While the two-question interview will give you a good understand- ing of candidate competency, there are a few other things you need
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to do to complete the assessment. The complete Performance- based Hiring interview combines the two core questions with a formal opening, a work history review, and a recruiting close.
(Refer to the Appendix for a complete copy of this interview, or download it from the resources section on www.adlerconcepts .com.) The following eight steps provide a brief outline of the in- terviewing process:
Step 1: Warm-up; do a quick overview and understand the candidate’s mo- tivation for looking. Use the first 5 to 10 minutes to gain a quick sense of the candidate, overcome temporary nervousness, and find out why the person is looking for a job.
Step 2: Wait 30 minutes and measure the impact of first impressions at the end of the interview. Use the interview to collect information, not decide competency. Decide competency by carefully evaluat- ing the candidate’s responses against real job needs. It’s best to do this at the end of the interview or during a group delibera- tion where everyone shares information.
Step 3: Conduct a comprehensive work history review.Go through every job and find out what the person accomplished, what the per- son didn’t accomplish, the team the person worked with, why the person took the job, and any recognition they received. If you spend half of the opening interview on this, you’ll know what you need to do in the second half.
Step 4: Ask about major individual accomplishments.This is the MSA question. During the work history review, ask about the high- lights of major accomplishments, then select ones that best meet your job needs to learn more about.
Step 5: Ask about a major team accomplishment.This is the modification to the MSA question with the focus on team leadership. Spend a great deal of time on this, using specific team fact-finding follow- up questions.
Step 6: Ask a problem-solving question. During this visualization question, start a discussion about a realistic job problem, not some hypothetical situation.
Step 7: Recruit and close. Don’t end the interview on a neutral note, but don’t give the farm away either. Done properly, the
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close can be a useful way to begin the recruiting process with- out overselling.
Step 8: Measure first impressions again.You’ll be dumbstruck when you measure first impressions at the end of the interview and compare them to your initial reaction. Many of the people you initially thought were great won’t be, and many of the ones you thought were weak will turn into stars. That’s why you need to measure first impressions at the end of the inter- view and ignore their impact—positive or negative—at the beginning of the interview. First impressions don’t predict job performance.
➤ The Opening: Controlling the Jitters on Both Sides of the Desk
On a recent survey we conducted with over 500 candidates, 80 per- cent indicated they were somewhat or very nervous during the opening moments of the job interview. Even top performers and top salespeople fell into this group. So don’t dismiss candidates for this during the first 30 minutes. If you conducted a phone interview, you’ve already established some rapport. Some people suggest a warm-up, or a get-acquainted period. I think this is unnecessary, al- though some casual conversation is appropriate. My approach is to get right into the interview. Accept the fact that some candidates will be nervous, and don’t judge their early responses too harshly.
Work with them in getting them to provide better or more exam- ples. Once a “give and take” is established, I’ve found even nervous candidates open up.
I met with a very nervous manufacturing engineer a few years ago. He was so nervous I thought he would fall out of his chair. It took about 10 minutes for him to calm down, but the changeover took place when he told me the specifics of an automation project. I had asked him to draw a sketch of a high-speed assembly device he was working on. Once he got into it, he was a changed person. Get- ting him to stop talking was the new challenge. I told the hiring man- ager to conduct the interview on the factory floor and talk about specific projects and problems right away. In his element—which wasn’t interviewing—all traces of nervousness were eliminated.
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Accept the fact that nobody likes to interview and that a nerv- ous candidate is just a nervous candidate. Don’t assume this is re- lated to performance. If you still have a problem after about a half-hour, move on to the next person on the list.
The most common opening question, “Tell me about yourself,”
is too big and broad. You give up too much, too soon, to the candi- date. There are better approaches that establish the framework we need for both an effective performance-based interview and appli- cant control. We suggest the following opening question format:
As you know, we’re looking for a [position].
Let me give you a quick overview of the importance of this position. [Give a two-minute overview of the position and the company.] Tell me how your background has prepared you for this type of important position.
While this is a “Tell me about yourself” type of question, it nar- rows the focus down by requesting only relevant background infor- mation. Further, it establishes a recruiting opening by describing the importance of the job. When you make the job compelling, appli- cants tell you more about themselves. They sell you, rather than you having to sell them. This establishes the framework for good recruit- ing. Don’t spend more than a few minutes on this pitch. There’s a tendency to talk too much to open an interview. It’s a waste of time.
One or two minutes is all that’s necessary to set the tone. Remember to listen four times more than you talk. A good interview is a fact- finding mission, not a sales pitch. The following example is a good opening:
We’re looking for a product manager. This person will lead the implementation effort on much of our new product intro- duction program. This is a critical initiative for next year with new products representing 10 percent of new sales. We need someone who can coordinate the efforts of engineer- ing, marketing, manufacturing, and sales to bring this new line out on time and within budget. Give me a quick overview of how your background has prepared you for this type of position.
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The last request is a great warm-up. Don’t forget the fact-finding, but don’t start it too soon either. You want to establish a communica- tion style that allows you to get enough information to validate the candidate’s initial responses. Much of this will depend on the candi- date’s style of presenting information. Work with the candidate on this. I openly tell candidates that I’m more concerned with specific examples about a few major accomplishment than lots of broad gen- eralities. Quiet candidates open up more when constantly asked for more examples, and louder candidates stop generalizing and start to focus.
➤ Modifying the Two-Question Interview to Assess All Traits and Behaviors
The 10-Factor Candidate Assessment template includes the evaluation of five other predictors of on-the-job performance in addition to the five core traits (i.e., talent, motivation, team lead- ership, comparable past performance, and job-specific problem solving). One predictor of on-the-job performance is the trend of growth over time, as described earlier, that reveals the candi- date’s consistency of performance. The remaining four factors are planning and executing comparable work, culture and environ- mental fit, character and values, and overall potential. While you’ll still use the basic MSA question to get examples of accom- plishments, you can change the type of fact-finding probes you use and the way you rephrase the question to better understand these other traits.
Alternate Forms of the Most Significant Accomplishment Question
In Chapter 7, you discover how to modify the MSA question to both excite and challenge the candidate. Other interviewers can also modify the question format to better understand other traits, skills, and competencies. Here are some examples:
Do you have another major accomplishment that reveals your ability to persuade or influence people in other de- partments who might be peers or those who have more au- thority than you?
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What accomplishment did you discuss with [prior inter- viewer]? Is there anything else about this accomplishment that you think was not fully discussed?
What was your absolute biggest failure?
What was your biggest accomplishment where you had the least amount of skills?
Do you have an accomplishment where you took a major risk?
Basically, these are variations on a theme, just modifying the MSA question to better understand what the candidate really brings to the table. Modifying the subsequent fact-finding also al- lows the interview to go down a different path. If you want more on team-related skills, follow-up with these types of probes:
➤ Did you mentor anyone on this project?
➤ Did anyone mentor you?
➤ Who was the toughest person to influence?
➤ Who was your best and worst supervisor? Why?
➤ What did you do when someone missed a deadline?
➤ Give me three examples of coaching others?
If you want to understand the candidate’s technical ability, use these fact-finding probes:
➤ What was the toughest technical challenge you’ve ever faced?
➤ How did you solve the problem?
➤ What tools do you excel at?
➤ Give me some examples of where you’ve trained others?
➤ Where did you push the envelope on technology?
➤ What type of work gets you excited?
➤ Which parts of the job give you trouble? How do you handle this?
The key to this questioning pattern is to go to the edge of the person’s current abilities. You do this by asking about the worst, the best, the most challenging, the biggest, the toughest, and the most challenging. By getting a good sample of the person’s best and
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worst accomplishment and matching it to your needs, you’ll be able to better predict on-the-job performance. Use the problem-solving question to gain a sense of how the person handles new situations and visualizes bigger tasks. This will give you real insight in poten- tial and growth, especially when confirmed by the trend lines.
➤ Assessing Character and Values
If you want to assess character and values, ask, “Can you give me the best example of something you accomplished where you were totally committed to the task?” This quickly gets at the heart of character. The ability to persevere under difficult conditions is an essential trait of top performers. It’s the character component of energy because it’s easier to work hard under ideal conditions than difficult situations.
Real character is better observed in less than ideal circumstances. Use fact-finding techniques to understand the true extent of the appli- cant’s commitment to the task and the underlying environment. Deter- mine the challenges faced and the results achieved. Listen to the response and determine whether the success was individual, team based, or companywide. Find out why the candidate felt strongly about the accomplishment. Look for a pattern of commitment in all of the examples of significant accomplishments. While this approach doesn’t cover every aspect of character, it covers the most important.
A controller candidate told me about his role in rebuilding his manufacturing plant, which had been partially destroyed by the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake. To get the plant up and running, he described two weeks of around-the-clock work and an- other few months of extended hours. He said the process was the most satisfying experience he had ever had. The camaraderie and team spirit kept him and the others going through some very diffi- cult times. Although he was a strong financial type, it was this team orientation and sense of commitment that made him exceptional.
You also might use the character question if you’re unsure about a candidate or have a candidate you think might be weak.
Often the response to this will eliminate a marginal candidate or revive one you thought lost. Use this question in the later part of the interview when candidates are likely to be more candid. You have to stay open-minded, though. If you’ve already made a deci- sion, the answer will have little value. Although it’s very difficult to override your own internal decision once made, always use this
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question on commitment to validate your judgment. The answer can sometimes be powerful enough to overcome even the most strongly held beliefs.
➤ Measuring Personality and Cultural Fit
By the time you measure personality and cultural fit—at the end of the interview—you pretty much know the answer. By the time the interview ends, you’ll have explored at least five or six different ac- complishments in-depth. Personality, interpersonal skills, and man- agement style will come out of this assessment. Personality in an absolute sense is unimportant. How candidates have used their personality and style to achieve results is what’s really important.
You’ll discover this by using the impact, leadership, anchor, and vi- sualization questioning patterns and the fact-finding techniques we’ve suggested. Use this question as part of your probing to con- firm your insight and add a few more specifics:
As part of this project, what three or four aspects of your per- sonality would have been observed? Give me actual exam- ples of when these traits have aided you in the performance of your job and when they have hurt.
A candidate who knows himself will be able to quickly list a few critical traits and provide some good examples. Many of them should have been previously discussed. If they seem inconsistent with your own evaluation, do some probing to uncover the differ- ences. Raise the caution flag if the candidate seems evasive or if you notice extremes of behavior. Also look for flexibility. If the per- son appears overly dominant, ask for examples of coaching, pa- tience, and team skills. For the overly analytical person, probe for examples of team skills and the ability to persuade others. People who are the supportive type often have difficulty making tough de- cisions. Explore for this. The outgoing salesperson is often weak on details. Don’t reach this conclusion without getting some examples of analytical work. Good candidates are sometimes excluded be- cause they don’t seem to fit the required personality profile. You’ll get at flexibility in personality by looking for the candidate’s appar- ently missing parts.
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Look for personal development. I often ask candidates to de- scribe how their personality has changed over the years. This gets at maturity. A former arrogant MBA from one of the nation’s top business schools told me how he became more sensitive to others after working with a tight team on an extended crash project. Of course, I got the specific details of the project to confirm his makeover. It’s best to be a bit of a cynic, especially when interview- ing a smooth-talking professional.
Look for candor. It might be time to raise the caution flag if the candidate can’t openly describe some failures. The second part of the question is revealing: “Give me examples of when your person- ality has hurt your performance.” Don’t ignore this part. Continue probing. Be concerned if you get a run-around or some vague re- sponse. Good answers here are also a sign of character.
A few years ago, a sales manager told me he was sometimes too rough on his team, particularly when they were falling short of quota. He told me his New York personality sometimes got the best of him. He knew this was a weakness, but he said he hadn’t lost any good people as a result. His solution was to work more closely with his people in developing monthly objectives, so that they were both equally committed to the results. Previously, he didn’t get into the details as much so he didn’t understand their specific strengths and weakness. Getting this close to the process was unnatural for him, since he was more the entrepreneur, but it was helping him become a better manager, and less confronta- tional. He became more proactive than reactive as a result. I’m sure the hard-driving personality is still there, but by adapting to a more analytical style, this person was able to compensate for a po- tentially fatal flaw.
You can’t really separate personality from performance. Personal- ity is naturally revealed with the fact-finding and probing techniques discussed earlier. You might want to add more emphasis to personal- ity if this is a major area of concern. You can even make it a perfor- mance objective. One of my clients was looking for a property manager with good interpersonal skills. It turned out that the real problem was with a very demanding owner who required 100 percent attention to his every whim. We created a performance objective that stated, “Set up a quick response, support program to deal with a very aggressive and demanding property owner.” The candidate had to
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have the personality to deal with these kinds of people, but it was more than just having good interpersonal skills.
The ability to handle and resolve conflict with other depart- ments or with difficult people is the most common type of issue and requires a real attention on personality. During the interview, get some examples of how the candidate handled similar interpersonal problems. This gets at a specific area of personality. Personality is important, but by measuring it through performance and again at the end of the interview, you’ll be in a better position to understand its importance in getting the job done.