A company is only as good as its employees, and those employees are really only as good as the resources put into them. When workers perform poorly, it reflects badly on the business and affects the bottom line, but when you have a high turnover rate with dozens or hundreds of employees making the same mistakes, then it’s time to look at the training provided, not the employees themselves.
Proper training will make workers better and more capable of their jobs, which will reduce the time it takes to search for information as they are working. This also helps to quell redundancy of effort where multiple employees are attempting to perform the same task, not realizing whose job it really is because they have never been trained otherwise. The time and money it takes to correct mistakes are also lessened greatly when employees have the tools to do the task right the first time.
Managers must be really good at finding unusual talent with tremendous intelligence, creativity and flexibility. Hiring must be done on a higher scale. Raising the expectations of new hires sets the standard for the ability to develop talent that has extreme confidence to perform any task with exceptional skill, develop and team members and lead great innovation. The most innovative and competitive organizations are created as a result of their people.
What talent acquisition departments need is clarity. And that clarity has to start at the top.
“The strategy for finding and keeping talent has to connect to the business plan,” Brenner says. “For example, if we’re expanding into 50 countries, what kind of talent do we need to do that? We have to say, ‘We are going to have this kind of candidate experience, this kind of process, this kind of hiring manager involvement, and these metrics.’”
Brenner doesn’t expect senior leaders to own this effort – they’ve got enough on their plates already. Instead, she suggests that a leader in talent acquisition or HR inspire the conversation with leadership, and then build the strategy out from there according to the sorts of metrics and ownership that the C-suite cares about.
Top Executive Recruiters Agree There Are Only Three True Job Interview Questions
The only three true job interview questions are:
1. Can you do the job?
2. Will you love the job?
3. Can we tolerate working with you?
That’s it. Those three. Think back, every question you’ve ever posed to others or had asked of you in a job interview is a subset of a deeper in-depth follow-up to one of these three key questions. Each question potentially may be asked using different words, but every question, however it is phrased, is just a variation on one of these topics: Strengths, Motivation, and Fit.
Can You Do the Job? – Strengths
It’s not just about the technical skills, but also about leadership and interpersonal strengths. Technical skills help you climb the ladder. As you get there, managing up, down and across become more important.
You can’t tell by looking at a piece of paper what some of the strengths and weaknesses really are…We ask for specific examples of not only what’s been successful but what they’ve done that hasn’t gone well or a task they they’ve, quite frankly, failed at and how they learned from that experience and what they’d do different in a new scenario.
Not only is it important to look at the technical skill set they have…but also the strengths on the EQ side of the equation in terms of getting along and dealing or interacting with people.
Interviewing for strengths is not a game. It’s about figuring out if there is a match between the strengths required for success in the role and the candidate’s strengths. Strengths are the key to how people get things done and have a big impact on people’s ability to adjust to changes over time. If you accept that, then the advice for interviewers and interviewees are mirror images of each other.
ADVICE FOR INTERVIEWERS
Figure out what strengths you’re looking for. Tell the interviewee what they are. Ask the interviewee for examples of behavior that evidences those strengths.
ADVICE FOR INTERVIEWEES
Figure out what strengths the interviewer is looking for. Give him or her examples of behavior that evidences those strengths. Follow this link for more on acing your answers to interview questions.
STAR BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWS
When I interview someone, I generally follow the same script:
I’m going to do a behavioral interview. I’m looking for evidence of strengths in what you’ve done in the past. I’ll tell you the strength I’m looking for and ask you for an example. It’s helpful if you use a STAR framework in your answer.
ST: Situation (Briefly – just enough to help me understand the context for your actions.)
A: Action (Elaborate here. What you did. Use the word “I.”)
R: Result (Briefly – just enough to show me the value or impact of what you did.)
The questions aren’t important. The answers are. So, if I ask a question that doesn’t trigger a good example, let’s skip that one and find another way to get examples of your strengths.
STRENGTHS DEFINITION
Talent: Innate areas of potential strength (probably present at birth)
Knowledge: Things people are aware of, facts and lessons learned (through courses, mentors, reading, etc.)
Skills: How to-s, or steps of an activity (generally acquired through deliberate practice)
With that in mind, as an interviewer, make sure you understand the driving talent behind an individual’s strength, how they acquired their knowledge of the subject and what they’ve done to practice the skill. Then you can be sure you’ve identified a real strength.
Will You Love the Job? -Motivation
…younger employees do not wish to get paid merely for working hard—just the reverse: they will work hard because they enjoy their environment and the challenges associated with their work…. Executives who embrace this new management style are attracting and retaining better employees.
…younger employees do not wish to get paid merely for working hard—just the reverse: they will work hard because they enjoy their environment and the challenges associated with their work…. Executives who embrace this new management style are attracting and retaining better employees.
Interviewing for motivation is much less straightforward than interviewing for strengths. Part of the problem is that it’s hard to put your finger on what really motivates someone. The other part of the problem is that interviewee’s will have a bias to come across as motivated even if they aren’t sure. While they may not be sure they want to do the job, they are generally motivated to get you to offer them the job.
On one level, motivation is born of
- How activities match a person’s likes/dislikes/ideal job critera and
- How the job will help them progress towards their long-term goal.
On another level, people strive for happiness. My working theory of happiness, born out by deep analysis of a very sophisticated Harvard survey, is that happiness is good. Actually, it’s three goods: Good for others, good for me, good at it.
Good for others: This is about finding meaning in the work (impact on others, match with values). People that care about this want a share in shaping the destiny of the firm (influence, being informed)
Good at it: This is about the match of activities with strengths, and resources (support and time). Over time, some people care about employability (learning, development, resume builder)
Good for me: This is about near term pleasure (enjoyable work/activities, fit with life interest). Compensation is also a factor (monetary, non-monetary rewards, recognition, respect)
ADVICE FOR INTERVIEWERS
Heidrick & Struggles’ Kevin Kelly had some helpful perspective on this. He told me that he likes to ask two questions to get at motivation:
1) “What gets you out of bed in the morning (other than your alarm clock)?“. This helps him get at what’s important to people now.
2) “Talk about some of the most significant memories you have had throughout your career and what it is that got you through those times either good or bad.” This helps him get at patterns and trends.
Can We Tolerate Working With You? – Fit
Do not underestimate the importance of cultural fit:
A lot of it is cultural fit and whether they are going to fit well into the organization… The perception is that when (senior leaders) come into the firm, a totally new environment, they know everything. And they could do little things such as send emails in a voicemail culture that tend to negatively snowball over time. Feedback or onboarding is critical. If you don’t get that feedback, you will get turnover later on.
40 percent of senior executives leave organizations or are fired or pushed out within 18 months. It’s not because they’re dumb; it’s because a lot of times culturally they may not fit in with the organization or it’s not clearly articulated to them as they joined.
INTERVIEWING FOR FIT
To be clear, this is an attempt to make an inherently complex and ambiguous subject simpler and more straightforward. It’s worth it because poor cultural fit is the #1 stated reason for a new leader’s failure. (Of course, stated and actual don’t always match.)
The fundamental questions an interviewer is getting at around fit are:
1) Will the organization be better off with you in it over time? (at any level)
2) Will you change us for the better? (at the leadership level)
Every single member of an organization is important and instrumental to the future success of an organization. Here’s a short list of those practices:
HIRING DECISION STATISTICS
- The average cost of a bad hiring decision can equal 30% of the individual’s first-year potential earnings.Tweet this stat. (From the US Department of Labor and Statistics)
- The successful aren’t immune, and they’ve had to learn from their mistakes. Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh once estimated that his own bad hires have cost the company well over $100 million. Tweet this stat.
- 66% of employers said they experienced negative effects of bad hires in 2012. Of these employers, 37% said the bad hire negatively affected employee morale. Another 18% said the bad hire negatively impacted client relationships. And 10% said the bad hire caused a decrease in sales. Tweet this stat. (A study from the National Business Research Institute)
- 43% of respondents from the same NBRI study cited the need to fill the positions quickly as the main reason that bad hires are made. Tweet this stat.
- It costs $7,000 to replace a salaried employee, $10,000 to replace a mid-level employee, and $40,000 to replace a senior executive. Tweet this stat. (From HR.com)
- As much as 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions. Tweet this stat. (From Harvard Business Review)
- 36% of 1,400 executives surveyed claimed that the leading factor of a failed hire, aside from performance problems, is a poor skills match. The second leading factor at 30% was unclear performance objectives. (Study done by Robert Half)
- 41% of companies polled by Vitamin T Staffing Firm estimated that a bad hire cost more than $25,000, and 1 in 4 said that it cost them over $50,000. Tweet this stat.
- SayIt Communications calculated the ROI of a bad hire at -298%. Tweet this stat.
- 75% of the demand to hire new employees is simply to replace workers who have left the company. Tweet this stat.
BRAVE FIT
Leverage the BRAVE framework (Behaviors, Relationships, Attitudes, Values, Environment)
Behave: What impact. The way people act, make decisions, control the business, etc.
Relate: How connect. The way people communicate with each other (including mode, manner and frequency), engage in intellectual debate, manage conflict, etc.
Attitude: How win. Strategy, posture and approach.
Values: What matters. Purpose and principles. This is often the critical pivot point as it gets at why people do what they do. People follow engaging leaders for awhile, but they commit themselves to a meaningful and rewarding purpose or cause over time.
Environment: Where play. External choices around markets and competition. Internal choices around layout and formality.
The suggested approach for an interviewer is to assess the interviewee’s BRAVE preferences and then line them up with the organization’s preferences/culture.
The suggested approach for the interviewee is to do the same thing in reverse.
This is one area where no one should play any games at all. There’s no upside for either the organization or the interviewee to try to be something different than what they are. They will get caught sooner or later.
Preparing for Interviews
If you’re the one doing the interviewing, get clear on what strengths, motivational and fit insights you’re looking for before you go into your interviews.
Related: 8 Revealing Interview Questions to Hire Standout Staff
- Who inspires you and why?
The job candidate’s answer often gives the interviewer a peek into who the interviewee models him or herself after. The response can also highlight the sorts of behavioral patterns the interviewee respects, says Craig Cincotta, chief of staff and vice-president of communications at online home improvement marketplace Porch, where he’s heavily involved in team expansion and hiring.
- If you were starting a company tomorrow, what would be its top three values?
Every good relationship starts with trust and aligned values. Insight into a person’s priorities — as well as honesty and integrity — can emerge in the candidate’s answer, explains Robert Alvarez, the CFO of ecommerce platform Bigcommerce.
- If business priorities change, describe how you would help your team understand and carry out the shifted goals?
Shifting priorities happen in every company, and every job, so look for candidates who are flexible and possess the skills to help carry out change. Hire employees who are self-aware, motivated and display empathy advises DeLeon. “These skills will help employees better work in teams.”
Related: The 5 Must-Ask Interview Questions to Determine if Someone’s a Fit
- Did you build lasting friendships while working at anotherjob?
It takes a while for people to build relationships — and being able to do so is a sign of solid emotional intelligence, Alvarez says. “[A lasting friendship] tells you that relationships and caring about people are important to the person.”
- What skill or expertise do you feel like you’re still missing?
Curiosity and the desire to learn are vital signs that a prospective employee wants to get better at something. “People who struggle with this question are the people who think they already know it all,” warns Alvarez. “These are the people you want to steer away from.”
- Can you teach me something, as if I’ve never heard of it before? (It can be anything: A skill, a lesson or a puzzle.)
A job candidate’s answer to this question can reveal several qualities:
- Whether the person is willing to take the time to think before speaking.
- If the candidate has the technical ability to explain something to a person who is less knowledgeable in the subject.
- Whether the candidate asks empathetic questions to the person being taught, such as, “Is this making sense?”
- What are the top three factors you would attribute to your success?
The answer to this question can determine whether a person is selfless or selfish, Alvarez says. “When people talk about their own success, listen to whether someone talks about ‘me-me-me’ or ‘I-I-I.’ Or whether they talk about ‘the team,’ ‘we’ or ‘us.’”
“Look for a team player who brings something positive to the company,” Cincotta shares. “Someone can be the smartest person in the room, but if they are not someone you enjoy working with — because they are more concerned with their own success over that of the company — they won’t be a fit.”
Related: 7 Interview Questions To Help You Hire Superstars
Whether you’re a two person startup still operating in your garage or a 500-person corporation, one thing should remain consistent: your focus on hiring superstars.
When my co-founder Eddie Machaalani and I started our commerce platform company, we made a pact to personally interview the first 100 people we hired. It was hard, but we stuck to it and spoke to every person who joined our team during that two-year period.
Through that process, we created a foundation of amazing talent and set the bar high for new employees and hiring managers who still adhere to our most important rule about recruitment: never hire someone who is “good enough;” always wait for the best. Waiting to hire the right person for a role is painful, but will save you time, money and your sanity in the long run. They are out there and you will find them.
More than anything else, hiring the right people can determine the destiny of your business. Hire superstars and they’ll get behind your vision and make it a reality. Hire the wrong people and you’ll find that as your business grows, you’ll have a culture of average performers who watch the clock and aren’t motivated nearly as much as you are.
So, how do you ensure you hire the right people? Ask these seven questions:
- What do you like about our business? How would you change what you don’t like?
This question does two things. First, it gives you insight into how a candidate will verbalize something they don’t like. Will they talk about the problem and then immediately suggest a solution, or will they tell you that your business is perfect when in reality, it probably isn’t? Look for people who talk 5 percent about the problem and 95 percent about the solution.
Related: 6 Tips for Hiring at Your Small Business
By asking how they’d change what they don’t like, you get a chance to hear how they’d go about solving problems. For example, if they say your customer service stinks but can’t suggest even a basic idea to fix it, what chance do they have of fixing problems when they’re working for you? Will they just give up and move on to something else? Probably. The best employees solve problems fast and on their own.
- Which book are you currently reading?
Passionate people tend to read books or listen to audio books to improve their skills. Whether the books are specific to a skill such as sales and marketing or they’re reading a book focused on self-development doesn’t matter, they are all good signs.
If they’re reading a fiction book and haven’t read an educational book for a while, that’s a red flag to me. Superstars are always looking to better themselves, and the smartest people I know are always learning and absorbing new information.
- Tell me about a problem you were tasked with solving in your current job. How did you fix it?
Again, this surfaces their problem solving and creative thinking skills or lack thereof. Did they have a thoughtful approach to solving the problem or did they pass it on to someone else?
- What’s the one thing you’ve accomplished in your career that you’re most proud of?
This gives you insight into what makes them tick and also lets you assess how they define success. If, for example, they worked at their previous company for 12 years and their biggest accomplishment was beating their sales target in a single quarter, they may not be a superstar.
On the other hand, if they were promoted five times in their previous role during a two-year period, then you may have a superstar on your hands.
Related: 7 Traits of Truly Sensational Startup Employees
- Have you played any team sports before?
People who play team sports such as basketball, soccer and rowing are driven, focused on achieving goals and physically fit, which helps keep their mind in peak condition. Generally, they will also be great communicators, cope well under pressure and perform well during team events.
- What do you do for fun?
Balance is an important part of success, and I’ve found that superstars strive to do well in most, if not all, areas of their life including physical fitness, relationships contribution and learning.
As an example, if someone hits the gym three days a week, volunteers on Saturdays and is learning how to play the piano “just for fun,” then it’s fair to say they value achievement, goal setting and are continually looking to improve themselves. This will translate into their job.
- ‘I’m not sure you’re a fit for the role…’
This one works best when you’re hiring people with strong personalities that need to push through constantly hearing “no,” such as for sales reps or sales leaders, and it’s more of a comment than a question. By simply making this statement, they can do one of three things. They can ignore you and skip over the comment. They can agree and try to move on. Or, they can try to sell you on the benefits of bringing them into your business, specifically focusing on the main reasons you can’t afford not to hire them.
These questions aren’t a silver bullet for hiring superstars, but they’ve allowed me to better decide between people who will and won’t be a fit in the business, and their ability to achieve success in their role.
Outside of asking questions, never overlook your gut feel during an interview. If something doesn’t feel right or you’re not absolutely certain about hiring someone, then say no — every time.
It will take longer to hire the right person, but you want to build a company full of people that are right for their roles, instead of people that came along at the right time.
