Hiring Process Stuck In The Past? 5 Questions to Move it to the Future!
5 Questions to Move Your Hiring Process to the Future!
In the search for new talent, the hiring process in most companies is wedged firmly in the past.
For most companies, the hiring process is about yesterday—training and experience—as a way to establish a good fit. They have a problem, and they think someone with a “good past” will solve an immediate need. This imprudence can be a problem.
No matter how “innovative” companies believe they are, in the hiring process, they become frighteningly shortsighted. They only concentrate on a narrow range of qualifications, as opposed to using the hiring process to look for people with the potential to grow into the job.
The hiring process in any company must include non-quantifiable traits. They should include potential, ability to learn and a capacity to contribute to the company’s business goals.
This change in attitude the hiring process out of the past, transforming it into what an employee will be in the future! A good candidate is not as much about his or her past, but also what they can do in one, five or ten years from now.
Five questions to add to your hiring process. They will change how you look at past events into a view of the possibility for the future:
How are they at telling someone “No?”
A most difficult work situation is when an employee has to tell someone “no.” This could be either to a customer, co-worker or subordinate. Unfortunately, there will be times it will need to be done.
The challenge is making the recipient accept the fact that something will not be going their way. The answer will highlight the candidate’s people skills, an important talent for any company. To find the right person for the job, have a candidate explain how they were able to get someone else to understand the rationale behind an adverse decision.
How are they at building consensus or agreement?
Any business decision, at least at first, will never have full agreement. The ability to gain consensus is a valuable trait for any employee. Have the candidate describe a time when he or she had to help the team come to a satisfactory agreement.
What are their long-term problem solving skills?
Of course, the ideal candidate is able to solve problems—starting with the company’s need to fill the job! However, not every problem is solved quickly with a single decision. Ask the candidate to describe a particularly difficult problem, something that took several steps or took weeks or months to resolve.
What were the biggest lessons learned in their career?
Every job, no matter what, should be a learning experience—at least life experience, if not for job qualifications. Some lessons learned can carry throughout an entire career. Ask the candidate the three most valuable lessons learned in their careers, up to this point.
What was their role in innovation and improvement?
Great employees add more than they take away. The best will develop (or have a hand in creating) new procedures or systems to improve efficiency, productivity or profits.
Ask the prospective employee to give a couple of examples of how they developed (or helped to develop) a plan, procedure or practice that was not there before. What was their contribution? How did they made sure their contribution remained viable for the long run, not just a short-term fix.