From the Ask Tom mailbag –

Question:
As most of the world does not understand levels of work, in an interview process how can a candidate ensure that he/she doesn’t end up working for someone operating/thinking at the same or a lower stratum than themselves. Are there some questions or items for a candidate to look for during the interview process to assess the requisite level of the prospective manager and even peers?

Response:
Employment and job satisfaction live on a two-way street. Both the employer and the candidate have a very important decision to make, a decision that has long term consequences, for better or worse. As I thought about my response, it occurred to me how important these issues are to the work experience of every employed person.

Here are my guideposts for managerial roles, which establish the basis for the questions I would ask, as a candidate.

• Stratum IV – Integration of multiple systems and sub-systems.
• Stratum III – Creation, monitoring and improvement of a single serial system.
• Stratum II – Implementation and coordination of resources inside a system, specifically people, equipment and materials related to output.
• Stratum I – Production work (non-managerial).

S-I – Production
If I were applying for a production role, I would want to speak with my hiring manager about these questions.

• Briefly describe for me, my work instructions related to each process? (Here, I am not looking for a training program, I am looking for one or two sentences that are clear.)
• Briefly describe to me what elements have to be coordinated for me to effectively complete my assigned tasks?
• Briefly describe how you, as my manager, go about making sure all production elements are coordinated? (Here I am looking for a description of checklists and schedules.)
• Briefly describe what changes occur during the working week that impact the production schedule, that may change my production during that week? (Here, I am looking to see how my manager responds to things that change, because things change.)
• How long have you been in this role?

S-II – Implementation and coordination
If I were applying for a supervisory role, to make sure production gets done, I would want to speak with my hiring manager about these questions.

• Briefly describe to me, the work flow system that I will be implementing? What are its steps? Can you draw me a diagram?
• Briefly describe changes that have been made to the work flow system and why?
• What production problems have been systematically prevented by the current work flow system?
• How long have you been in this role?

S-III – Single serial system manager
If I were applying for a managerial role, to create, monitor and improve a single serial system, I would want to speak with my hiring manager about these questions.

• Briefly describe to me, how my system interacts with other systems (departments) in the organization?
• Briefly describe how the organization optimizes throughput, what meetings happen, what handoff transitions exist, QC stage-gates and other feedback systems?
• What imbalances have occurred between systems and how did the organization respond to optimize the imbalance?
• How long have you been in this role?

As a candidate, these issues, at each level of work, will predict my future job satisfaction. They will impact a positive or negative relationship with my manager. These are predictors of competence. These are elements of a competent organization.