Improving the Selection Process: Training Selecting Officials to Use Behavior-Based Interviews

Nancy E. Abrams, Ph.D. The Partnering Group, Inc.

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2008 The Partnering Group, Inc.

Improving the Selection Process: Training Selecting Officials to Use Behavior-Based Interviews
Introductions The Selection Process The Development Process:
Competencies Gathering background information prior to interview Developing job-related questions Rating criteria Legal concerns Rater Errors and Observing Behaviors Note taking Conducting the interview Evaluating the applicant
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Interviewer Training:

Selection Process

Select Candidate

Interview Team Assesses Competencies

Civil Service Examination Screens and Ranks Qualified Candidates

Recruitment identifies a pool of qualified candidates

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Validity of the Entire Selection Process

Content Oriented Validation Based on job analysis Definition of the content domain Coverage of the content domain by the process Civil service tests often do not cover some portions of the content domain Validity can be improved by covering more of the content domain with a job-related interview process
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Why are job-related behavior-based interviews not done?

Disconnect between interviewers and test developers Lack of job analysis information for interviewers Interviewers do not know how Interviewers do not understand the importance of what they do or fail to see it as a priority Other thoughts?

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Creating Improved Interviews

Job analysis should be provided to those developing interview.
Ideally the test plan should also be provided

Interview focus
Most critical competencies Areas which cannot be developed after the person is hired Competencies not already assessed by the testing process 5-7 competencies is optimal, with a maximum of 10

Competencies should be behaviorally defined across several levels of proficiency.

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Focusing on Competencies

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Some Sample Competencies for Success in Financial Management

Financial and Business Acumen - Applying knowledge of customer and company business practices and concepts to produce mutually successful results. Fiduciary Control and Safeguarding - Applying knowledge of the transaction process to detect and prevent errors or fraudExample the embedding of through safeguarding processes and controls. Problem Solving - Identifying and solving problems, using and adjusting tactics as appropriate to the situation. Interpersonal Communication - Communicates effectively both orally and in writing to ensure complete support and understanding
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Sample Competency: Financial & Business Acumen: Applying knowledge of customer and
company business practices and concepts to produce mutually successful results. Undeveloped
Lacks knowledge of corporate finances or failure to use that knowledge.

Basic
Makes day-to-day business decisions with a basic understanding of business financial concepts and principles. Indicators:
y Understands financial implications of business decisions on both the customer and the company Understands the cause and effect between business decisions and financial impact

Advanced
Uses thorough knowledge of company and customer financial priorities and drivers to produce agreed upon results. Indicators:
y Understands the drivers of the company P&L, the customers P&L and the linkage between strategy and P&L Anticipates how his/her sales activity and proposals will impact both the company and the customers P&L Understands what drives market share and uses that knowledge in planning actions Understands business and economic trends and how they impact the companys and customers businesses

Mastery
Develops and builds on advanced knowledge of corporate financial principles and concepts to shape business plans and deliver results. Indicators:
y Articulates financial implications of ideas,
propositions, etc. to CFO and Finance decision makers (i.e., can talk finance to a CFO) Uses public sources to develop and maintain a current understanding of how domestic and global industry trends and shifts are changing the business landscape for the company and the customer

Indicators:
y y Does not highlight financial implications of business decisions Does not understand the cause and effect between business decisions and financial impact

Example
y y

Is unaware of the corporate scorecard

y y

Understands what drives sales volume and accurately forecasts future sales volume (both base and incremental) based on analysis of available data Uses basic analytical tools to provide a basis for decisions Regularly conducts post event analyses to understand why specific events have been successful or unsuccessful

Learns from and helps customer learn from the results of recent events Uses analytic tools to test various promotional scenarios to determine best opportunities for the company and the customer

Thinks about the long term, systematically

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Job Competency Linkage Example

Functional Competencies
Financial & Business Acumen Fiduciary Control & Safeguarding Problem Solving Interpersonal Communications

Financial Analyst
Basic

Finance Manager
Advanced Mastery Advanced Advanced

Example Basic
Advanced Basic

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Organizational Competency Development

Human Resource Management Revolves Around Competencies
JOB Competencies
Recruitment & Selection Reward & Recognition

Succession Planning

Training & Development

Performance Management

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Interview Development

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Interview Research
Usefulness and accuracy of interviews can be improved with:
Structure Job-relatedness Limitations on prompting, follow-up and elaboration Questions which are situational, behavioral, concerning the applicants background and job knowledge Increased length 40 minutes and 16.5 questions is optimal Control of ancillary information Reserving questions from the applicant until the conclusion
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Background Information Collected Prior to the Interview

Prior to interview: Information available:
Applications - vary in quality and quantity of information Resumes - vary greatly in terms of format Test scores - contain limited information

Better interviews are based on job-related information reviewed prior to interview.

Interviewers are better prepared for the interview
More focused questions during the interview. The interviewers time is used more efficiently. Information gathered of similar detail.
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Talent Identification and Matching Questionnaire Sample Competency

PROBLEM SOLVING Many jobs require the ability to identify and solve problems, using and adjusting tactics as appropriate to the situation. Describe a situation that you have experienced which best demonstrates your problem solving skills. Your answer should be completed in the space provided below. Problem or Objective:

What was done, your role and when (approximate dates):

What the outcome was:

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Developing Job Related Questions

Questions should enable interviewer to evaluate competencies Questions should be:
Developed prior to conducting the interview Based on job analysis/selected competencies Open-ended Brief, unambiguous and focused If multipart, plan how they will be asked Not leading Appropriate language, avoiding unfamiliar jargon and/or company-specific terms With pre-planned follow-ups
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Question Types
Develop several questions for each competency being assessed. Use appropriate question types:
Situational Behavioral description or consistency Job knowledge Self-Assessment of competency Background questions Opinions or philosophies
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Situational Questions
Based on the premise that how a person says he/she would act is how he/she will act. Example:
For the past week, you have been consistently getting the most work on your team. You know that it is no ones fault. Your supervisor has just given you a new project to do with a very short timeline. What would you do?

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Behavioral Description and Behavioral Consistency Questions

Based on the premise that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Example:
The questions on the Talent Questionnaire elicit descriptions of past accomplishments. You may ask individuals to elaborate on what they provided in writing or describe other examples.

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Job Knowledge and Self-Assessment Questions

Job knowledge questions are based on the premise that job knowledge is the primary basis for effective job performance. Example:
You will be using a number of computer systems on this job, including most of the Microsoft Office Suite. Describe in what situations you would use Word, Powerpoint and Excel and why?

Self assessment questions are based on the premise that individuals can accurately assess their own capability. Example:
You will be using a number of computer systems on this job, including most of the Microsoft Office Suite. How would you rate your ability to use MS WordPowerpointExcel?
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Background and Philosophical Questions

Background questions are based on the premise that an individuals job and training has provided job knowledge is the primary basis for effective job performance. Example:
Based on your resume, I see that you have been a Sales Representative for ABD Manufacturing for five years, please describe the kind of training you received there that helped you learn to do your job more effectively.

Philosophical questions are based on the premise that individuals will behave in a manner consistent with professed philosophy. Example:
How would you describe you philosophy of managing people?
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Potential Topics of Legal Concern

Name
Lineage, National Origin Thats an interesting name. Is it Italian? Discussion of Relatives Are you related to Joe Smith? Inquiries concerning previous name Are you married?

Marital Status
Asking if married, single, divorced or engaged Number and/or ages of children Current or planned pregnancy

Age
Asking how old the interviewee is Asking how long until retirement

Sex Race or color

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Potential Topics of Legal Concern

(Continued)

Residence
Persons with whom the interviewee resides Whether the individual rents or owns his/her home

Education
Religious affiliation of the school

Arrests Organizational membership

Clubs, societies, etc. Membership in a church or other religious institution

Disabilities
Only can be framed in terms of ability to do the job with or without accommodation

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Rating Criteria
Must be developed in advance of the interviews Ratings can be done by competency or by question
Be sure raters avoid a global or wholistic rating for the entire interview this invites error

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Rating Criteria
Question-based Interview developers need to think about what makes one answer better than another Ensure that all interviewers agree

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Rating Criteria
Competency-based Interview developers need to think about what behaviors they are looking for each competency This should be developed in conjunction with question writing If the competencies have been behaviorally defined at multiple proficiency levels, rating criteria can flow from them
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Rating Criteria
Keep any rating scale simple
Generally interviews are used to make in or out decisions Not fine rank-order distinctions 3 points are probably sufficient
Highly acceptable Acceptable Unacceptable

Ensure that all interviewers agree on the criteria they will be using
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Training Interviews on Conducting Interviews

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Errors to Avoid
Halo The tendency to generalize an overall impression of the candidate to all factors (exaggeration of the homogeneity of an applicants traits) Leniency/harshness The tendency to rate everyone high or low Everyone is average Ratings limited to the middle range for everyone First/last impression The tendency to reach final decision early in the process (within the first four minutes) or to emphasize what happened at the end of the exercise
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Errors to Avoid
(continued)

Contrast The tendency to compare individuals rather than rate each against the established standard Similar to me The tendency to rate someone similar to self higher Stereotypes The tendency to rate based on group membership Unfavorable impression Weighting of negative information more heavily than positive information Emphasis on non-verbal cues Excessive weight on non-verbal behaviors
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Interviewers
Multiple interviewers are desirable Get multiple points of view See how interviewee interacts with different types of people More efficient to have a panel of interviewers Three is probably the optimal number
Not always possible
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Note Taking
During the interview, concentrate on observing behaviors. Write those behaviors down. Use a note taking form. At the end of the interview, you should have a detailed set of behavioral notes. You will use those observed behaviors to do your ratings.
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TRAINING EXERCISE: DISTINGUISHING BEHAVIORS FROM RATER JUDGEMENTS When recording observations of behavior, it is very easy to interject your own interpretation or evaluation of what you see. What is actually needed is a documented recording of what took place so that you can later attach your evaluation of the behavior, and have documented the evidence to support that evaluation. This exercise is designed to help you learn the difference between statements, which record actual behavior versus judgments or conclusions.
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TRAINING EXERCISE: DISTINGUISHING BEHAVIORS FROM RATER JUDGEMENTS 1. She organized her presentation well. 2. He demonstrated little self-confidence during the interview. 3. She suggested a very creative solution to the problem she encountered on her job. 4. In the interview, he became very nervous when he was asked about his past experience. 5. In the interview she described a negotiation she conducted. 6. She answered the questions she was asked in the group exercise in one-word sentences
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TRAINING EXERCISE: DISTINGUISHING BEHAVIORS FROM RATER JUDGEMENTS 7. He walked into the interview and looked directly at each panel member. 8. In the interview, she suggested that each of her customers were critical to the business. 9. She began by listing the strengths of each of her customers. 10. He analyzed each of the problems thoroughly. 11. She displayed poor judgment in the first question. 12. His answers were very organized.
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Plan the Structure of the Interview

Build rapport (be careful not to stray into potential legal problems) Clarify information on application and on resume Use questions to assess competencies, building on information provided on Talent Questionnaire as a starting point Provide a realistic job preview Provide administrative information including timeline Invite applicant questions Conclude interview Rate based on notes and competency definitions of proficiency levels
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The Evaluation Process for Interviews

In order to remain objective: Record behaviors observed in detailed notes After completion of the interview review record of behaviors observed and determine how they relate to the competencies of interest Compare observations to behavioral indicators Record the proficiency level for each competency Compare ratings with other observers Discuss and attempt to resolve differences
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