Team Member Experience Path
Stage 2: Hiring (Part 1 of 2)
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Click here to view and download the
Team Member Experience Path Overview.
Click here to view and download
Sample Opener & Interview Questions.
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As we walk through the Team Member Experience Path together in 2021, we are reminded there is essentially nothing new under the sun. There is no magic hiring formula or methodology that will ensure the right fit and the right hire every time. In fact, General Colin Powell shared in his book, It Worked for Me, there are so many nuances to the hiring process the best he hoped for was a 50% success rate. That’s what we call encouraging! We’ve found hiring is truly both an art and a science and through the years have endeavored to create processes and methods that will work as well as possible as often as possible and we hope to achieve General Powell’s success rate.
As a team, we receive many questions around the Hiring Phase. In order to address the scope and dynamics of this phase, we’ll be covering it this month with a focus on internal preparation and next month with a focus on engaging with the candidate before, during and after the interview process. With the art and science perspective in mind, here are a few steps we take and tools we employ to achieve the 50% success rate as consistently as possible:
First and foremost, we recommend hiring primarily for character and values/vision/mission fit while hiring for ability and skill secondarily. You’ve probably heard the cliché, ‘hire for attitude, train for skill.’ Perhaps an oversimplification however, there is significant truth and wisdom in hiring for character and values/vision/mission fit first. Of course, if you need to hire a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist, skill will likely rise in importance - it’s not an either/or, but a both/and approach.
Ensure your organization has a clearly articulated Values, Vision and Mission statement. We approach traditional values, vision and mission as organizational “D-N-A.” If you plan to add a team member to your organization, it’s important to know ‘the team’s DNA code’ as it relates to decision making and behavioral boundaries and expectations. Ask yourself, against what standard or expectation what are we measuring our new hire?
Ensure there is a clear Team Member Profile in place pre-hire. The Team Member Profile, our version of a job description (click here to view more), articulates with extreme clarity, the ideal characteristics, skills and experience desired for the role, as well as the scope of responsibilities and detailed expectations.
Design insightful interview questions regarding character and behavioral disciplines and skill sets. Focus more questions on character traits that may help to reveal perspective, decision-making paradigms and values versus skill oriented questions. Click here to view 5 Sample Opening Questions and 10 Sample Generic Interview Questions.
Provide team members engaged in the interview process with advance copies of the candidate’s resume and interview questions and rehearse and or role play interviewing situations.
Be certain to comply with all State and Federal hiring regulations and laws. We are not HR or legal experts, and stress the importance of complying with all laws, particularly in the areas of equality, non-discrimination, pre-employment testing, employment offers and tools assessment administration.
Ask anyone on your team with casual and or direct contact with the candidate about how the candidate engaged with them and how they were treated by the candidate. Be aware of candidates who say one thing and do another when they think a person they are interacting with cannot or does not influence the decision making process. Every individual has value and deserves dignity, respect and should be treated with honor.
As we mentioned in step #5 above, we’ve included sample opener and interview questions and hope you may find them to be of value (click here to view and download). It may seem we are recommending a tremendous amount of resources (time, energy and money), to be invested in the hiring process. This is because in our experience, the greater the investment in the internal preparation, the higher quality result you will yield.
We’re reminded of the bumper sticker ‘if you think education is expensive, try ignorance!’ We believe the axiom applies and recognize there is truly nothing new under the sun. Investing in people and processes always yields the best results possible. We hope these tools will help ensure you hit the 50% success rate!
RESOURCE
SilkRoad Technology
Provides platforms to optimize employee engagement from offer through the entire employee experience.
READING
The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
By Michael Watkins
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Managing From The Inside Out
Spring Sessions
Begin Wednesday, April 7!
Seven 3-Hour Sessions on Wednesdays
In Person Class from 8:30-11:30 A.M.
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April 7, 14, 21, 28
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Register today to engage in professional growth and development as a Leader Manager and join us for Managing From The Inside Out beginning Wednesday, April 7.
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