Delayed Gratification

In training for a marathon, I have finally come to realize that there is no easy way to succeed.  We often have companies come to us looking for a “magic bullet” or “consulting voodoo” that will help instantly solve all of their talent management issues.  These issues are often caused by the company’s need for instant gratification.  For example, an organization will fly through the hiring process, and then expect a new hire to start performing right away, with minimal training or coaching. There seems to be more pressure than ever to drive results.  Even as the economy is recovering, it seems that people cannot achieve success quickly enough.   Sometimes, we see these quick fixes causing problems for the organization instead of long-term success.

On a personal note, I have attempted training for a marathon several times over the past few years.  I tried to take any short-cuts I could find.  I would scour the internet looking for the latest and greatest training supplements, exercises, and routines.  Time and again I would try various training guides and exercises, only to injure myself and not be able to participate in the race.  However, this year, I have taken the long-term approach and found a training program that fits my needs and have had great results.  While my marathon is still two months away, I am right on track with my training.  And no injuries yet!

This training process has really taught me to take my time and put in the work on the front-end to achieve my goal.  The same principle applies in the business world.  Unfortunately, there is not a quick fix that can help you solve your people issues.  Every organization has people issues and some have more than others.  We have found you can add tools to help manage and develop employees, while establishing clear organization objectives and goals to minimize the negative impact to the business.

Companies can achieve outstanding results and increase employee productivity by taking the long-term approach.  In fact, some of the most recognizable and trusted organizations in the world follow that future-focused thought process.  We have found that we can help our clients succeed by providing them with the tools and solutions that they need.  From there, they need to do the work, be consistent, and follow the process that leads to success.  If they try to push things too hard or veer off course, we can be there, like a good coach, to help them get back on track.  If you feel pressure pushing you to take short-cuts to get to your end goal, just remember the childhood parable of the Tortoise and the Hare - slow and steady wins the race!

What are some of the best success stories that you have heard?  How do you stay focused on long-term results while following a plan?

"Fit" ...a Two-Way Street

What does it mean to find an employee that truly "fits" your organization?  What does a good "fit" look like from the perspective of the applicant?  Organizational fit, job fit, and motivational fit are key factors that drive how new employees will assimilate to the work environment, mesh with the corporate culture, as well as how the individual will perform in their role.

Meet Jim, an aspiring sales executive whose background is in the finance industry.  Jim is looking to gain exposure outside of the financial industry and to attain a role that moves him up the proverbial "ladder".  In the finance industry, Jim excelled in various sales roles, acquiring greater levels of responsibility very quickly.  He has thrived in the structured, regulation-driven environment in which his company operated within the industry.  Looking to expand upon his professional résumé, Jim is now exploring employment with organizations across various industries.  Although Jim's experience has primarily come within the finance industry, he believes that he can easily transfer his knowledge and skills to a different environment.

What is the best fit for Jim?  Organizations, of course, are very focused on finding the ideal fit for not only the position they are looking to fill, based on skills and experiences, but also for a good match to their environment and culture.  But how many companies focus on ensuring that their role, corporate environment, and organizational culture are truly an ideal fit for the applicant?  It is easy to assume that if we, the organization, find the ideal fit for the role, then the organization must be a perfect fit for the individual as well.  Unfortunately, this assumption may be inaccurate at times.  Applicants are eager to make a good impression during their interview and may have the propensity to sacrifice concerns or misgivings of their fit to the role or the organization in order to give the "correct" answer or tell the interviewer what it is they think they want to hear.

Going back to our friend, Jim...Jim is interviewing for a sales manager role with a successful computer system design company.  The company is a trend-setting, forward-thinking organization focused on innovation and leading the way in the industry.  Jim has had some qualms over whether or not he would be comfortable working in such an "outside the box" environment.  His previous experience was in a very structured, guidelines-driven environment that he thoroughly enjoyed and felt comfortable.  Although he questions his fit to the computer system design company, he goes forward with the interview and is hired.  Nine months later, Jim is living in a land of ambiguity and is surrounded by creative minds who are more comfortable "bending the rules" than abiding by them.  Jim is not comfortable in his position nor in the organizational environment, which is a stark contrast to his ideal work situation.  Jim is back on the search for a role and company that is truly a good fit for him.

Jim's situation is not an uncommon one.  This "mis-fit" between applicant and environment results in reduced morale, job satisfaction, as well as increased absenteeism and turnover.  This costs the organization time and money on hiring, on-boarding, and training processes, while costing the employee stress, time out of work, and emotional well-being.  But how in the world do companies figure out if the two-way street of "fit" is in alignment? 

Interviews and supporting hiring tools, such as personality inventories, can be invaluable to ensuring this alignment.  Although neither is a "magic elixir", asking very detailed, targeted interview questions that uncover the individual's work and style preferences can elicit critical information needed to determine fit.  Moreover, personality inventories, such as the Behavioral Insight^®, provide the interviewer with information about the candidate that extends beyond the skills and experiences commonly found on the résumé.  Personality assessments allow the hiring manager to gain insight into the innate behavioral tendencies of the applicant, including information regarding natural motivators and drivers.  Where these motivations strongly differ from the work environment or characteristics of the role, the interviewer can probe to gain a better understanding of the potential misalignment between the candidate and the role/organization.

"Fit" issues are a major concern for organizations due to the tremendous costs companies incur after a “bad hire”.  It is important for organizations to take a holistic approach and consider concerns of "fit", not only from the company’s perspective, but also that of the applicant.  For more information about job, organization, or motivational fit, or the Behavioral Insight^®, send us an email or give us a call.

Using Personality Assessments in the Selection Process

Some recent statistics in an Inc. Magazine article claim that one in ten applicants admit that they lie on their résumés.  In a separate study, 50% of recruiters verified that they find significant discrepancies on résumés they received.  I was a bit shocked by those statistics, so I did a little search on the web to see what else I could find out.  In the first page of my search, I found "10 Ways to Lie Legally on Your Résumé" and a claim that “over 50% of people lie on their résumés" in another source.  This is probably the reason why many companies are seeking additional tools, like personality assessments, to uncover more reliable information about candidates.

Also reported in additional sources is that over 33% of companies are currently buying testing services from about 2,200 providers.  There is a broad range of test types and a variety of factors that can be measured with these types of tools.  Your results will be only as good as the provider and the testing product you decide to use.  Some general guidelines to consider in using assessment during the selection process:

• Use only assessments that are non-discriminatory, valid, and reliable for selection purposes.  Some tests should be used only for development or team building, such as styles inventories, like the MBTI, which bucket people within particular preferences, or others that assign preferences to color groups, etc.  These types of inventories should not be used during the selection process.
• Use a structured interview process to investigate an individual's prior experiences and successes on the job.  Prior success is the best predictor of future success.  Every individual who reaches a particular stage within the selection process should be given the assessment tool.  Place the assessment further along within the process to ensure that sufficient preliminary information has been gathered that can be used IN ADDITION TO the assessment results for decision making.  No more than 20% of the hiring decision should be made based on the assessment results.  Too much reliance on test results by hiring managers should be avoided.
• Develop selection standards within your own environment using the assessment tool and a sufficient population (at least 60 people) to produce valid criteria.  Do not simply test high performers.  This is a very unprofessional practice sometimes recommended by test providers.
• Have the candidate interviewed by more than one person and use the assessment results to guide the interview during the process.  The assessment is a tool that provides reliable information about the candidate in order to investigate the individual's true potentials.  It should not be used as a pass/fail measure or stopping point in the process.
• Discuss each candidate's merits once the interviews and assessment process is complete to ensure that balanced decision making occurs when selecting finalists.
• Don't advise remaining candidates until the recommended candidate is on the job.  Many times, good candidates may have several offers and will accept these offers, only to continue to search for their ideal position before actually beginning work.  Get a signed employment contract if at all possible when the candidate accepts the position.

If you follow these steps as you incorporate assessments into your selection process, you will be able to significantly enhance the quality of your new hires.  For more information about selection process and the Behavioral Insight^®, give us a call or visit our website.

Great Behavioral-Event Interview Questions

The most common search that leads to our website is for Interview Questions.  Whether this is precipitated by prospective candidates whom employers have asked to complete the Behavioral Insight^® or by employers themselves is more difficult to determine.  Behavioral-event interview questions ask the candidate about prior successes or learning resulting from an experience in past jobs.  There are many sources for these types of questions.  TalentFirst offers such a system, including training for your staff in interview skills, called the Structured Selection Process.

My perspective is that if you only hire once or twice per year, it is difficult to retain your skills in behavioral-event interviewing without a bit more structure around the process.  Providing your hiring managers with a staged Interview Guide, including potential drill-down questions to ensure that interviewers fully explore responses, can ensure a bit more consistency within the process.  The issue here, however, is that you will need to provide sufficient questions from which the manager might choose to meet the particular requirements of an interview or the particular job opening.

The principle behind behavioral-event interviewing is that past success is the best predictor of future success.  By exploring what an individual has accomplished in past roles, a better understanding of the individual's full potentials can be confirmed.  Therefore, the format of a good behavioral-event question is:

• "Tell me about a time....." "Describe a situation in which..." "Give an example of..." These are the beginning of the question, or the conditions/situations about which you wish the candidate to describe his or her prior experiences.
• The candidate will respond by describing the details around the situation or activity from their prior experience.  This example should be work-related and relevant to the particular situation asked about in the question.  As the interviewer, you need to ensure that the candidate covers all three aspects in his or her answer:

1.      the situation or circumstances

2.      what the individual (I did (not we), or I should have, or I think)

3.      the outcome or result that was achieved

If the candidate omits part of the response, the job of the interviewer is to ask additional questions to ensure that all three parts of the answer have been given.

If you are the candidate, be sure that you fully describe all three parts (situation, action, and results) within your response.  This is most assuredly not a place to make things up, candidate, since a savvy interviewer will return to any responses you give where your answers appeared to be disjointed, questionable, or unrealistic.  You will hear the question again, phrased in a different way, regarding an additional situation to confirm that you have actually accomplished something within your prior roles.

So, for the reason you are reading this discussion, here are some effective behavioral-event interview questions you might like to use if you are an interviewer or, if you are a candidate, you might like to think about:

• Tell me about the best manager you ever had.  What specifically did this manager do to help you to maximize your full potentials?  What results were you able to achieve?
  (This question is really about what type of supervision you need to do your best work and are we willing to give you that much support.)
• Tell me about a time when you were faced with a disagreement with a coworker.  How did you handle the situation?  What was the outcome?  What would you do differently if you were faced with this situation again?
  (This question is really about whether you can manage your own conflicts with others or whether you will run to your manager every time some disagreement arises.)
• Give me an example of a time when you were unable to convince a prospect to buy your solution.  What objections did you uncover?  How did you handle these?
  (This question is really about whether you can “sell” and whether you have the confidence to admit that sometimes we make mistakes.)
• Tell me about a time when you served in a leadership role.  What were some of the issues you faced in working with your team?  What results did you achieve?
  (This question is really about your ability to organize a group and to drive the group's action, even if you have never served in a manager or leader role.)
• Tell me about a time when you bent the rules to accomplish your goal.  What was the outcome?  Would you do the same thing again if faced with a similar situation?
  (This question is really about whether you see rules as absolutes or as general guidelines and whether this style fits in with the organizational preference.)

These are just a few of the behavioral-event interview questions included within the TalentFirst Structured Interview Process.  If you are an employer, contact TalentFirst and we will happy to discuss this process with you and to develop a customized Interview Guide for your organization.  If you are a candidate, sorry, you'll need to visit your local bookstore and purchase a good resource guide, like Competency-Based Interviews: Mastering the Tough New Interview Style and Give Them the Answers That Will Win You the Job (Kessler).