Determining for whom you seek…..
You are certain you need another staff member. How do you know whom you need?
Culture is important for teams to succeed. Agreement on core values and adherence to those
values are necessary for the culture to thrive. Behavior traits and alignment with team values
are more important for the success of the team than the skill level of the candidate.
What traits define the person that will best fit into the role you need to fill? Remember that you
are seeking a team member and not someone with whom you will shop or see a movie.
Let’s start by defining the traits of those you currently believe successful in the role.
List 5 traits that come to mind when you think of the best employee currently in the role.
i.e. Friendly, collaborative, strong work ethic, positive, trustworthy.
Now write 3 behaviors that define each trait listed. What does friendly look like? This way we
will know when we see it.
- Friendly – smiles, compliments others, assists others
- Strong work ethic – always doing their tasks, willing to come in early or stay late if needed, willing to give feedback to improve the outcomes of their tasks.
- Collaboration – Willing to help others with their tasks, willing to work with others if they need help completing their tasks, shows support for other employees
- Positive – offers support to fellow employees for issues specific to that employee, willing to change tasks when asked, doesn’t gossip
- Trustworthy – no concern for stealing, shows up when scheduled, stays until tasks are completed
Now you can write interview questions that ask about these behaviors. Be certain the questions
ask about situations the candidate has experienced and how they reacted. Do NOT make a
hypothetical situation and ask how they would respond. Ask, instead, for a situation in which
they had to be friendly…….listen for their behaviors and rate how completely their behavior
matches the behaviors you have described for each trait you are seeking.
If the candidate chooses a situation that required them to assist others and they compliment the
colleague they assisted and they smile during their answer… then this is a 10/10 answer.
Score each answer and then average the scores. The goal is not to hire the highest score. Do not
hire a score of less than 7/10. Instead, look at your sourcing and rewrite your add or advertise in
front of a different population of candidates. The goal of the interview is to find someone that
fits your culture and vision for the role. Skills can be taught but behaviors are much more
difficult to change and mold. This is why questions should solicit information about their past
behaviors. This is proven to be more reliable at predicting how they will behave in the future.
Many people think they will behave correctly in a hypothetical situation but then when this is
tested they do not respond as they predicted.