Category Archives: Hiring Talent

How to Create Interview Questions on Culture

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As I walked through the entry way to the lobby, I noticed Miguel had posted the list of values in a cheap plastic frame next to the Mission Statement. I ducked into the conference room. Miguel sat up. “I know, I know,” he said. “At least it’s a start.”

I stared at him. “No impact. It’s not even a start!”

The rest of the management team huddled around, taking their places at the table. “Look,” I continued. “You have done a lot of work, but until you breathe some life into these values, communicate them as part of your culture, you might as well have stayed in bed.”

We worked the values list for thirty minutes, and in that short time, a series of ideas was constructed. There were details and accountabilities.

Hiring topped everyone’s list. That meant identifying behaviors connected with those values and constructing interview questions for those behaviors. We spent ten minutes brainstorming those questions. Interestingly, that ten minutes revealed more about the meaning of those values and how they would positively impact culture than any framed poster on the wall.

On teamwork, we asked ourselves, “How does a person behave, who values teamwork?” Then we constructed questions for those behaviors.

  • Tell me about a project you worked on, where teamwork was important?
  • What was the project?
  • How long was the project?
  • How many people on the team?
  • What was your role on the team?
  • What was the critical element in this project that made teamwork important?
  • When the team worked well together, what was happening?
  • When the team did not work well together, what was happening?
  • What did the team adjust to work better together?
  • What did you, personally, have to adjust to make the team work better together?

We amplified those questions by circulating an email copy to several other committees and groups in the company. We got lots of feedback and suggestions for more questions. Values are important, but you cannot interview for values, you can only interview for behaviors (connected to those values).

How to Hire an Energetic Project Manager

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“We think our problem is not having enough candidates respond to our ad in the newspaper,” lamented Joanna. “Or maybe it’s just that the people who show up aren’t even close to the type of person we need to fill the position.”

“First, let’s look at your ad,” I said, reaching across the desk.

Looking for a construction Project Manager with 3-5 years experience. Must have positive attitude and ability to relate to building owners. Knowledge of permitting process in South Florida helpful. Health insurance and 401k. Must be a team player.

“And how would you describe the applicants you are getting? Do they have the required experience?”

Joanna nodded, “Oh, yes, they have 3-5 years experience, but they aren’t very energetic. They wouldn’t last around here for more than a week.”

“Tell me Joanna, what kind of energy do you think you have in the ad? Does the writing portray the sense of urgency that goes on around here?”

“Well, not really,” she replied.

“Let’s try to put a little zip in the step.”

Commercial contractor in South Florida looking for a top-flight Project Manager. Our clients demand a quick-response person in this critical position. We work under tough building codes with stringent enforcement, so ability to get along with inspectors is important. Aggressive compensation and benefits package are part of the deal. Send us your resume or apply online through the employment section of our website. We need you now, let us hear from you today.

“Now, that’s better.”

How to Hire a Retail Store Manager

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
We just completed an aggressive plan to expand our small chain of retail stores. Our main constraint in adding more stores is our inability to predict what profile, traits or backgrounds to consider for our future store managers.

Do you have a predictive model or process for hiring new store managers?

Response:
Here is a desirable characteristic, have they ever managed a retail store before? I know that is not what you wanted to hear. I know you were looking for a paper and pencil test that someone could take, push into a computer to get a screen result that says, “Shazam, I think you got one, here!!”

It’s not about a profile, it’s all about the work. Define the work well and interview for the work. Here are the four absolutes.

  • Does the candidate have the capability for the level of work defined in the role?
  • Does the candidate possess the necessary skill for the level of work defined in the role?
  • Does the candidate have interest or passion for the level of work defined in the role?
  • Does the candidate exhibit reasonable behaviors for the level of work defined in the role?

Each of the four absolutes hinges on defining the level of work? Your question did not describe the size or scope of the store operation. That is where I would start.

Is the store a small boutique store, where the store manager also doubles as the manager of the day (MOD) and head cashier? Are there only two floor personnel in the whole store at any one time, covering two retail shifts from 8a-10p, including opening and closing? Is all purchasing, merchandising and planogramming dictated by headquarters based on off-site computerized inventory systems? These characteristics point to a level of work at Stratum II (S-II).

OR

Is the store a medium size store with multiple checkout lanes, 10-12 floor personnel at all times, where there is a manager of the day (MOD) in addition to the store manager? Is all purchasing, merchandising and planogramming still dictated by headquarters based on off-site computerized inventory systems or does the manager have discretion on inventory levels based on geographic preferences and seasons? These characteristics point to a level of work at S-III.

OR

Is the store a large box or multi-department retail environment with 20 plus floor personnel at all times where there are departmental managers, an MOD and a store manager? Does this manager participate, providing input based on judgment, for decisions related to purchasing, merchandising and planogramming? Does this manager participate, providing input based on judgment, for planning scenarios for the coming selling seasons beyond 24 months? These characteristics point to a level of work at S-IV.

First, define the level of work, then circle back to the four absolutes and craft your interview questions. For more details, and there are lots of details, you can comb these archives under the category Hiring Talent. Or you could pick up a copy of my latest book, Hiring Talent, available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

How Do You Deal with Arrogance?

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“Why the long face?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Curtis replied. “I mean, I know why I have a long face, I just don’t know what to do about it?”

“Tell me more?”

“I have a guy in a project manager role, that I believe is over his head. Most things, he does okay, but there are times when he falls short, and I have to come to the rescue. That’s not so bad, but he is just so arrogant when things don’t go as they should.”

“What do you mean, arrogant?” I pressed.

“Well, let’s say the project is rolling along, we are about 80 percent finished, he seems to just drop the ball, like the project is finished. But the last part of project is where all the problems are. Lingering details that if they don’t get buttoned up, the project drags past the deadline. The client gets upset. We can’t send an invoice, because there are still outstanding items. We may have even pulled the crew off the job and then find out there are still incomplete issues hanging out there.”

“I thought you said the problem was arrogance?”

“That’s what I mean. The client calls me, usually hot under the collar. I confront the project manager and he starts blaming all kinds of people for things he should have under control. He acts like following up on those last few details are beneath him, that he can’t be bothered. Sometimes, he even says the client shouldn’t be so upset over something so minor, that the client should be glad that we did such a good job on the rest of the project. Then he complains that the work crew should have picked up those details and that if we would just hire better people, then I would be able to see just what a good project manager he is. When he is talking like this, he gets loud, insistent, just plain arrogant.”

“Tell me,” I nodded, “is this project manager effective on the projects you have assigned to him? Can he make the grade, based on his performance?”

“No,” Curtis explained. “On smaller projects he does okay, but these longer projects, he falls short.”

“If your project manager can’t make the grade, based on his performance, then how does he survive on your team?”

Curtis began to shake his head. “You are right, he survives, because I hate to confront him. Sometimes, I even cover for him with the client, just so I don’t have to talk to him. He becomes arrogant, so I won’t talk to him, that’s how he survives.”

“So, he engages in arrogant behavior because he is mis-matched in a role that is over his head. Instinctively, he knows. Instinctively, he tries to survive as best he can. Arrogance has probably worked for him in this circumstance, most of his life, so, as a coping behavior, he can survive. Who put him in this role?”

Curtis smiled. “I did.” Several seconds elapsed before he continued. “I guess I am the one that has to fix this.”

“I believe so. You are the manager. What is your plan? What do you think you will do? What will be your first step?”

How to Interview for a Bad Attitude

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“We hire people for their technical skills, but we fire them for who they are.” Russell complained.

“Tell me more. What do you mean you fire them for who they are?” I asked.

“Well, they may have the right experience, know how to handle the technical part of the job, but their attitude is a little out of whack. In the beginning, attitude doesn’t show up, but after a couple of months, little things appear. After six months, this strange behavior actually begins to flourish and it’s downhill from there.”

“What do mean, strange behavior?” I was getting curious.

“Sometimes, it’s people skills. They are a little gruff at first, then a couple of people get on their bad side. Pretty soon, they become downright rude. They publicly dress people down in meetings. No one can disagree with them without a huge public confrontation.”

“Do you interview to discover this type of behavior?”

“No, usually the person is pretty well coached by a headhunter on how to handle the interview, so we don’t find out until later.” Russell stopped, his brow furrowed. “You mean you can interview for a bad attitude?”

I nodded.

“What? You can’t just ask them if they have a bad attitude,” Russell protested.

“Tell me, when does bad attitude show itself?”

“It usually stays hidden. It stays hidden, until there is a confrontation, a disagreement, a difficult problem that can’t be solved.”

“So, you can’t ask directly about attitude, but can you ask about a time when there was a disagreement on a project, a time when there was difficult problem that couldn’t be solved?” I wanted to know.

“I suppose,” Russell listened.

“For all the soft side, like attitude, character traits, just think about how that attitude will emerge as a behavior. I ask myself – How does a person with that attitude behave? Then I interview for that behavior.”

Why Do We Need a Supervisor?

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Marty was at a loss to explain why he was losing his most talented people. His office was upscale, roomy cubicles, good benefit package and competitive wages. I asked about his managers. Aside from the CFO and the HR person, there were two project managers running thirty technicians in the field.

“So, Marty, tell me, you have managers running the projects, but who is running the technicians?”

“Well, the Project Managers tell the technicians what they need and the technicians do the work.”

“Marty, the Project Managers run the projects, but who is running the technicians?”

“We used to have a superintendent and a foreman, but we hired an efficiency consultant who told us our projects would be more profitable if we eliminated those positions. He said the technicians, most of them had worked for us at least two years, they should be able to figure it out. He said we should call them – self-directed work teams.”

“So, why the turnover?” I pressed.

“I don’t know,” Marty replied. “In our exit interviews, our technicians said they were always getting yelled at for things that weren’t their fault.”

“So, who is yelling at them? And who is their manager?”

“You know, they get yelled at by everybody. The client yells at them, the project manager yells at them. The Vice-President yells at them. But if you pressed me to identify their manager, they really don’t have one.”

“So, what do you think the problem is?”

How Do You Interview for Teamwork?

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“There is just something about this candidate that I can’t put my finger on,” Wendy was skeptical. “Everything checks out. This person has the technical skills, the necessary experience, seems enthusiastic, but there is something. On paper, this person should be hired, but my gut is telling me otherwise.”

“You have covered the bases on my list,” I replied. “But I would trust your intuition. Which is it?

  • Capability
  • Skill
  • Interest, Passion (value for the work)
  • Reasonable Behavior

“Which is it?”

“What do you mean, reasonable behavior?” Wendy wanted to know.

“It’s important what a person knows, technical knowledge. It’s important how a person feels toward the work, interest or passion. But to complete the tasks in the role, the person has to do something. It’s about behavior. Are there habits that people have that contribute to their effectiveness? Like always showing up early for work?”

“Yes, habits are important,” Wendy agreed.

“And do we have cultural norms for our behavior in the work that we do around here?”

Wendy nodded. “I think you got it. That’s it. We have a very strong team culture. Every company says teamwork is important, but around here, it is critical. Some of the work we do is dangerous. Every person here depends on their team members to work safely. Their lives depend on it.”

“So, if culture is that unwritten set of rules that governs our behavior in the work that we do together, what does your intuition tell you about this candidate?” I asked.

“Everything story the candidate told was about himself. I mean, the interview was obviously about the candidate, but every accomplishment seems like it was single-handedly performed. I never heard the word ‘we’ during the whole interview.”

“So, your intuition is telling you something, related to reasonable behavior. What additional questions do you want to ask?”

“Working together as a team is a critical role requirement,” Wendy explained. “I need to know how this candidate works with other people. It is as important as any of the technical skills.”

“What questions will you ask?”

“Thinking out loud, here is my list,” Wendy replied.

  • Tell me about a time when you worked on a project where teamwork was important?
  • What was the project?
  • What was the purpose of the project?
  • How long was the project?
  • How many people were on your team?
  • What was your role on the team?
  • What were the factors that made teamwork important?
  • What were the factors that put pressure on the team to work together?”
  • When the team worked well together, what were they doing?
  • When the team began to crack, when they didn’t work well together, what were they doing?
  • What was the outcome of the project?”
  • Tell me about another project, where teamwork was important?

“That ought to be a good start.” she smiled.
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Why People Are Not Our Most Important Asset

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I had a couple of minutes in the lobby, so I was looking at all the teamwork posters on the wall.

Our people are our most important asset!!

I had seen this poster a hundred times, but for the first time, it struck me as odd. I was working with the management team to find a new Senior Project Manager. The last one didn’t work out so well and by the time they figured it out, they almost lost their biggest customer. I was having difficulty getting them to spend the right amount of time on the job description, defining the management skills necessary for this position. The last guy had the technical skills, but none of the management skills.

As I entered the conference room, I asked the management team if they agreed with the poster in the lobby. Being politically correct, they were quite enthusiastic in their support.

I reminded them of Collins book Good to Great and asked them again, “Are our people our greatest asset?”

This team has been around me for a while, so they know when I ask a question a second time, their first response may need some rethinking. As I looked around the table, I could see the wheels churning. Finally, someone took a stab at it.

“Our people may not be our greatest asset. The right people are our greatest asset. The wrong person may be our biggest liability.”

“Good,” I replied. “Sometimes it takes a bad hire for us to realize how important this up-front work is. So, let’s get to work. What is the capability required for the level of work? What are the skills, knowledge and behaviors necessary for success in this position?”

How to Hire for Attitude

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“To heck with the technical skills,” Jena proclaimed. “I am just going to hire for attitude.”

“The skills required are easy enough to teach, and you have a good training program,” I agreed. “But how will you interview for attitude? Specifically, what attitude will you interview for?”

“Oh, that’s easy. I want someone with a sense of urgency. I am tired of hiring people who feel like they can take all day to produce a single unit when I need 15 units produced. I am tired of people who feel like we push them too hard. We work hard here. I want someone who likes to work hard.”

“I think I understand,” I nodded. “Just exactly what questions will you ask to find that out?”

Jena looked stumped and then smiled. “I have no idea.”

“Well, that’s a start. If you did have an idea, what question would you ask?”

Jena shook her head and chuckled. “I guess, I could ask them if they like to work hard?”

“And how do you think the candidate would respond?”

“Unless they are an idiot, I guess they would answer – yes. And if they were truly an idiot, they would not have made it to the interview. That means every candidate will answer – yes.”

“Then, is that a helpful question?” I probed. “Can you think of a better question? A more specific question? A question about something real? A question about a behavior that you can observe?”

“But, I am trying to hire for attitude. You can’t see attitude,” Jena protested.

“I know you cannot see attitude, but ask yourself this question. How does someone, who likes to work hard, behave? How does someone, with a sense of urgency, behave? Then interview for that behavior.”

“Someone who likes to work hard, shows up early,” Jena started. “And they work at a pace that gets the work done. They are aware of pace. They don’t stop every half hour for a smoke break. They keep working until the job is done. They don’t quit, they don’t leave a project half finished thinking someone will come along behind and complete their work.”

“Now we are getting somewhere. You cannot see attitude, but if you can connect attitude to specific behaviors, you can certainly ask questions about those specific behaviors. So, let’s hear some questions. First establish the project.”

Jena gathered her thoughts. “Tell me about a time when you worked on a project where the deadline was very important. What was the project? What was the purpose of the project? What was your role on the project team? What made the deadline so important? How did your team respond to make sure you met the deadline? Step me through the pace of the project? How did you know you were ahead of schedule or behind schedule? When you were behind schedule, what did you do? When you were ahead of schedule, what did you do? As you got to the end of the project, what planning did you do to button up the last stages of the project? Step me through that plan? How did you know you had completed all the final details on the project? How was the project reviewed, by your manager, or the client? Step me through the review process?”

Jena stopped. “Okay, I like those questions,” she said.
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Who to Promote, Who to Let Go?

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“Yes,” Roger nodded. “Grading my sales team into these six bands of effectiveness helps me see what to do next.”

“How so?” I prompted.

Personal Effectiveness

Personal Effectiveness


“The temptation is to keep all the people in the top half of the banding and terminate the people in the bottom half. But now I have more judgments to make, as a manager.”

“There’s more?” I pressed.

“Yes. I have one salesperson, in the top of the top half, that needs leadership training. In another year, I want to move that salesperson into a more complicated product line, with a longer sales cycle, working with a special sales team.”

“And?”

“And,” Roger stopped. “And I need to terminate five out of the seventeen people I have on my team.”

“How did you reach that conclusion?” I asked.

“Again, it wasn’t difficult. I have been making excuses for them, sent them to training, tried to motivate them, offered a bonus. Funny, paying people more money doesn’t make them more competent. Once I did the analysis, it became very clear. I made some very poor hiring decisions.”
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