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Behavioural interviewing – Key to selecting winning team

12 May 2014 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The key to the success of the behavioural interview is in the preparation. Prior to conducting the interview, the recruiter will need to do some homework. Having a thorough understanding of the company culture and organisational environment is of great importance when designing this style of interview.

First, derive the competencies or skill areas for the job. This is known as job analysis (or job profile). It identifies and determines in detail the particular job and requirements as well as the relative importance of these duties for a given job. In short, it is a description or specifications of the job, not a description of the person.

However, sometimes it is not possible to undertake job analysis, in which case it may be necessary to rely on a job description. Reviewing and analysing the job description will help to determine the characteristics and competencies that correlate to successful job performance. Reviewing the positive behaviours of previous incumbents in the position and speaking with other staff and management who are knowledgeable about the position can also provide important insight on the attributes needed for top performance in the future.

Develop relevant questions
Once the desired behaviours/competencies have been identified, the next step is to develop the interview questions. Experts suggest focusing on the top four to eight desired behaviours/competencies and preparing at least three to five questions per competency. This will likely ensure that the candidate will always have an experience to describe.

Maintaining control of the interview is also critical. While recounting a story about his or her past, the candidate may be nervous and may stray from the information that is important. Keeping the candidate on track is essential for capturing the necessary details for future assessment.

The following questions are some examples of competency-based, situational questions that I have used in past interviews.

Customer service: Tell us about a time when you had to deal with an angry customer. What exactly did you do to manage the situation? Have you ever completed a task or assignment that your manager was not satisfied with? How did you handle the situation? Tell us about a time when you feel you provided service for a customer over and above your required duties.

Interpersonal skills: Describe a situation in which you were involved in a conflict. What did you do to resolve the situation? Have you ever had an opportunity to work on a project where you were a team lead? Provide us with the details of the project that you were involved with and how you set up and motivated your team.

Self-management: Have you ever pursued a learning opportunity on your own time to increase your professional knowledge? Describe a situation in which you were presented with multiple tasks to complete in a short period of time. How did you prioritize your workload to meet all of the demands?
Change management: Have you ever experienced a major change in your organisation? Describe in detail how it affected your role and how did you deal with it? Describe a time when you assisted co-workers through a difficult work-related change. What were the steps you took to ensure that the change was successful?

Decision-making: Tell me about a time when you had to make a very difficult decision. Give us an example of when you took time to make a decision and it paid off.

Communication skills: Tell us about a time where you had to present your ideas in written form. Have you ever had to deliver difficult feedback to another individual in the workplace? What did you do to prepare for the conversation? Provide an example of a time that you had to present very complex information. What was the response from your audience?

The list is by no means definitive. It provides a sampling of behavioural interview questions that, of course, can and should be massaged, rephrased and tailored to each position.

Questions can also be framed also on subjects like, adaptability, compliance, conflict management, creativity and innovation, decisiveness, delegation, flexibility, independence, integrity, leadership, risk taking and teamwork.

As a reminder, once the questions have been developed and refined, the same series of questions should be utilized throughout the recruiting process to maintain fairness and consistency.

Ask probing questions
The candidate’s response to each question should include a detailed description about the situation requested, the action they took in the situation and the results achieved. If the candidate does not provide sufficient detail, then you can probe deeper by asking some of these questions:
What exactly did you say? And then what happened? Who else was involved? How did that make you feel? How did this situation affect your next project? Why did you choose to respond in that manner?

These types of probing questions will assist the candidate in providing clear and concise descriptions about their experiences.

Refrain from leading questions
During the interview, refrain from asking leading questions, so that you do not influence the candidate’s responses. As a result, the candidate will provide you with actual experiences, as opposed to providing you with responses that they think you want to hear.

Last stages
During the interview, the focus should be on the candidate and his or her responses. Take notes, answers to structured behavioural interview questions should provide verifiable, concrete evidence as to how a candidate has dealt with issues in the past. This information often reveals a candidate’s level of experience and his or her potential to handle similar situations in your organisation. The information may also be highly useful in conducting final reference checks, as one may verify that the candidate actually did what he or she has claimed.

Consider completing a ‘job interview rating sheet’ including comments on general impression, interpersonal skills and job-specific competencies, work simulation observations, test results, references and recommendations for hire. This will enable you to more effectively discuss the interviews within your management team and provide for a more effective decision-making process.

Review your interview notes along with the rest of the decision-making/management team. Use the competency-related framework and job-related information to rank each candidate’s responses in a positive or negative light.

Summary
The values, behavioural characteristics and traits you have identified and sought out give you a much better idea whether the selected candidate is a good fit for your position. Use behavioural interviewing to select the candidate most likely to succeed. Your notes here will provide a far greater level of objectivity when comparing candidates than trying to remember the specifics of each interview.

Predicting future performance is obviously a very difficult task; however, when successful, this interviewing process can promote a harmonious working environment and prevent future personality differences in the workplace. Whether your organisation is utilizing this technique currently or it is in the developing stages, perfecting this technique will assist HR professionals in minimizing hiring mistakes and allow you to recruit effectively for the future.
In many organisations, matters such as how the behavioural interviews will be conducted are mandated as part of the policy on recruitment and selection process.

(Lionel Wijesiri, a corporate director with over 25 years’ senior managerial experience, can be contacted at [email protected])

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Behavioural interviewing – Key to selecting winning team

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