Great Resignation only highlight the need for the fundamental changes we’re making to the hiring process.

Stephen D. Johnston | Chairman & CEO

Stephen Johnston is a global entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in creating and leading successful ventures. In January 2019, he launched GoodJob which simplifies the hiring process for employers and candidates where he currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He built his first technology company, SmartSynch, a pioneer in the wireless IoT space, in Mississippi where he led it from a start-up in 2000 through a successful exit in 2012. While at SmartSynch, Mr. Johnston was named one of the most influential executives in the smart grid space and was a finalist for Ernst & Young’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award’.

After SmartSynch, Mr. Johnston produced ‘Same Kind of Different as Me’, a major motion picture released by Paramount Pictures in October 2017. The inspirational film, based on the New York Times Best Selling Book, stars Greg Kinnear, Renee Zellweger, Djimon Hounsou, Jon Voight, and Olivia Holt, and is a true story about a wise homeless man and his relationship with a wealthy couple in Fort Worth, Texas.

Mr. Johnston was a Hearin-Hess Scholar at The University of Mississippi where he earned a BBA in 1993. He has served on numerous community boards and is a co-founder of The Everybody Can Help Somebody Foundation. He is an active member of the Ole Miss Alumni Association, having served on the Executive Committee and Alumni Board for many years. He has been a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) for 17 years and previously served on the Southern 7 Board and as the Mississippi Chapter Chair. He and his wife, Melissa, have four children and currently reside in Birmingham, Alabama.

“Created by a group of professors from Harvard and Stanford Universities in 1982 and refined over the next 40 years, the science behind the PATH Assessment^® is a mathematical model that can predict an employee’s productivity and longevity with a few short questions.”