Q: How important is hiring as a skill managers should have?
A: Hiring is an important talent to have because anytime you are adding someone to the team, you are either making the team stronger, or making the team weaker. A hiring mistake can cause many hours of aggravation for the manager down the road and cause the new employee stress and unhappiness as well. It’s about increasing the probability of success. There is no such thing as a sure thing when it comes to hiring, because you are trying to predict future behavior and performance based on the past. Fortunately people don’t tend to change much.
Q: So what tips would you give managers to hire better?
A: Decide first of all, what are the must have and like to have qualities. Be realistic and make sure the qualities fit with the job you are filling. Then craft questions that allow the candidate to talk about real examples related to their past work experience. It is not good interviewing technique to ask people about what they will do. It is better to ask what they DID do.
Q: What kind of interview questions do you suggest?
A: Ask situational interviewing questions such as, “Tell me about a situation where you had to juggle multiple priorities and how you handled it?” or “Tell me about a situation where you had a conflict with your boss and how you handled it?” These are much better than asking, “Are you a team player?” or “Can you handle multiple priorities?”
Q: Any other suggestions for managers?
A: Take your time to make the best hiring decision. Hiring someone who does not fit the job requirements is a lose/lose. Never settle. Be creative where you look for candidates. For example a coffee shop owner decided to recruit students from a drama program at the college so they would act out positive customer service roles with customers.
We also offer a selection tool which is great to use on a finalist for a position before you conduct the final interview. It measures their ability to learn quickly, their motivators and their personality characteristics related to what the job requires. Send me an email or contact me through LeadershipWizard.com
