My husband has the gift. He works with a team of 12 people who get along, like their jobs and do their work. How does he do it? He’s very talented at interviewing and hiring the right people in the first place. This gives him a competitive edge and allows him to focus on what he needs to do instead of spending valuable time managing team issues.
Gallup reports that, on average, 30 percent of all hires feel mismatched to their role, and almost 70 percent of all working people feel somewhat disengaged either in their role or in their organization. The reality about these statistics is that it all begins with the hire.
In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we’ll share four lessons to being a great interviewer from Magi Graziano, CEO of Conscious Hiring® and Development, so you can be more effective at hiring the right people in the right roles.
1. Consciously prepare yourself. Begin with the end in mind. Make sure you know and understand specifically what you want to come away with before you start the interview. There are three types of preparation:
Role. Understand the needs of the role—why it exists, its impact on the overall business strategy, and its success indicators. Understand the role’s core functions and what it will take in terms of people, leadership and decision-making competencies. Be clear about the required technical skills and the mandatory must-haves.
Interview. During the interview, it is your job to determine the answer to these important questions. Can the candidate really do the job? How long will the candidate be happy and productive? How will the candidate impact others?
Self. According to Graziano, an interview is not something you do to a candidate, is it something you go through together. Take the time to review the candidate’s resume and the role requirements before you conduct the interview. Make sure you are free of distractions and that you are willing and able to be fully present during the interview. This means turning off your phone and email, clearing your desk and being ready.
2. Bring structure. Get yourself mentally prepped to be in an interview. With a busy office and tight deadlines, it’s common to conduct interviews on the run or in a less-than-optimal setting. It’s also important to use an agenda and an interviewing guide to get the most out of the interview. Be specific about the time and the duration of the interview and assign a specific time to each portion of the interview. For example, one time block should be spent at the beginning of the interview where you gather insights and an overview of the candidate, their interests and why they are interested in the job. Block another time limit for the actual deep dive of the person’s work history, and another block of time for discovering the candidate’s goals and aspirations.
3. Be an active listener. When you are multi-tasking during an interview, you’re not actively listening. Instead you will tend to hear things in order to validate an opinion you’ve already made. By doing this, you could be missing some major clues or signs related to the candidate’s compatibility.
Active listening allows you to challenge some of your own assumptions. Paying attention, listening and maintaining curiosity at higher levels—specifically during the career aspiration portion of the interview—are major factors for successful long-term hires.
For example, you can ask open-ended questions in an interview and come out of a conversation with a new perspective, not just new data points. That’s key when evaluating how long a candidate will stay with the company, and if the company can deliver on what the candidate wants and needs in a role.
4. Conduct a mindful conclusion. Take the time to debrief and evaluate if the candidate is the right fit for the role, and vice versa. In addition to reviewing your own requirements and the candidates’ abilities and skills, also review who they are and what needs and desires they want for their career. Lastly, ask yourself a basic question: does the match make sense for your team and your goals for the business? If it does not make sense, be honest and transparent, and tell the candidate. If it does make sense, then move on to the next steps.
Source: Magi Graziano, as seen on NBC, is the CEO of Conscious Hiring® and Development. She is also a speaker, employee recruitment and engagement expert and author of The Wealth of Talent. Through her expansive knowledge and captivating presentations, Graziano provides her customers with actionable, practical ideas to maximize their effectiveness and ability to create high-performing teams. With more than 20 years’ experience as a top producer in the recruitment and search industry, she empowers and enables leaders to bring transformational thinking to the day-to-day operation.