Traditional interview questions don't work. They are only 10% predictive of on-the-job performance. Behavioral interview questions, however, are 55% predictive of on-the-job performance. That's not as high as I'd like, but it's the best style of interview questions that managers can leverage. Understanding what behavioral interview questions are and how to utilize them in hiring will set managers and organizations up for success!
Managers, who gets nervous when you have to interview candidates?! Not the actual act of interviewing, but knowing that whoever you decide to hire will have big impact on your team, your organization, and you?! It's a big responsibility! When I'm hiring, I always have this in the back of my mind. If I make a great hire, things will be great for everyone. But if I make a bad hire, that's on me; it will reflect on my management skills. And to be honest, there is truth to this. A key competency for someone in a management role is the ability to attract and hire strong talent.
Interviewing is an imperfect science, but leveraging behavioral interview questions will give you the best chance of making a strong hiring decision.
Interviewing and hiring is a bit of a gamble. As a manager, you get to speak with a candidate for maybe 2-3 hours and if you're lucky, maybe get to see them complete an assignment or presentation. And then, with limited information, you have to make a decision that's going to have big impact on your organization, your team, and you. So you need to make those 2-3 hours count and ask the right questions to determine if a candidate is going to be the right fit. In my 15+ years experience as an HR leader, I have observed behavioral interview questions as the best tool to assess a candidate's competence and readiness. Interviewing is an imperfect science, but leveraging behavioral interview questions will give you the best chance of making a strong hiring decision.
What are behavioral interview questions
So you might be asking, 'what exactly are behavioral interview questions?' They are questions that ask a candidate to share an example from their past that highlights a certain skill, experience, or competency. Often these questions start with something like 'tell me about a time when...' or 'give me an example of a time when...'. The belief behind this approach to questioning is that our past behaviors are the best predictors of our future behaviors. So if you have done something successfully in the past, you will more likely be successful at doing the same thing in the future. And if you think about it, it makes sense. If you spoke publicly in a past role, you will more likely be able to speak publicly in a future role. Or if you have successfully responded to an upset customer in the past, you will more likely be able to respond successfully to a customer in the future. As I mentioned above, it's not a perfect science, but research shows behavioral interview questions are the most predictive type of interview questions we have for on-the-job performance evaluation.
Why behavioral interview questions?
The unfortunate fact is that traditional interview questions don't work. Instead of focusing on the actual skills, experiences, and competencies someone needs for a job, traditional interview questions are often softball questions that get canned responses. Often times these traditional interview questions come in the form of situational questions: "if x happened, what would you do?". The issue here is that there is very little correlation between what someone says they would do and what they actually would do. This type of interviewing has been found to be only 10% predictive of on-the-job performance. That's TERRIBLE! I don't know about you, but I don't want to make a huge decision like hiring a full-time, $75,000/year new hire based on a 10% chance that what they told me would be a reality when they actually join my company.
There is a better way! Enter behavioral interview questions. Developed by organizational psychologists in the 1970s, this approach to interview questions is much more predictive. Dr. Katherine Hansen actually did research into their effectiveness and found that behavioral interview questions are 55% predictive of on-the-job performance. The difference between 10% and 55% is HUGE! It's obviously not perfect, but it is substantially more predictive. Calling back to the example in the paragraph above, if I'm a hiring manager looking to bring in a new employee for $75,000/year, I would rather ask questions that are 55% predictive of how they will perform in the role vs. 10%. I doubt there is any argument there.
Benefits of behavioral interview questions
There are many reasons to use behavioral interview questions, here are a few reasons why I prefer them and coach managers to use them:
Future performance: like mentioned above, behavioral interview questions are 55% predictive of future on-the-job performance; this is the best interviewing tool we have to assess future performance.
Reduce bias: behavioral interview questions ask a candidate to share specific examples from their past which can reduce the inference and assumptions a hiring manager may have when asking more traditional questions.
Specifics: behavioral interview questions ask for specifics and past experiences; this can help a hiring manager drill down into the actual skills and experiences needed for the role.
Top companies: top companies across the globe use behavioral based interview questions; if they are using them, there's a reason for it and it is a good idea to align our practices in this direction as well.
Top 6 Behavioral Interview Questions for Managers
Managers, there are a million behavioral interview questions you could ask a candidate. But I believe there are some core competencies that all employees should demonstrate in the workplace. These are my topic six behavioral interview questions and the associated competency I look to assess every time I interview a candidate, regardless of position.
Customer Service: Describe a time you went out of your way to help a customer (internal or external). What action did you take? What was the outcome?
I believe everyone in an organization is in a customer service role. The customer might be an external, paying customer. Or the customer may be internal, a colleague or teammate within your organization. I always look for candidates that have a customer-first mentality and this question helps me understand if a candidate has that servant leadership mindset. It also gives you insight into what customer service looks like to them and what you can likely expect if they joined your organization.
Organization & Planning: Give me specific examples of several projects you were working on at the same time. How did you keep track of their progress? How did they turn out?
Most employees will need to work on a couple projects at the same time. Maybe they need to take client calls during the day while also completing a series of training courses, submitting support tickets for clients, etc. It's the reality of work (and life, really): we have to be able to keep ourselves organized when we have different things going on. This question is great because it allows an employee to share specifically how they keep themselves organized so they can meet deadlines and complete projects. There is no right or wrong answer to this question. Instead, it will give you as the hiring manager insight into what level of organization & planning you could expect from a candidate if they joined your team.
Problem Solving: Describe a specific situation where an unexpected problem surfaced and you had to resolve it. What steps did you take to solve the problem? What was the outcome?
Problem solving and critical thinking might be the top skill I look for in a candidate. Having an employee that can look at a challenge, develop potential solutions, and then resolve the issue is what every manager dreams of. Asking this question helps illuminate the critical thinking process. You learn how a candidate determines what is or isn't a problem, how they tackle issues, and if they are able to solve problems. And while we can't guarantee how an employee is going to perform if they join your organization, if they can clearly share how they have solved problems in the past, the likelihood they will be able to solve problems for your organization in the future is much higher.
Differences: Describe a situation when you worked with someone whose work style was different than yours. What problems did you encounter? How did you resolve the problems?
Every person brings unique experiences, backgrounds, identities, and working styles to the table. There's no one way to work. But what is required is an ability to work with others. And this is particularly important when working with others who operate differently than we do. Asking a candidate to describe a time they worked with someone whose work style was different from theirs gives you great perspective into a candidates flexibility and elasticity. If a candidate has been flexible and adaptable to the working styles of others in the past, there is a far greater chance they will be flexible and adaptable when working with others if they joined your organization.
Leadership: Describe your most challenging leadership experience to date. What problems did you encounter? How did you identify a solution and what was the outcome?
I believe everyone at an organization has the ability to be a leader. Leadership isn't just reserved for someone with a manager, director, or vice president title. Leadership is 360 degrees - leading up, across, and down. I like to ask this question to candidates to see if they see leadership potential within themselves, firstly, and secondly, to see how they approach leadership. This questions will reveal to you as a hiring manager what leadership looks like to a candidate and once again how they go about solving problems. There are no right or wrong answers, but this question will reveal a lot and help you make an informed decision about your candidates.
Self-Motivation: Give me a specific example of a time when you 'went the extra mile' for a customer or employer? What motivated you? What was the outcome?
Lastly, I look for employees that are self-motivated. There are times when work gets hard, promotions aren't available, and things break down. In spite of those challenges, I look for employees that are self-motivated to do a good job. This question helps me determine the level or degree of self-motivation an employee has. And I like that it asks for a specific example to highlight their motivation. A traditional interview question might ask a candidate 'what motivates you?'. This is a softball question that will likely get a fluffy answer. However, by asking for a specific example, you will get a more clear picture of motivation from your candidate.
The Growth Edge Project designs behavioral interview questions
At the Growth Edge Project, we are on a mission to help small to medium-sized organizations drive employee engagement, development, & retention. This ALL begins during the hiring process. Hire the right people and you will be set up for success.
To support these efforts, we offer a range of services. We build and design Employee Engagement & Retention programs, including hiring programs for our clients. We develop Hiring Manager Training & Development programs to teach managers how to interview and hire successfully. Additionally, we provide Fractional HR Advising & Coaching to lead and advise our clients on successful hiring practices. If you would like to learn more about our services, please contact us.
A better way to interview
As managers, one of our key responsibilities is to hire great talent. Interviewing and hiring can be a nerve wracking experience because we want to get it right. There are many different tools and techniques out there that a hiring manager can use. But the research is clear, there is one approach to interviewing that stands out from the others - behavioral interviewing. Asking behavioral interview questions gives you as a manager your best chance of hiring great talent to your team and organization. So next time you're called to interview, bring these 6 behavioral interview questions with you and know that you're setting yourself and your organization up for success.
Make it a great one!
Jordan
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