Hiring the right person for your organization takes some planning and preparation, before you meet the first candidate. A list of knowledge, skills, abilities and traits should be completed before the first interview takes place. Some companies have job descriptions they can use. If you do, make sure traits are included as many job descriptions only include knowledge and skills. If you don’t have a (current) job description, a simple, straightforward list of skills and traits will work.
How can you come up with a list or go about updating an old job description? Ask those who have done the job in the past. Or ask those who will work with this position. Ask customers and clients what skills and traits they would like to see. Check on industry or relevant association standards and job descriptions. Skills and knowledge questions are fairly easy to come up with. Applicable abilities and traits questions will take a little more effort. Don’t be tempted to skip over ability and trait identification. Remember, many more employees are terminated for their inability to get along with others, or their inability to provide good customer service than for their lack of technical skills or knowledge. You can’t expect good customer service skills, or interpersonal skills, if you don’t ask questions about them in your interviews. All aspects of the job need interview questions.
Development of good questions will take some time. Questions should be asked in a “behaviorally-oriented” style that will separate hypothetical experience from actual experience. An example is “Tell me about a time when you handled an irate customer” as opposed to “How would you handle an irate customer?” Questions need to be stated in an open-ended style to ensure the applicant does most of the talking. They should be talking 70% - 80% of the time.
Questions should be developed around three focuses:
Focus #1 – Can they do the job?
Focus #2 – Will they do the job?
Focus #3 – Do they fit?
Questions aimed at Focus #1 are fairly straightforward. Do they have the skills and/or knowledge needed? Or do they have the ability to learn what is needed? Do they have appropriate transferable skills, if specific skills aren’t there? Questions aimed at Focus #2 are a little more difficult to come up with. Do they have an interest in the position? Have they done anything in the past that demonstrates that interest? Many applicants will say they will do anything to get a job or get a foot in a door. However, most won’t do “anything” well for very long. We need to have some interest or motivation to remain “engaged”. Questions aimed at Focus #3 have to do with your organizational and departmental culture and personality. Culture has both formal and informal aspects. Develop questions asking about the positive and negative cultures of organizations they have worked for in the past. Lack of fit is another major reason why some employees aren’t successful in new positions.
Last, but not least, is to know yourself. When we don’t know that we’re looking for, we have a tendency to hire in our own likeness. This tendency makes for a very lopsided team! Although this planning and preparation takes some time, it will be worth it in minimizing your selection errors and lowering new hire turnover.
Linda Bailey, SPHR, is a consultant, speaker, trainer and teacher in Human Resource issues facing employers, emphasizing the employer-employee relationship. With a goal of “helping employers from needing employment lawyers”, her expertise covers both crises intervention and continuing management solutions. Linda can be reached at (727) 528-0556 or e-mail at Linda@BaileyCG.com. 
