Targeted Selection Best Practices in Selection Methods

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Targeted Selection Best Practices in Selection
Methods

• Catie Lasley, Human Resources
• March 9, 2007

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Targeted Selection Interviewing Why do it?

• A poor hire costs an organization 40-60 of a
  persons annual salary.
• To reduce legal exposure related to inappropriate
  questions.
• Past behavior is the best indicator of future
  performance.

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Quality Talent Decisions Matter to Top Twenty

• Smart, committed and experienced people are our
  competitive advantage
• Getting the right people in the right place at
  the right time is key to making our strategic
  plans reality

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Know Your Talent Needs

• Develop a meaningful success profile of the job
  ideally before the search begins
• Know how each position aligns with the strategic
  success of your department or unit

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Key Questions

• What is this position responsible for that makes
  the biggest difference to your departments
  success?
• How will this positions responsibilities blend
  with the work of your current staff to create
  value?
• What characterizes the ideal performer, both the
  can do and the will do?

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Skills and Competencies

• Define Job Analysis Questionnaire job standards
  to match key behaviors.
• Always communicate in a positive and
  constructive manner
• Contributes to department teamwork by taking
  the initiative to help others when in need and
  asking for help when in need.

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Job Posting

• Open Ended Posting Specific Questions
• Can be written to elicit past behaviors
• Describe the most youve ever done to please a
  customer.
• Describe a high stress situation in which you had
  to maintain a positive attitude, what was the
  situation and how did you handle it.

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Selection Game Plan

• Goal discover what each person knows, has done,
  can do and wants to do
• Methods
• Application/Personnel File Review
• Phone Screen
• In person Interviews
• Simulations (if applicable)
• Reference Checks

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Application Review

• Current or past UK employees personnel file
• Resume and cover letter
• Review all application materials carefully
• Answers to open ended questions
• Felony question
• Nepotism question
• Reasons for leaving

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Phone Screen

• The first chance to make a good impression
• Opportunity to learn more about their skills and
  experience
• Sample phone screens available from your
  Employment Specialist

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Phone Screen

• Ask questions to drive at job standards key to
  the position
• Describe some techniques you have used in the
  past to build trust with your direct reports.
  Please describe some that worked well and
  contrast with other techniques that did not work
  well.
• Tell me about a time when you accomplished more
  than expected by working together as a team with
  your coworkers. What was it about the team that
  made it work?

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In Person Interviews

• Prep your panel members
• Share the success profile for the job
• Review the application materials prior to
  interview day
• Determine who will ask which question
• Define what the itinerary is for each interviewee
• Coaching and customized interview guides
  available from Employment

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Time Line For Interview

• Opening 2 min.
• Key Background Review 6-8 min.
• Planned Behavioral ?s (ea.) 5-7 min.
• Buy-Time Question 3 min.
• Job Information 6 min.
• Closing 1 min.

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Building Rapport

• Every candidate, as a person needs

• To be treated with dignity and respect
• To feel important
• To be seen as competent

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Building Rapport

• Creates an environment that encourages the
  candidate to respond openly.
• Will provide complete information including
  sensitive and negative information.
• Makes a good impression on candidates and leaves
  them feeling treated fairly.
• More likely to accept the job offer.
• More likely to still have a good word to say.
• Enhances UKs reputation.

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Opening the Interview

• Introduce the candidate to everyone participating
  in the interview.
• Explain how the interview will proceed.
• Talk about the purpose of the interview
• Get acquainted.
• Learn more about the candidates background and
  experience.
• Help the candidate learn more about the job and
  UK.

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Targeted Selection Interview Guide

• Key Background Review (what do they know what
  they can do)
• Behavioral questions elicit past performance (has
  done)
• Job fit questions elicit motivational fit (wants
  to do)

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Behavioral Questions

• Identifies dimensions important to the specific
  position such as
• professional/technical knowledge
• customer focus
• work standards
• aligning performance for success
• initiating action

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Professional/Technical Knowledge

• Describe the steps involved in __________
  (process, function, task). Why are they
  important?
• Even though we try to be expert in our area of
  work, its impossible to know and understand
  everything. Tell me about an aspect of your
  work/technical field you are still trying to
  master.

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Manager Customer Focus

• What actions or policies have you instituted that
  fostered and supported customer focus? Describe
  one.
• Tell me about one procedure youve put in place
  to monitor the quality of customer focus within
  your department/organization.

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Front Line Customer Focus

• Tell me about your most difficult customer.
  Describe a specific interaction you had with this
  customer. Listen for attitude and approach.
• Describe a time when you took action to provide
  quick and thorough service in response to an
  internal/external customers request or problem.

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Internal Customer Focus

• Tell me about a manager/supervisor/team leader
  with whom you had the most productive
  relationship. Why was it so productive?
• Describe a significant example of how youve
  worked with people from diverse backgrounds.
  What did you do? What was the result?

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Work Standards

• In your position with _______, how did you define
  doing a good job? Did you do a good job? How
  did you know? Give me an example.
• When evaluating the work standards of your direct
  reports, what factors do you weigh the most?
  Describe how you have used those factors to
  evaluate a specific employee.

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Aligning Performance for Success

• Tell me about a recent performance review that
  you conducted with a direct report. Describe
  what happened before, during, and after the
  review.
• What have you done to ensure that direct reports
  have adequate resources and opportunities to work
  on improving performance?

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Initiating Action

• Describe a time when your quick response to a
  problem or situation made a difference. What
  happened?
• Sometimes there is not enough time to do
  everything possible to exceed or even meet
  customers expectations. Tell me about a
  customer situation when you didnt make the extra
  effort because you didnt have time. What
  happened?

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Situation/Task What was the situation? Action
What did the you do? Result What
effect(s) did the your actions have?
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Follow-Up Questions

• You said it worked out well. How could you tell?
  
• Can you tell me about a specific situation in
  which you used that approach?
• What were the circumstances in this situation?

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Job Fit

• When in your work have you been the most
  satisfied? When have you been most dissatisfied?
  Why?
• During Key Background Review ask
• What did you like best about that position?
• What did you like least?
• Why did you leave or why are you considering
  leaving?

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Buy Time Question

• Allows the candidate to think for a few minutes
  before answering
• Allows interviewers to look for any gaps and
  complete notes
• Examples
• Considering the responsibilities of this
  position, what do you think your biggest
  contributions would be?
• Why should you be selected for this job?

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Managing the Interview

• Be okay with silence after the question. Wait for
  a few moments and then offer to repeat the
  question.
• Nod to show the candidate you understand.
• If you are unclear, ask follow up questions.

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Managing the Interview

• Maintain comfortable eye contact with the
  candidate.
• Build rapport with self-esteem building comments.
  
• Use non-verbal cues to let the candidate know
  when you have enough information.

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Note-taking

• Jot down key words only.
• Keep comfortable eye contact with the candidate.
• Use the buy-time question to fill in any gaps in
  your notes.

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Note-taking Tips

• Take notes openly
• Note only pertinent information
• Note behavior observed in the interview
• Take notes on sensitive or negative information
  carefully

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Closing the Interview

• Thank the candidate for his or her time.
• Explain the next steps in the hiring process.
• Indicate when the candidate can expect to hear
  from you next.

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Post Interview Work

• Data EvaluationYour independent analysis and
  evaluation
• Data IntegrationDiscuss your data evaluation
  with other interviewers and reach consensus

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Data Evaluation

• Identify complete STARs
• Identify STARs as effective () or ineffective
  ()
• Weigh each STAR
• Rate each dimension

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Rating Scale
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Job Fit Chart

• Job Has It

Dislikes
Likes
Job Doesnt Have It
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Reference Checks Guide

• Ask questions related to behavioral standards.
• We all have strength and areas for improvement.
  What areas do you think this person might want to
  improve upon? Have you seen them take any steps
  toward improving their skills in these areas
  (classes, training, etc.)?
• Do you know of a time when this person had to
  work out a conflict with a supervisor? Tell me
  about that situation.

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Making the Selection

• Each piece of the selection process has its value
• Look for the best fit candidate for that job (not
  your job)
• Unlikely to get a perfect fit consider
  trainability of lacking competencies and relevant
  importance to the job

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Questions?For customer interviews, phone screen
or reference check guides, or on site coaching
for interview techniquescontact your Employment
Specialist