Maximize Hiring: Abbv. Version; Accurate Hiring for New Leaders

Most would agree that great results come from planning, execution and iteration.?Success in hiring isn’t an exception to this rule.?

For those experiencing the fallout of an ill-conceived hiring process here’s a place to start.?A measuring stick of sorts to help you get from where you are, to great.

How to hire:

- define the job as a set of objectives, deliverables, or desired results, and attach timeframes so they are measurable.?[don’t get hung up on perfect, just a best guess]

- define the intangible qualities that in your experience makes a good employee, team-mate, manager, etc.

Like; self-motivated to pursue high standards, helps others, learns fast, self-improves, asks good questions, acts on feedback.

- sourcing – this is a big topic by itself, so we’ll leave it for another day, but in brief, go find great people; use method(s) best adapted to your timeline and budget.

- salary negotiation – this topic is big enough for a book, and salary should be negotiated throughout the entire interview process.?Here’s why.?Wasting time on a candidate that won’t accept is stupid.?

?*1st conversation – establish agreement between our range and his range.

?*2nd conversation (before onsite) – our current assessment is that you’re experience puts you in the middle of the range. Base on what you know about the position so far, do you agree, and would you like to go to the next stage?

*3rd conversation – secure agreement based on verbal offer.?“if” candidate can’t agree, don’t move forward until you fully understand “why”.?

*Final conversation – confirm acceptance of written offer, and confirm that written offer is exactly what we discussed verbally.

?- interviewing culture – open every interview by stating your intentions; and providing an interview framework.?I’d do something like this (but you should accurately represent YOUR interview process and style).?William, thanks for coming in to meet with us.?Our intention is to work with you today to understand your best capabilities, and discover together if you’re the best candidate to fill our open <insert job title> position.?We’ll ask loads of questions, feel free to take your time answering, take notes as needed.?Scribble down questions you’d like to ask us, and we’ll be sure to find time to answer all of your questions.

?- assessment design– decide in advance what you will measure and how.?Let’s use our intangibles as an example.

?????????????*self-motivated to pursue high standards

?????????????*helps others

?????????????*learns fast; self-improves

?????????????*asks good questions; acts on feedback

?- interviewing – ask open ended questions that relate directly to the job objectives.?If I was interviewing a construction apprentice, I might ask.?Tell me about a project you worked on in the past that’s most closely related to, or uses some of the skills you will use in this role?

?- assessment analysis & decision-making – review the data gathered using a scorecard designed to help you evaluate the data gathered during the interview; look for reasons to believe that your candidate displays each of these qualities.?Let’s ‘assess’ our intangibles.

?As I determine whether or not a candidate ‘has or does not have’ a specific quality, I will want to back up my hypothesis with data. I'm looking for evidence to prove my assumption. E.g.

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• Self-motivated to pursue high standards – candidate told a story of running a lawn mowing business in high school, and saving up profits to purchase an EDGER that would allow him to work faster and provide a consistent look where lawn meets cement surfaces.
• Helps others – during work history review, candidate explained how he took it upon himself to train a new employee because the assistant manager went home sick leaving the manager short-handed.
• Learns fast; self-improves – while explaining college coursework underway, candidate related how he started hanging around with fellow students that appeared to be taking their studies seriously, learned new study habits, and joined study groups that made a big impact on his grades.
• Asks good questions; acts on feedback – during a the writing of a science research for a college course, asked for editing guidance from TA during office hours, made suggested changes and score A- on paper worth 40% of course grade.

It’s unlikely that I will get all of the necessary data, which is why a team of 3-5 interviewers in a progressive format will increase accuracy.

Note: why did I use an entry level role for my example? Because most people don't believe you can interview and hire entry level people accurately. They claim there's no work experience upon which to base an interview.

?- interviewing analysis – the goal of interviewing is to gather data.?In the interview we did not ask a question about “asking questions, or acting on feedback” we simply looked for examples in the work history conversation that pointed to the likelihood that this candidate possessed these qualities.?

• after analysis, we ask ourself.?Did my line of questioning uncover the data I was seeking to find?
• if yes, don’t change anything
• if no, consider “adding” to the next interview.?Or, if the candidate still has remaining interviews notify upcoming interviewer that they should give specific attention to gathering X (the missed data).

?- interview process - repeat until candidate has met with desired team members

?- candidate debrief session – review top level feedback/hiring recommendations; be prepared to back your recommendation with data, or withdraw your recommendation.?Then work through individual item where disagreement prohibits decision.

?- render decision - extend offer, notify candidate of pass, or let candidate know when all candidates will complete interviews and when you will make final decision.

?- offer acceptance – If you’re transparent with them, expect them to give you the same respect.?I’ve had 100% of the last 100 written offers accepted. So can you.

?Need more help on this, let me know.

This is a big topic distilled to under 1000 words.?So, if you’re dying to drill down into niche topic, let me know.?For now, just remember, accurate recruiting is easy.?Follow the formula.

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#visionaryleader #hiring #interviewing #softwareengineering #hireinreverse

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PS - I write about today’s workforce, how meaning, impact, satisfying work, and social conscience became the new hiring currency, hiring problems, the epic battle to unleash brilliant minds and inspire the hearts of your people, and how to build admirable companies.