Interviewing to Hire the Right Talent

While we are not fully sure where the economy is headed, all the signs say things will continue to get better and organizations are actively hiring. It appears that there is a dearth of qualified applicants in many fields and hiring managers are struggling to find the right people for their openings.

Hiring managers use many different strategies to select new hires. One of the most common strategies is to find applicants who present as having similar backgrounds and personalities to the interviewer, the manager, or to the culture and personality of the company and the team. Many managers believe that anyone can be taught the technical aspects of the job and therefore personality is the important factor to be considered in making hiring decisions. While making sure someone will blend into the organizational culture is certainly a key factor, it usually isn’t enough to ensure a good match for both the company and the individual looking for a position.

While many hiring managers or members of interview teams know how to conduct interviews that will result in a good match to their openings, some do not. Too often the interviewer doesn’t formally prepare for the interview. They read the resume and then will go into the interview session and wing it. Others will jot down some notes about aspects of the individual’s resume that they want to explore. This is a good start, but there is more preparation needed if the hiring team wants to improve the odds of a good hire.

I agree that it is important to hire people who will fit into the organization’s culture. I believe there are several factors that need to be considered when hiring new employees. An individual’s resume might list subject matter knowledge that is required for the position but it is also important to find out how the individual applies that knowledge. For example, if the position has strict standards that need to be followed and the interviewee has had good luck with improvising in similar situations, that person may not fit even though – on paper – it looks like they do.

It is my belief that hiring decisions need to take several factors into account. Also, each interviewer needs to prepare for the interview. People who will be interviewing candidates should all use the same template to note the responses to the prepared questions but also should have an area to make personal comments. Team members should share any issues they uncover with any of the interview questions as soon as possible so that all interviewers can make adjustments to the common questions. Each interviewer should prepare additional questions specific to their interests and should ask these questions of all the candidates that they interview. There are many good recommendations on-line for interview questions. Here is one example and many more are available:

https://www.thebalance.com/best-interview-questions-for-employers-to-ask-applicants-1918483

It is very important to take notes during the interview, don’t depend on your memory. Also, by taking notes during the interview it allows you to interview several applicants in succession. You can move onto the next applicant and not be concerned about remembering the specifics of each interview.

I strongly recommend against leading questions (e.g., I really like to do XYZ do you agree? Don’t you think that…) as this might indicate the desired answer to the interviewee. The interviewer should allow the applicant to speak without saying anything themselves. It is important to be attentive and to show attentiveness without encouraging or discouraging what the interviewee is saying.

Prior to conducting interviews create a list of specific competencies and knowledge areas that the individual hired will need to have. If several people will be conducting interviews it is a good idea to work as a team to create the list. However, it is best to get the hiring manager’s sign-off on the list of questions to be used.

I recommend the following information be gathered during each interview session:

• Interviewee name
• Area sought, for example: specific standards
• What applicant said to demonstrate evidence they have the requirement
• Comments

Also include summary thoughts

Adding new members to a team is very important to the success of an organization and it is important to take the time to prepare and to review results on your own and with all the people involved in the interviewing process and of course with the individual who will be making the hiring decision.

A New Spring: Development and Retention Programs for the New Economy

It is spring 2010. Flowers are blooming, the weather is warmer and job opportunities are increasing.  Along with the increase in job opportunities, forward thinking human resources organizations are putting plans in place for developing and retaining key talent.

As HR teams look at what needs to be done, many of these teams recognize that the economy is still in a fragile state and that it is likely to be a bumpy recovery.  They know they need to weigh decisions carefully before implementing new initiatives.

Fortunately, there are many excellent strategies to guide decision-making.  Following a systems approach is one that works well in this situation.  This approach begins by looking at the big picture – the entire organization.  It examines how a change in one element will impact the rest of the system.  Another strategy that will serve well in our new environment is to partner with other groups within the larger organization.  Maybe the HR team wants to help the organization break down stovepipes (where functions within an enterprise operate independently and do not share information or knowledge across functions) in order to allow people across the organization to gain experience through working in other groups.  This would give people from outside of the stovepipe the opportunity to add their background and experience to the group while also gaining new knowledge and skills.

For example, if the marketing organization is planning a new campaign to showcase a new product or service, it might create an opportunity for the HR team to help managers in the engineering function.  The engineering function could develop members of their team by having them work on the marketing project where they could develop a better understanding of customer needs.  This type of activity leads to benefits to the two organizations involved as well as to the HR team.

Finding out what other organizations – both within and outside of your industry – are doing will also serve to inform your decision-making.  Professors, others at universities and government agencies are also looking at what the world of work is going to look like as we move forward. They too are adding to the knowledge base available to you as you put plans in place to move forward.

Jobs: A move in the right direction

March payroll employment increased 162,000—the largest gain in three years, and we believe that a string of sizable gains will follow in the coming months. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, payrolls have declined by 5.9 percent, more severe than any recession post World War II. It is not necessarily the case that the end of a recession coincides with the start of a period of sustained job creation. While the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) will not call an official end of the latest recession for some time, similar to their practice following previous recessions, we estimate that June 2009 was the trough of economic activity and thus the end of the recession.

Jobs: A move in the right direction

There are many other sources of information, recommendations and strategies, but I’ll end this list for now with the largest, newest and readily accessible resource – namely social media. Social media are today’s most talked about resource for almost everything.  However, as with each and every other resource social media are a resource and not the be-all, end-all to solve all problems.

A first step in the process is to determine what types of development – retention programs are needed and for which populations.  Begin with defining the end result.  For example, if it is determined that a leadership development program is needed, there are many more decisions that need to be made before moving forward with the implementation or the development or even the design.  For example, which population(s) are to be addressed?

Once the desired end result is fully defined one can look at what – if anything – is in place.   Other data to help with decision-making is what other companies are doing for their similar populations.  A good place to begin is to look at social media blogs and tweets and different organization’s websites.  Most on-line sites encourage comments. Readers beware; however, most do not require peer review or other types of review and validation of what is being proposed.  The older research avenues should also be reviewed.  Look at what is being published in the relevant journals and other hardcopy and on-line publications.

Another step is to speak with stakeholders and members of the target population(s).  This also requires some pre-work.  A question protocol is a good way to prepare for a discussion.  Questions that ask people to talk about what they do, what they enjoy, what they want to do next, etc. have worked well for me.  Ask about what issues they are facing, have faced, or that they see others within the organization facing.  My goal when I speak to these populations is not to ask them what they need or want in a development program.  It is my job to identify the development program and its contents.  However, the people being interviewed can tell me about what they do and the opportunities they see and the issues that they face in getting their job done.

Using the information collected from the various resources helps you decide what to include in new initiatives for developing and retaining key talent.  This allows the design of a program that meets organizational needs – and also individual needs to the degree that they map to organizational needs.  With this knowledge in hand, a presentation to the business team can be made.  More than ever before, staff organizations need to make sure that each initiative, training program, intervention, etc. proposed is based on a business opportunity in line with business strategies. A potential for increased revenue generation, retention and development of key talent is also vital.

Enjoy spring and the new beginnings for learning, development and retention programs to help grow the economy, your organization and the overall business you support.

It’s Time to Make the Lemonade

I was laid off 6 months ago.  I’ve been actively seeking a new position daily since that time.  I’ve been reviewing job posting, I’ve been blogging, tweeting, running workshops, delivering presentations, attending networking meetings, and networking, networking, networking.

I’ve been connecting with people I know and also with new contacts that have been identified in my search.  Everyone I’ve spoken to has been very supportive.  However, I am still no closer to being employed than I was when I was first laid off.

At each of the 3 networking meetings I attended last week there were about a third more people than the prior weeks.  Maybe because the quarter just ended, I don’t know.  All I know is that people are continuing to be let go.  That is not to say that people aren’t being hired.  They are.  Maybe it is just the groups I attend, but the people who have been hired have, for the most part been, in the early stages of their careers.

I realize that I might still find employment with an employer.  But, my observation of the situation to date has shown me that people over 40 are not finding employment at the same rate as younger people. Furthermore, not many of them are finding employment at all, and the competition is increasing.

It has dawned on me that no matter how experienced I am, no matter how glowing my references are, no matter the level of expertise I have, I am not likely to be selected for a new position in this economic climate.  What does that mean?  I’m not sure.  All I know is that it is time to stop looking for others to employ me. It is time to stop looking at position postings and thinking,  ‘Well, I have much more than they are looking for, surely they will pick me.’  No they won’t.  They (whoever they are) don’t want people who have all the qualifications and more.  In this climate they are willing to hire and train someone at a lower salary.  The new younger hire likely has more up-to-date training than those of us who are over 40.  They may not care that we are likely to bring more experience and wisdom to the role.  They are willing to gamble.  There is so very much talent out there to choose from, that if they choose wisely, they can find someone that can do the job and also grow into the role if needed.

So now what can I, and others like me, do?  We can give up or we can take the lemons life has handed us and make lemonade.  At this point I need to do something differently.

We all have areas where we can make significant contributions, why are we depending on others?  Let’s see if we can’t work together to develop businesses, services or other offerings that customers or clients will want to purchase.  While there are many of us out of work, there are still many people who are gainfully employed.  Many others are self-employed and able to purchase what we have to offer.

You may say, “I can’t do it alone.” That is O.K., what I’m recommending is that we seek each other out. Find the puzzle you want to complete and then find people who can bring the other pieces to the table. As a team we can complete the puzzle.  Granted, what I’m suggesting isn’t the answer for everyone.  But, it may be the right answer for some of us.

The key is the right lemonade recipe.  What we can do?  How we can make lemonade?

Here are my suggestions. Don’t just think about these questions, but key your responses into a file which is the beginning of your business plan:

• Inventory what you are passionate about doing.  Note: this doesn’t have to be “work” related.  Just make a list of what you really, really want to be doing
• List the equipment or tools needed to do what you want to do
• Define what other knowledge, skills and capabilities are needed to make what you want to do happen (such as accounting, computer, business)
• Who are your target clients or customers?
• Why would someone want to buy your products or services?  What would make what your offer unique?
• Is anyone else offering this service?
• Who is your competition?  There is always competition.  You need to find who it is and compare what you want to offer and plan accordingly
• Why would people want to purchase this product or service?
• Create a list of benefits your business would offer
• Create a survey to see what interest your target population might have in this product.  Note:  Creating surveys requires expertise. I offer this expertise, contact me if you’d like to discuss it, but if not me, do get help in constructing your survey.
• Include questions in your survey about what people are willing to pay for what you want to offer
• Calculate the income you will need to maintain your current standard of living, and also to just survive

Most web sites that offer information on writing business plans recommend starting while you are still employed.  Well, O.K., so it is a bit harder for us, but let’s acknowledge it’s hard and move forward.  These are very different times and we need to keep making lemonade.

Here are a few urls about starting a consulting business, there are many more out there.  I recommend you search recommendations made in 2009 for the most relevant posts, but others also have good advice.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/outside-voices-small-business/2008/12/10/4-tips-for-starting-your-consulting-business.html

http://www.consulting-business.com/so-you-want-to-be-a-consultant.html

A few sources for general information on starting a small business

http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2009/february/199706.html

http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/startup/a/10startingtips.htm

Good luck, I’m off to make lemonade!!

Preparing for a Job Interview

Candidates for positions need to be as prepared as possible for each interview session. Interviewers ask questions that determine the candidate’s qualifications. The successful candidate needs to answer the questions in a way that demonstrates their expertise. These statements may seem obvious, but keeping them in mind can illustrate effective ways to prepare for your interview. Putting yourself into the interview’s position and trying to determine what questions will be asked can enhance your preparation.

A review of each statement on the job description will allow you to identify the qualifications. This will give you an opportunity to prepare examples of how you meet the requirements and what you can offer. Once you have identified the qualifications, you can develop questions that might be asked and also practice answers to those questions.

Even if the interviewer doesn’t ask questions that lead to your prepared answers, look for an opportunity. Most interviewers will give you an opportunity to ask questions or share additional information. At this point, you can speak about your experience and expertise related to something on the job description that the interviewer didn’t cover.

The Job Description

Most job descriptions list three types of qualifications. Generally, the largest component lists the knowledge a candidate will need. Then there will also be a listing of skills and behaviors needed for the job. Example skills might be the ability to lift 35 pounds or collate and distribute handouts. Skills describe activities the hiring manager wants an applicant to be able to do.

Behaviors, also known as emotional intelligence, show how you will do your job. How you carry out your work and how you interact with others. Interviewers want to know if you will fit into their culture, and whether you will augment or enhance it.

Basically the hiring team is looking for two things:

• Can you do the job? That is, do you have the knowledge and skills to do the work?
• Do you have the emotional intelligence or behaviors that the organization is looking for in this role? The same organization generally will want different behaviors for different roles. Most often, the behaviors a good sales person needs are not the same behaviors a good engineer would display.

During a behavioral interview, the interviewer wants to learn about how you do things. During this type of interview, or segment of an interview, the focus is on how you perform your work.

Example Job Description

Position: File Clerk

Filing and pulling charts, going through papers, stocking, general helping around with the office. Some phone answering.

Need someone who is dependable, pleasant manner, self motivated, presentable and can multi task.

Interview Prep

Deconstruct the job description, identify each requirement, and construct questions related to each. This will give you an idea of the kind of questions the interviewer might ask. Prepare answers to these questions and you will be that much further ahead.

In reviewing the job description, you can identify the needed knowledge and skills and also the needed behaviors.

Knowledge and Skills:
Filing
Pulling Charts
Stocking Supplies
Answering Phones

Behaviors:
Dependable
Pleasant Manner
Self motivated
Multi tasker

In preparing for an interview, develop both the questions you think might be asked and also prepare answers. It is important to be aware that the interviewer may not ask any of these questions. However, in answering the questions that the interviewer does ask, keep the job requirements in mind. Respond to the questions and, where it makes sense, integrate the examples of how you have successfully done something similar to what is being asked.

You can practice by looking at job posting for jobs in your area of expertise. Identify the knowledge, skills and behaviors. Then develop questions and potential responses.

Behavioral Interviews

Some interviewers will ask you “past performance questions.” These questions provide the interviewer with information about how you carried out your job responsibilities previously. Research has shown that if what a person does is successful, they will do things the same way in the future.

During this type of interview, the interviewer will ask you to recount a time when you did something similar to what they will need you to do on the job. The interviewer will be focused on how you did your job.

Prep for a Behavioral Interview

• Review the behaviors listed in job posting
• Keep in mind experiences from within the last year to 18 months which show you demonstrating the desired behavior
  • Think about what you did, said, thought and felt during that time
• In responding to questions, DO NOT talk about what other people did. The interviewer is interested in what you did. You can acknowledge that others were involved with a statement like “there were many people involved in this activity, but here is what I did”
• You will likely be asked to talk about what you:
  • Did
  • Said
  • Thought
  • Felt
• Do NOT talk about what you usually do. They want you to remember what you did in that specific situation. They want to hear specifically about that time and place
• Pick something you remember well. They will ask for details about what you did, said, thought, and felt during that specific experience

“While job interviewing may not come naturally to everyone, the right preparation can make the difference between landing on your feet and hitting the street. Still, even the most experienced professionals often under-perform by overemphasizing their career progression and chronology or projecting only what they know, rather than focusing on the impact that their leadership has had on the organizations they’ve worked for and the lessons they’ve learned over time.

Today, the more senior the position, the more crucial “soft” skills are. Thus, there will be a high degree of probing throughout the evaluation process to gauge your emotional intelligence and social styles — characteristics that help distinguish a good manager from a true leader.

At this level, the most commonly used interview technique is known as behavioral competency. This type of interview focuses not only on your self-awareness but also on what is known as your learning agility — the ability to apply what you’ve learned through past adversity to overcome obstacles in the future.”

How to Master the Art of Executive Interviewing; by Tierney Remick

Summary

Be prepared for an interview, both with examples of what you know and how you applied your knowledge. Be ready to speak to your skills, how you demonstrated them, and your emotional intelligence along with examples of how you behaved in a specific situation.

After the Handshake – Onboarding Strategies for Success

Effective Onboarding Processes

Why do so many presumably good hiring decisions lead to disappointment? Why do star performers join a new organization and fail? Where are we falling down? What causes a robust interview and selection process to produce poor results? What can be done to improve the process for all involved?

Organizations are now adopting onboarding processes to integrate new hires into the group. Essentially, onboarding is the process of integrating a new hire into the company or new group. Onboarding helps a new hire fit into, and understand, the organization and their role.

The concept is to provide a new hire with a support structure. Structure helps them become a part of the organization. One or more people are designated as their mentors or contacts. Typically, several meetings are set up to meet people in the organization and those in other groups that they will interface with in their roles.

Onboarding processes are being implemented by organizations to help increase the successful integration and performance of new hires. However, even with onboarding programs, the success rate could still be improved. Research is showing that onboarding activities may need to be enhanced and the length of the onboarding process may need to be increased.

“Best performing, future-looking companies distinguish themselves by extending onboarding to the first six months… Companies need to look to the future by defining the onboarding process, creating an onboarding roadmap, and investing in strategic long-term workforce planning that integrates their onboarding with the pre-hire stages and the post-hire stages.” Madeline Tarquinio; The Onboarding Benchmark Report, August 2006; Aberdeen Group.

Beginning with the decision to announce the position opening and through every part of the process, there are pit-falls that can derail even an outstanding new hire. When a new hire fails to thrive, it can be attributed to many factors. In most cases, a robust interview process is used. The new hire is usually vetted. And yet, within 6 months to a year the hiring team might determine that it wasn’t a good hire. The apparent poor match between the new hire and the existing team is likely to frustrate everyone. So what goes wrong? The interview and selection process is usually a well-conducted process and a thoughtful decision is made. Yet, something goes wrong.

Where do things go wrong and how can they be addressed? Most often the pre-interview process is well constructed and the interview is well conducted. The interview activities related to bringing a new hire on board include:

• Pre-work – identifying the deliverables and associated work that will need to be carried out by the new hire
• Aligning and Agreement – getting buy-in to the role and responsibilities from both the hiring organization and those with whom the new hire will interface
• Interview Prep – identifying the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to perform the job role
• Interview Questions – development of questions that will allow the interviewees to demonstrate their qualifications for the role
• Conducting the interview – collecting objective data for decision making
• Extending the offer and bringing the individual onboard

Onboarding Prep

What needs to be done to have an equally structured post-hire process? How can the success rates of onboarding programs be increased? Success, in any hiring endeavor can be increased through planning, preparation and post-hire processes. Looking at the actions that can be taken both before and after the new hire comes on board may provide guidance on some further steps needed for success.

Prior to bringing a new hire onboard, determine what the new hire will need to do and deliver within the first 90 days. Write a description of the deliverables. Use words that describe actions and outputs that can be seen. This could include things like reports and products. Choose tangible reviewable products that can be examined so that feedback can be provided. Attending meetings, speaking with people and reading materials are all activities that lead to or support the deliverable. These should also be defined, but they are not deliverables. These are the steps that allow the deliverable to be produced.

Once the hiring manager has defined the deliverables and the activities, the next step is to gain buy-in from the rest of the organization. Make sure that all the interface points and deliverables are acceptable to each group.

However, there are organizations which have onboarding processes in place, but these processes are not well planned and executed. This situation might lead some to dismiss onboarding as ineffective. In some cases, the new hire might be viewed as being a poor hire.

Another view might be that onboarding process itself lacks sufficient structure. People within the organization may not have a plan to integrate the new hire. Introducing the new hire to the people they will be working with is not enough. Meeting people is a good first step. A stronger connection to a new job role can be made with an overview of relationships and work roles that tie the new hire to the people they are meeting. An integrated system of information will increase the effectiveness of the onboarding process. Present the new hire with information on the roles and responsibilities of each person they meet. Explain how they will connect with each person and what role each person will have related to the new hire’s responsibilities and deliverables.

Recommended New Hire Onboarding Steps

• Meet with each of the members of the new hire’s direct team. Be sure to cover
• An overview of each person’s role, responsibilities, deliverables and measurements
• A description of the interface of the new hire’s role, responsibilities, deliverables and measurements to each of their teammates
• Assign a member of the team as the new hire’s mentor and, most importantly, remove some other responsibilities.
• Also hold the mentor accountable for the new hire’s successful integration into the group.
• The manager also needs to be available to the mentor to discuss any issues that might arise as they conduct the mentoring activities
• Along with member of new hire’s direct team, meet with members of teams with whom the new hire will interface
• Receive briefing on the contact and their team’s role, responsibilities, deliverables and measurements
• How does the new hire fit into this picture
• What do they need to bring to the table
• What do they need from the individual or group with whom they are meeting
• The existing team member should take responsibility for the introductions and interactions
• After the interface, the new hire and their team member meet and debrief the session. The existing team member provides their impressions of the meeting. What worked and what actions to take, issues that need to be resolved and next steps.
• The new hire asks questions and takes a first pass at recommended actions. The existing team member provides feedback to the new hire’s recommendations
• Set up a second interface. During this session the new hire begins to take on the role responsibilities.
• The mentor participates and helps the new hire where needed. It is important that the new hire take on as much responsibility as possible. We all learn by doing. However, the existing team member needs to participate as needed to ensure the credibility of the group and new hire are maintained
• A debrief session between the new hire and the mentoring team member is conducted after this meeting. Again, actions and next steps are determined.
• The mentor and new hire participate jointly in subsequent sessions with their interfaces until both the mentor and the new hire are comfortable that the new hire can carry on without the mentor participating in the interface activities. However, the mentor needs to remain available for questions, advice and recommendations as the new hire continues to become integrated into the role.
• The new hire’s manager also needs to hold meetings with the new hire. These meetings need to be above and beyond any held with the existing team. During these meetings the manager needs to ensure the new hire is doing what they expect of them. Depending on the situation the manager may also want to provide advice and recommendations.

Responsibilities

The new hire, the hiring manager, and the team members are all responsible for onboarding. Business is turbulent and ever changing in the current economic environment. It is critical to discuss every change with the entire team. Even when the change in question wasn’t discovered by the new hire, it is still important to discuss everything with the new hire. It is also important that the team or the manager let the new hire know what work is affected. If it doesn’t impact the new hire, the new hire still needs to be in the loop. The new hire should be told what the impact is, who is impacted, and how they are affected.

The onboarding plan needs frequent interface points so that all involved know how well the new hire is integrating into the organization. This will ensure that the new hire is doing what they need to do, as well as learning about the company and their specific role within it. Schedule multiple meetings with the mentor, other team members, and the manager. Follow each meeting up with debriefs and question and answer periods. It is most important to share thoughts, comments, recommendations and feedback. All of these steps will contribute to a successful onboarding experience for a new hire and the existing team.

Components of Onboarding Communications

It is important for the new hire to forge relationships and perceptions. It is also critical that someone point out any landmines or threats to the new hire. Equally important is letting the new hire know who the supporters are and the group’s relationship to those supports.

A shared mentoring program helps everyone see that they are participating in both learning and training. A new hire provides expertise and skills. Mentoring helps the new hire integrate into their new role. This is a win/win for everyone in the organization.