You know the feeling…you’ve taken on a new employee, they seemed exactly the right type of person from their CV and the interview, they’ve got their feet under the table and ….

Whatever the reason, many new hires simply don’t turn out the way you thought they would. There is no fail safe technique for ensuring someone starting with you will perform in the way you expect them to. Their values may not ring true with your team, or they may not get on with their colleagues, or they may have personal issues that spill over into the workplace.

You may have to act swiftly to limit the damage this bad hiring decision may cause you. I have a few ideas that might help:

First, face up to the problem. You may feel uncomfortable or embarrassed about the situation. You may not have noticed something obvious at the interview, and you may feel frustrated and guilty about what may lay ahead; like, having to get rid of a person and go through the long recruitment process again. So, there are several stages you can go through before removing the person from their position.

1) Ensure you and they have clear objectives. Go back to the job description and the objectives they need to hit and make sure everything is clear, with no ambiguities. Make sure they understand what is expected of him or her. Is there an aspect of the role that needs describing in greater detail? If so, make it happen and keep a close eye on how the person responds.

2) Review your induction programme. You need to strike a delicate balance between the new person adding value to the organisation and making sure the systems and processes in the organisation are well-followed. Some sensitivity at this stage is normal, but revisit what your expectations are during this induction period and highlight any anomalies that may be present.

3) Do they simply need more training? There may be a skills gap between someone’s former experience and the new job requirements. The decision to employ may look poor, but it may simply be a case of the person not getting enough skills training or coaching to appear competent. Could they shadow someone else, or have a mentor for a longer period to see if that reduces the concerns you may have?

4) Is the level of support adequate? Maybe they need a bit more supervision on the job before they pick it up properly. Has the level of guidance been enough to allow them to grow quickly into the job? Different people have different learning styles, so it’s possible they need to be trained or supported in a different way before they grasp the principles.

5) Find out their perceptions of the job. Have an early performance review or job appraisal to discover their views on how things are going. This gives you both an opportunity to bring up any issues that may be covered up. Discuss, performance targets, quality issues, time frames, compliances, or whatever it is that is giving you cause for concern. This will allow you to bring up the concerns you have without it appearing personal just to them.

6) Check out your coaching style. Coaching is a good investment in people, as it allows you to develop their skills while keeping an eye on their performance. It will check on their levels of resourcefulness, too, so you see whether there is a real reason to keep them motivated and in your future plans.

7) Consider extending the probation period. Practically, it is easier to reverse a poor hiring decision before the probation period is up. Once full employment has been granted, the legal requirements that have to be followed are more complicated. You must demonstrate you’ve given the employee every chance to turn things round, so an extended probation period allows you both to see whether the future with be better with or without them. Naturally, you need to forewarn them about the consequences of lack of improvement

8 ) Create contingencies if the person should fail to improve. Is there another role within the organisation that would suit them better? Could someone else fit into the role they are currently holding if you do have to let them go quickly? Would they be disruptive if you asked them to leave early? maybe compensation for early leaving would be better than putting up with poor performance longer than necessary.

There is no value in prolonging a poor hiring decision; it’s always best to tackle the situation head-on and in a professional way. This ensures the least damage to morale and the organisation’s performance.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

How do you feel when you need to interview for a new post? Nervous? Anxious about making a mistake?

Don’t worry, you’re in the majority! Most people have concerns about making decisions based on how a person comes across in a false work situation. Remember, the interviewee has prepared well, is on their best behaviour, wants to make a deliberate positive impression and will not moan, complain or make you feel anything other than they are the best person on earth for the job.

How do you make it easier for yourself to make the right decision? Well, the quality of your questions will help you assess the best candidate.

Don’t be content with just asking a question, getting an answer and moving on. Ask an initial question, then put on your interrogator’s hat and probe deeper.

Fully understand the situation described, determine exactly what the candidate did and did not do, and find out how things turned out. Follow-up questions don’t need to be complicated: “Really?” “What did you do then?” “What did she say?” “What happened next?” “How did that end up?” All you have to do is keep the conversation going. Remember, an interview is really just a conversation.

When devising your questions, identify the intent behind it. Here are some of my favourites:

1. “Tell me about a time a customer or team member got mad at you.”

Your intent here is to evaluate the candidate’s interpersonal skills and ability to deal with conflict.

Remember, make sure you find out why the customer or team member was mad, what the interviewee did in response, and how the situation turned out both in the short- and long-term.

Listen out for whether the candidate pushes all the blame and responsibility for rectifying the situation onto the other person. What you want to hear is how they dealt with the problem and how it was fixed.

If the candidate shows they were able to admit they made a mistake, took responsibility for it and learned from it, those are the signs you need to determine if they are a good candidate for the position.

You need to know that the candidate focused on how they addressed and fixed the problem, not on who was to blame.

Another good question:

2. “Tell me about the toughest decision you had to make in the last six months.”

The purpose here is to judge the candidate’s ability to reason, problem solving skills, judgment, and sometimes even willingness to take intelligent risks.

What you’re looking for are interpersonal skills and decision-making skills. You are looking out for the candidate weighing up the pros and cons of the situation, and how they solved the problem, so you can judge their thinking and innovation skills.

Here’s another:

3. “Tell me about a time you knew you were right… but you still had to follow protocol or the boss’s instructions”

Here, you are judging the candidate’s ability to follow… and possibly to lead. You are assessing how they deal with tough situations and rectify them in the end. What you want to hear might be that they did what needed to be done, especially in a time-critical situation, then found an appropriate time and place to raise issues and work to improve the situation.

You need to determine if their manner is one that would fit in with your processes, and how anything that happens that they don’t agree with affects their motivation.

And another:

4. “Tell me about the last time your workday ended before you were able to get everything done.”

You’re trying here to assess commitment, ability to prioritise, ability to communicate effectively. You want to know the level of commitment the candidate shows without them saying they would be a martyr to the job. Evaluate a candidate’s answers to this question based on your company’s culture and organisational needs.

There are many others, of course, but I’ve found these to be helpful in assessing the qualities of people I’ve interviewed.

Forget opinion-based questions, and concentrate on facts, as many interviewees have read books on how to be interviewed and can guess their way through many of the stock questions. Check their CV and make sure it matches with their accomplishments. Your questions will determine how factual their background is.

Let me know how you get on with your next interview!

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

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Recruit in haste, repent in leisure! That’s certainly very true when you need new people in your team. When you are looking for a new person, it can be tempting to just place an ad or ask for resumes to be sent in from your favourite job websites.

But there’s a better way to plan for new recruits, and a little time well-spent now will reap greater rewards later. Here are some ideas to kick-start your recruitment process:

• Make sure you are thoroughly aware of the responsibilities of the position. Ask yourself: what are your expectations of the person? What do you want them to achieve? How will you measure their success? What sort of tasks will they be required to handle?

If you are clear on all these objectives, it gives you a head-start in thinking about the type of person you want

• Understand the type of person you want. Ask yourself: What knowledge and experience should we require for the position? Is experience more important than talent and creativity, or is it the other way round? What characteristics does the new person need to fit in with the team they will be working with?

Answering these questions ensures a good fit with the current team.

• Where will you look for them? Your favourite job-hunting websites might be your first port of call, but think about what the new person may be reading and surfing for. Maybe a professional association’s website will offer job adverts. That way, you’re more likely to get your request seen by people who could fill the position.

• Prepare well for the interview. Determine the qualities in the person that you are trying to highlight. Are they motivated to take your company forward? Do they have the ability or will they need to be trained up? Will they fit into the team environment?

Consider questions and lines of discussion that will get answers to all these strategic questions.

• Check the resumes and CV’s again before the interview. Nothing is worse for the candidate than to see the interviewer scanning the CV as they are interviewing! Ensure you’ve done your research on the candidate and prepare to ask questions relating to the information you find.

By preparing effectively for the interview, you give yourself a much better chance to recruit the best rather than relying on gut instinct.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

How many times have you employed someone based on their CV and the way they come across at interview, then learned to regret it some time later? It may be that they don’t really fit in with the team, haven’t really got the skills they claimed to have or the job role isn’t what they expected.

Interviewing someone simply because they have a good CV may cause problems. Experience shouldn’t be ignored, but it’s not a reliable indicator as to whether someone can give you the outcomes you want.

The CV just tells you about the past. What you’re really looking for is what they can do for you in the future!

It doesn’t matter how long they have been in your industry, or how long they have been in the type of job you’re trying to fill. You need to establish whether they can give you the results you need.

The relevant questions you can ask at interview should include;

• How are you going to generate more business for us?
• What will you do to improve our brand image and awareness?
• How do you demonstrate the skill-sets you say you have on your CV?
• How will you increase customer loyalty?
• What talents do you add to my team and how will you demonstrate them?

You should concentrate on the factors that you will ultimately be judged on, so you need people who can assist you in delivering those results. Your success will be measured by how your people perform, so create questions at the interview that will give you clear indicators the person is aiming for the future rather than relying on past history.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

With the economy seemingly picking up of late, many companies are telling us that they have started taking on staff again, albeit slowly and intermittently. Many managers are not practiced in interview skills, so it may be good to reacquaint yourself with some ideas if you are about to embark on a recruitment drive, or simply thinking of taking on another person:

• Lay the foundations effectively. You’ll present a poor image of your company and yourself if you approach an interview unprepared. Know the purpose of the session, familiarise yourself with all relevant materials and prepare a set of questions in advance.

• Focus on your objectives. Know what you are trying to achieve and focus on what information you need, so you can prepare your questions and mindset.

• Remember that most people make up their mind on a candidate in the first four minutes. Resist the temptation to do that every time, as there may be something coming up later in the conversation that you’d miss if you aren’t careful.

• Remember, too, that an average candidate who follows a few poor ones may seem particularly good.

• Sell the positive aspects of your company and department to the interviewee, as well as seeing how they sell themselves to you. You might end up offering the job to someone who turns you down because they don’t see the benefits of working for you.

• Beware of the legal issues that always have the habit of coming back and biting you. Get up to speed on the latest employment law changes in respect of what you can and can’t ask. If you haven’t interviewed for some time, you may just drop in that inappropriate question.

• Take note of important points the interviewee brings up. You can use them later to justify your decision to employ them or not.

• If they are going to become a new team member of an existing team, consider if it would be worthwhile having some selected candidates spend a while with the team, to see how their possible colleagues rate them. If existing team members feel they have had a part to play in the new person’s employment, they are more likely to greet them into the team more effectively. Similarly, if they don’t feel the candidate will fit in, they can let you know before you make a mistake.

• After the interview, review and elaborate on your notes, record facts and review the data you’ve gathered. Complete these notes before interviewing anyone else, so you don’t get confused or mix up your thoughts between two or more candidates.

With adequate preparation, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t successfully recruit new personnel even though you’ve been out of practice for some time. And remember: the interview process should fill only a supporting role in your company’s selection criteria.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”