What are the best ways to promote Servant Leadership in your organization's hiring process?

2 Design your process

Once you have defined your culture, you need to design your hiring process to align with it. This means choosing the methods, tools, and criteria that will help you assess the servant leadership potential of your candidates. For example, you can use behavioral-based interviews, situational judgment tests, role plays, or case studies to evaluate how candidates would handle specific scenarios related to servant leadership. You can also use personality tests, values assessments, or references to gauge how candidates fit with your culture and values. You should also involve multiple stakeholders, such as managers, peers, or customers, in the hiring process to get different perspectives and feedback.

3 Develop your questions

To promote servant leadership in your hiring process, you should develop your questions carefully and strategically. Ask questions that elicit meaningful and relevant responses from your candidates, and that reveal their motivation, attitude, and skills related to servant leadership. For instance, you can inquire about how they have demonstrated or experienced servant leadership in the past. Examples of such questions are: “How have you helped others grow and develop in your previous roles?”; “How do you cope with ambiguity and uncertainty in your work environment?”; or “How do you deal with ethical dilemmas or conflicts in your work?” Additionally, challenge candidates to apply servant leadership principles to hypothetical or future situations. For example, ask them how they would approach a new project or initiative that requires collaboration and innovation, how they would motivate and inspire a diverse and remote team, or how they would foster a culture of servant leadership in your organization.

4 Demonstrate your values

Finally, you can promote servant leadership in your hiring process by demonstrating your values and practices throughout the process. You want to show your candidates that you are not only looking for servant leaders, but that you are also practicing servant leadership yourself. This means treating your candidates with respect, empathy, and fairness, and providing them with clear and timely communication, feedback, and support. You also want to showcase your organizational achievements, initiatives, and stories that reflect your commitment to servant leadership, and invite your candidates to share their own. By doing so, you can create a positive and memorable impression of your organization, and build trust and rapport with your candidates.