Management interviewing

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Permalink Reply by Mark D. Dion on July 13, 2008 at 2:25pm

Interviewing to Win

With hiring costs skyrocketing how do you ensure that the person you hire is a good fit? What are the best practices that you should have in your toolbox that will increase the likelihood two years from now the person you hire today will be making a positive impact on your organization.

Conducting interviews for a restaurant manager level position in today’s economy places an emphasis on recruiting and hiring the best talent. Call it world-class, best of, “A-game” or a good fit; there are four steps every hiring manager must practice to make the right catch.

Making Time
“A winning effort begins with preparation” said Joe Gibbs, former coach of the Washington Redskins, and making time for the interview means preparing – in advance. Get an advance copy of the candidates resume and study it, making note of achievements, goals, accomplishments and projects. From those notes formulate questions that probe them, such as, how did you accomplish…? What were the outcomes and impact to…? By doing this, what were you able to learn for your next assignment…? Look for gaps, horizontal movement within a company and the industry. Be prepared to ask why questions for them.

Also look at a copy of the applicant’s assessment. Note the highs and lows. Formulate questions that will probe them. Short on operational execution? Ask a question on operations that probes that area. In short, do your all your homework in advance.

Begin With the End
Albert Einstein had been quoted as saying, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” A scatter-shot approach to interviewing reaps in-kind results. Make sure you put your best foot forward and presenting the company in the best possible light by knowing what you want to cover.

From the first step write your questions down and have them organized in such a way that you can index them quickly. Make sure you have an honest and accurate job profile. Be ready to clearly explain the job, and its stresses and demands. Don’t oversell the job. Many candidates who do not last feel that their expectations were not met because the job was oversold to them.

Develop and consistently use a checklist that covers the behaviors needed for the job. This can be in the form of a narrative that asks open ended questions. This allows the interviewee to express themselves while you are checking off the behaviors as they are probed for.

Be Hospitable
The day of the interview make sure you and your staff are prepared to greet and receive with hospitality your candidate. After all, isn’t that what you’re hiring them to do? A little finesse, charm and personal warmth will go along way to woo the top talent you want to hire.

I once met a HR director at a local restaurant of theirs. I arrived a few minutes early and announced myself to the FOH manager on duty, saying, “…I’m here to see…” I was told in reply that, “there is no such person that works for the company.” Make sure there are no gaffs like that in your reception process!

Eyes Open
An old English proverb says that “a blind man will not thank you for a looking glass.” Look at the candidate with open eyes. Beside dress and body language watch the eyes, face and hand gestures. Do they match with normative neuro-linguistic responses? If not, make a note and go back and probe that area again.

Ask opened ended questions to ascertain whether they can multi-task. Do they have the cognitive ability to learn and apply new information while multi-tasking? Is the candidate able to manage the multi-level interpersonal requirements for the job? Will the candidate’s current attitudes match up with the job’s expectations? Is the person willing to come in as a learner and will they be coachable? Does their skill set line up with their short and long term goals?

Some of these questions may not be answered on the first face-to-face, or the second. If not be ready to have them execute a follow-shift to make sure that the unanswered questions are observed or followed up on at the end of the follow-shift.

Listen and ask for feedback from those who worked with the candidate during the follow-shift. Are their mini-assessments inline with the rest of the hiring teams? If there are still gaps or questions about abilities and skill set then it is time to reassess the candidate and take appropriate steps.