FAQs – HR & Recruitment Frequently Asked Questions

Most interviewers have never been formally taught how to interview and, as a result, tend to do it badly. If they were lucky, they were able to sit in on an interview, now and then, with their manager and observe. That’s okay, if the manager was a sophisticated and technically strong interviewer but not if their skills were poor – as the pattern is just repeated. The outcome can be that businesses struggle with productivity – with a number of average performers and a high level of turnover which can be extremely costly to the business.

We believe that the current lack of effective interview skills is one of the key reasons that employers select the wrong candidate. The new hire then either does not have the skills or does not fit into the cultural environment of the business. If there is one skill that I would encourage you to work on, it would be your interview technique – because this skill will also assist you with general communication skills such as active listening and probing – as well as undertaking performance management interviews or investigations.

Develop your interview questions which cover technical, behavioural and cultural aspects

Technical:
What is your management style?

Behavioural:
As a manager, have you ever had to terminate someone? If so, what were the circumstances and how did you handle it?

Cultural:
What type of culture works best for you and why?

Learn how to probe using questions such as:

• What did you say in that situation?
• What were you thinking?
• What were you feeling?
• What happened next?
• If you had your time again, would you do anything differently?

Document all interviews effectively and accurately and ask the same questions to candidates going for the same role so that you can compare, contrast and evaluate their answers fairly and appropriately.

This is where the employer either demotes the employee or makes significant changes to their working conditions. An example of this might be when you are continually promising an individual promotion to the Head Developer role, with an increase in pay and conditions, for which that individual works extra hours to achieve, and then you bring someone in externally or promote an alternative internal candidate instead. It could be argued that you have repudiated the contract in this case. The moral here is to be careful what you promise – both verbally and in writing.

The test here is – was the termination ‘unfair, unjust or unreasonable?’ That is, did you follow ‘due process’ and were you ‘reasonable’ with your approach and expectations. For example, if you set unreasonable criteria for improvement – say asking them to bill $300K revenue in a month when $200K would be a huge target for a top-performer, then this would be deemed to be unreasonable and the individual might have a case to take up against you.