Raymond still looked puzzled. I think I had him talked out of playing amateur psychologist when interviewing candidates, but asking him to play to his strength as a manager was still fuzzy.
“Look, Raymond. As a manager, you can spot positive behavior and negative behavior on the shop floor. As a manager, you are an expert in positive and negative behavior. That’s the key. All you have to do is ask questions about situations in their prior work experience. Find out what the task was, their actions (behavior) and the final result. All I want you to do is collect STARs. Situation, Task, Action, Result. The actions they took will tell you how they will behave when they come to work for you.”
Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. All you have to do is find out what it was. -TF
After two bad hires, my former boss (I’ve since been promoted) became a behavioral interviewing evangelist, and I’m definitely a convert as well. His interviews (and mine) last a really long time – but at the end of it, we can honestly say that we know as much as humanly possible about the candidates strengths and weaknesses.