Director’s Toolbox
Every leader has a business task which they discreetly feel uneasy about tackling for the first time.
At our recent live events, we learned that, for many of you, interviewing job applicants sits right up there at the top of the list.
So, we asked award-winning HR consultancy, MAD-HR, to help you navigate the right approach.
Planning and processes
Recruiting staff is tough – let’s be honest.
It’s gut-wrenching if you’re replacing a much-valued colleague who is moving on, and it takes a lot of additional consideration and evaluation when it’s for a new role.
But what about the interview process itself?
We all know that a lot has changed around recruitment over recent decades. Selecting the right person for the role is always incredibly important, but the impact of the wrong decision is even more significant in light of the upcoming proposed changes to employment legislation, which will provide full employment rights to employees from day one.
Process is everything.
It’s no longer acceptable to pick an approach off the top of your head, and ultimately be led by your own innate instinct when deciding who to select. It matters what you ask, how you ask it, and how you choose to measure the applicant’s responses alongside those given by others.
Of course, this is great for ensuring we’re creating a culture of increased fairness and equality, however, the impact on an already busy owner-manager or a relatively novice and small in-house HR team, is that there is a fundamental need for taking the time to plan with wisdom and sensitivity.
The interview process
Perhaps the greatest mistake any employer makes is getting the wrong cohort of applicants to the interview in the first place.
Avoiding it is relatively simple – you must put the work into the ‘pre-interview’ phase of recruiting.
This means being fastidious about the job descriptions you release, the way you reflect your brand, your pre-interview communication, and, naturally, the diligence with which you sift your shortlist. Assuming you have a good haul of applicants, the interview is then the ultimate opportunity to tease out the best of their skills, talents, and experiences. After all, bringing the right talent into your business is critical to its success, so don’t underestimate the investment in time needed to do it right.
Ensure a good mix of questions which allow them to not only convey something of their own personality and likely ‘cultural fit’, but also their ability to respond to situations and deliver the kind of outputs you anticipate for your business.
Our advice would be to encourage applicants to draw on past experiences and identify a number of different examples that could demonstrate their skills, experience, and potential.
Your star guide
Using this guide enables the interviewer to drill down into the situation examples given:
- S – Situation: What was the context or situation? Ensure that enough detail is provided for you as the interviewer to understand the scenario.
- T – Task: Explain the specific task or goal that needed to be accomplished within that situation. What was the applicant responsible for?
- A – Action: Seek to clarify the actions taken to address the situation or task. The applicant should be specific about what they did, including any skills or techniques that were utilised.
- R – Reflection/ Result: What was the outcome of the actions and the impact on the applicant? Encourage them to include any quantitative or qualitative results, and what they gained from the experience.
You want to foster a conversational atmosphere in the room – not a ‘you vs me’ which will rarely get the best from anyone.
Things to think about
What makes most people fearful about conducting interviews is perhaps less ‘what to ask’, and more ‘what NOT to ask’. We understand why you might feel that way, given so many new expectations and rightful considerations around issues such as diversity. Try not to overthink this, but do use your common sense and consider beforehand whether the questions you want to raise are in any way discriminatory or could be seen as insulting.
Fairness matters most. It’s what they should expect of you, and you of them.
Remember, if you have got the right person in the room for the interview, they will be someone you’re going to want to onboard and immerse your company culture. While you won’t want to share all of this straight away (even if you like the person, you’ll need to follow the appropriate process post-interview), it’s always helpful to go into the room with a full awareness of the onboarding process and probation expectations.
Ultimately, the interview is not a perfect science, but with some conscious pre-planning to consider what you want to achieve, you’ll doubtless have a successful outcome.
Your interview checklist
- Remember the interview process relies on having the best applicants come to you in the first place. Focus on your employer brand and telling the story of your business at the recruiting stage so that you know you’re bringing the right people forward.
- Have the right environment, time, and space for the interview process. Even the best questions and most composed delivery will not allow the applicant to respond well if the room is poor. Ensure the candidate has any materials they’ll need to respond.
- Enter the interview with a copy of the job description and full advert, reminding yourself what was asked of this person within the first listing of the vacancy.
- Also, enter the interview with a copy of their CV and submission to refer to.
- Involve a colleague, particularly if they’ll be working closely with them (and it’s appropriate).
- Don’t forget that they may ask questions about the business or the vacancy. You will have wanted to do your homework too. Know who will onboard them and how that will happen. Be clear about what your company benefits are.
- Do record the interview in some form, for your recollection but also to save any subsequent issues being raised.
- Don’t neglect issues like disability, neurodiversity, gender, and ethnic diversity. All of these issues may have a bearing on the interview process and the questions you want to include.
- Do avoid questions which might be perceived as discriminatory – for example, whether they intend to have children or have caring responsibilities.
- Do let people talk. Don’t confine them to questions in a limited manner.
- Don’t underestimate the importance of knowing how to deal with an unsuccessful applicant. Be clear on why you’re not giving them the role, and back this up with your appropriate written communication, even if you tell the individual by phone or in person.
This article was crafted by the team from the award-winning HR consultancy, MAD-HR. Contact them at www.mad-hr.co.uk
