Interviewing for Growth
Organizations are being inundated with candidates in what is obviously an employer market. The hoped-for pipeline of candidates is full. There is no problem filling jobs, right? We’ve all been taught how to ask behavioral questions, and that has led us to a 1.000 hiring batting average and no turnover! (Cue the crickets.)
Today’s topic is one that is so important to effective hiring, yet often gets less attention than sourcing; and the two can’t function separately from each other as they are all part of an effective pre-employment process.
· You painstakingly conducted an effective intake meeting to understand the organization’s needs. If you haven’t, stop here and reevaluate everything in your hiring world.
· You sourced candidates in a variety of ways. Hopefully, you’re not just posting and praying because that results in the most ineffective and costly process of all.
· You screen candidates. Or you say you do. How often do those candidates pass the screening step then don’t get hired? Have you evaluated why that is? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not normal to push forward a high number of screened candidates to then not cross the finish line with them. Coke or Pepsi would not bottle thousands of bottles of beverage to hope that a few hundred are acceptable to sell, would they?
· Then you interview. So much has been written about this that I can see your eyes glaze over as you read on. Behavioral interview questions! Behavioral interview questions! Behavioral interview questions! Repeat after me!
But what if there was more to getting it right?
Well, there is. That is, of course, if you want to be efficient and cost effective; and realize that hiring mistakes are losses that impact your bottom line just like poor productivity, or process waste/scrap. It also means attaching a dollar value to quality hiring (which will, without question, be of greater tangible value to your P&L than anything you can dream up related to time-to-fill).
I’ve often asked hiring leaders to consider Patrick Lencioni’s way of thinking as highlighted in his book, The Ideal Team Player, where he emphasizes hiring people who are humble, hungry, and smart. That usually leads to the follow-up question, “how do we figure that out in an interview?”
Fair question.
I suggest that you augment your selection process with Topgrading, a process that was first described by Brad Smart, Ph.D. over twenty years ago in his book of the same name. Topgrading provides a structured framework to help you get into the heart and head of a candidate, and to make better informed hiring decisions so that you can build a company around A-players. And “…it’s not just about hiring and promoting – it’s also about developing talent. It teaches [users] the most successful techniques for coaching A players to remain As, and for turning some Bs and even C players into As.”
In Good to Great, Jim Collins first used the analogy “get the right people on the bus.” That’s followed with “get the right people in the right seats” (I’ll unashamedly testify that I’ve been the right person in the wrong seat before); and then, “get the wrong people off the bus.”
How do we get the right people on the bus? It’s not done through hopes and dreams. I’ll refer you back to Topgrading. For more information, check out what Topgrading has to offer at Topgrading.com and you’ll be on your way.