Affintus

The Value of Behavioral Interviews

October 19, 2012 | Paula A. Soileau, CPA

©2012 Affintus, LLC

The Lunch and Learn Talent Series

The Value of Talent – Costs of Hiring The Limits of Education and

Experience The Value of Behavioral Interviews

Challenges Most interviews are conversations Many companies interview too many people Many interviews are too long, hard to manage Managers often not trained on behavioral

interviews Managers settle for “good enough”

Process is long, hard to differentiate between “good” and “great”

People have biases we are drawn to what is most familiar, what is most like us which does not

always reflect what is best in certain jobs Often rely on subjective “data” (i.e., resume, LinkedIn profile)

Behavioral Interviews

A dynamic approach to the interview An interview process to learn about

candidate’s past behavior at work Understand what they “did” not “would do”

Specific questions for specific jobs Focus on important aspects in this job

First-impression management

Step 1 Understand the job

Review the job description Decide what the job requires Focus the interview questions only on

critical aspects of the work

Step 2 Write behavioral questions

Describe a job-related scenario that relates to a critical aspect of the work.

Describe in detail actual events that have occurred on the job, or

Describe in more general terms situations that routinely happen on the job.

Step 2 Typical Interview Question

Please tell me a little about how you would handle several projects at one time.

Step 2 Behavioral Interview Question

This job requires the employee to manage several projects during the same time frame. Tell us about a time when you were required to complete multiple assignments in the same time period. How did you handle the situation?

Please be specific about the number of assignments, the actions you took, and the result.

Step 2 Typical Interview Question

How do you handle conflict at work?

Step 2 Behavioral Interview Question

As in most organizations, sometimes conflicts come up with a customer or with a co-worker. Please tell us about a time when you encountered a conflict at work and you helped to resolve it. What was the conflict, how did you address it, and what was the outcome?

Step 3 Create a rating scale

1- 5 scale and define criteria for each rating

Rating of 5 assigned when candidate’s response shows extensive aptitude for resolving differences. Key behaviors included should include:

Directed discussion toward identifying common interests and possible solutions;

Involved all parties in development of alternatives that fulfilled their interests and needs;

Helped all parties understand the key issues from others’ perspective; and,

Resolved the differences in a way that each person felt his or her concerns were respected and addressed.

Step 3 Create a rating scale

1- 5 scale and define criteria for each rating

Rating of 3 assigned when candidate’s response shows adequate aptitude for resolving differences. Key behaviors demonstrated should include:

Listened to all parties and impartially re-stated and acknowledged all positions,

Clearly identified areas of agreement and disagreement, and focused on those issues in need of resolution,

Identified and collected all necessary information relevant to the differences, and

Identified circumstances necessary for a successful resolution to occur.

Step 3 Create a rating scale

1- 5 scale and define criteria for each rating

Rating of 1 assigned when candidate’s response shows little skill or success in resolving differences. Key behaviors demonstrated may include:

Does not appear to have considered all positions equally; Made little attempt at unbiased mediation of the

differences in opinion; and/or, Allowed differing parties to “work it out among

themselves.”

Step 4 Educate Interviewers

Teach the interviewers about the advantages of behavioral interviewing

Use the same interviewers for all interviews in a job

Make sure the interviewers take notes Compare candidates to the scale, not to

each other

Structure the Interview Use behavioral interview questions Rate each answer using a scale Train interviewers to take notes Remember the limits of an interview

Week 1 - High Costs of Hiring –Pressure to “get it right”

TRUE or FALSE?

OF NEW HIRES FAIL TO MEET TARGETS WITHIN 18 MONTHS48%

Week 1 – Costs of Hiringimpact business results

Turnover rate Number of hires in a year Time to learn job / ramp up Time to hire / time positions vacant The hiring process itself (efficient vs.

inefficient) Average salary

Hiring is hard!

FEW NEW HIRES BECOME HIGH PERFORMERS

Don’t Believe Everything You Read!

MANY RESUMES CONTAINERRONEOUS INFORMATION

… even on LinkedIn!

46% Profiles out of date 10% Career info embellished 30% Don’t know people in their network

TRUE or FALSE?

Source of candidate informationValidity

Cognitive Ability + Behavioral / Personality .67Cognitive Ability + Structured Interview .63Cognitive Ability + Work Sample .60

Work Sample Tests .54Cognitive tests .51Structured Interviews .51 Job Knowledge .48 Personality Test .40

0.1

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

References .26

Unstructured Interviews .18Years of Job Experience .18 Years of Education .10Interests .10

0.2

DECISIONS BASED ON INTERVIEWS HAVE ABOUT THE SAME SUCCESS RATE AS FLIPPING A COIN

Week 2

Trust me…Experience ≠ Success on the Job

Better (and Faster) Hiring

Clarify requirements and needs of the job Be clear on what the job is and is not

(don’t use a moving target or “figure it out later” approach) A Job Description is useful! Analyze top performers

Apply objective process first, then moresubjective criteria later

Reduce reliance on the resume - self-reported, subjective Understand limitations of resumes and interviews Look for “natural” talents and abilities; skills can be taught

Structure interview Behaviorally-based questions – example of when candidate did X Take notes, rate responses If there are personality “quirks”, don’t think you will change or “fix” the person later – consider

how important or unimportant - be honest

** Bonus – when hiring, help managers plan entire process (schedule upfront) – use key human capital metrics to improve results

Think like Southwest and Apple… even if you are small.

Figure out what makes your stars shineSelect people with star skills and abilitiesTrain employeesCompanies with formal training programs

financially outperform their competitorsCreate an “agile” workforce

Instead of experience… Use technology to save time and money Add science to the process Pay attention if your gut says, “No!” Dig deeper if your gut says, “Best ever!” Use data, not self-reports

Week 3

Structure the Interview Use behavioral interview questions Rate each answer using a scale Train interviewers to take notes Remember the limits of an interview

Better Hiring ImpactsBusiness Results

10%

50%

AffintusGreat people data. Great business results.

paula@affintus.com | Paula A. Soileau, CPA | 866-429-4351

©2012 Affintus, LLC

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