Get Smart About Hiring Practices
Behavior-based interviewing can help ensure a good fit.
Thinking about adding to staff this year? Before you start recruiting potential job candidates, be aware that the consequences of a poor hiring decision can linger for years. That's why it's critical to identify the exact combination of skills, experience, and demeanor you're looking for — before you make an offer.
"Every new hire, no matter how long they stay, will leave their footprint," says Wendy Benedict, a senior human resources consultant with Manpower, Inc. in Dallas. "That's why hiring managers must first understand the position they're hiring for, what it's going to take for someone to succeed at that job, and whether a particular candidate will fit their firm's unique culture."
Focus Interviews on Behaviors
The traditional approach to interviewing job candidates focuses on prior experience and outcomes. Questions such as, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" or "Describe a typical workday in your current position" often produce predictable responses that yield little relevant information.
Rather than focusing exclusively on a candidate's technical skills or prior experience, Benedict recommends "behavior-based interviewing." By focusing on questions that solicit information about how a candidate acted in specific employment-related situations in the past, you will gain important clues about future performance.
For example, rather than asking, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" you might say, "Give me an example of when you used logic to solve a problem." The goal is to get to the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" within the candidate's experience to understand past behavior. "Let the candidate know that you are asking for specific examples of their accomplishments in previous positions, their actions, and the results they achieved," says Benedict.
Behavior-based interviewing can be more time consuming than traditional interviewing. However, when done well, Benedict says it can mean the difference between a superstar hire and a merely good hire. "Recruiting is a game of odds," says Benedict. "It's not a cure-all, but looking at past behavior can tilt the odds in your favor."
Remember that, just as a job candidate needs to prepare for an interview, hiring managers also need to do their homework to ensure they obtain the information they need to make smart hiring decisions. "You can conduct what you think is a really good interview, but if you haven't gotten the relevant information you need to make a decision, then you haven't achieved your objective," says Benedict.
Manpower Inc. is an independent company and is not affiliated with BNA Software. Their input to this article does not suggest a recommendation or endorsement by BNA Software.
