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Secrets of professional assessment of people for an interview

On Habré already passed several articles on staff evaluation ( for example, here ), on how to interpret what was heard from the candidates. I want to talk about a behavioral interview that I have been successfully using for 7 years and teaching it to others.

The main drawback of most assessment procedures is their subjectivity, low reliability in the assessment of human knowledge and skills. People do not want to tell the truth, they often give out theoretical knowledge for practical skills. To select the right candidates, several types of interviews have been developed. One of them is behavioral - one of the few that really allows you to understand what the candidate really knows and can do.

Read on - there will be a lot of letters and examples ...
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Behavioral interviews are also called “interviews on behavioral indicators”, behavioral (criterion) interviews, “competency-based interviews”. When selecting it is not often used, since it is time consuming and makes high demands on the experience of the interviewer. Traditionally, it is used as part of the Assessment Center staff assessment method. At the same time in the selection, it does not replace either a biographical interview or an assessment of professionalism.

The technology of behavioral interview is based on the following postulates:

Only behavior is evaluated
Interviews collect data on specific, specific work, competences or criteria. The main focus is to analyze the facts of candidates' actions in the past according to the scheme: situation - task - action - result. A distinctive feature of this type of interview is the questions that encourage you to answer with an example from your life: “tell me about the situation when you managed to achieve ...” or “describe a case in which ...”.

Clear criteria or so-called competences are used.
Competence is a term that describes the knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform a particular job. Competences are written in terms of human behavior and are divided into several levels, ranging from complete incompetence to leadership skills. An example of competence at the end of the article. Competences, this is like a benchmark for describing the actions we expect from a candidate. Below I will give only the basic level, which is the "gold standard".

If we talk about the negative and positive aspects of this method, we can distinguish the following:

Potential strengths

High reliability. The interview relies on clear criteria and obvious facts. As you know, the behavior of an adult person changes slowly, and an example from the past no later than six months will be considered ideal. For reliability, conclusions are drawn based on three examples for each factor assessed. A report on a person made on the basis of a competent behavioral interview is valid for about a year, and in fact about 2-3 years. According to my estimates, only in-depth interviews are more reliable and accurate, but this is the prerogative of professional psychologists with good experience. According to independent estimates , 100% reliability does not give anyone, but up to 60% is quite realistic, given that the tests give an accuracy of 20-30%
Little lies. It is difficult for people to simultaneously recall examples from the past and invent something new. Fudges are characterized by low details and are eliminated by the interviewer as not suitable for conclusions.
Clarity assessment. The results of such an interview are easy to assess, as there is a clear rating scale provided for each specific competence, which does not contain vague wording typical of the standard psychological portrait “candidate, rather a sanguine person, with a pronounced aggressive attitude ...”.
Ease of comparison. By using the same competencies, assessments obtained during interviews can be integrated with information obtained from other sources, such as tests, exercises or questionnaires.
Effective in assessing soft skills. Most often, the behavioral interview focuses on “soft” skills, hard skills are also evaluated, but it is more difficult to do and reliability decreases.

Potential limitations

Time. In order to fully appreciate a large number of competencies, it will take at least an hour on the basis that the average time is 10 minutes per competency.
Rich imagination. Candidates with a developed mindset and fantasy may come up with plausible cases during the interview and as a result become overvalued, therefore integration with other tools is desirable.
Obligation of additional evaluation It should be noted that there is a need for a biographical interview, since without this, significant aspects of a candidate’s professional biography may not be investigated, which ultimately will affect the overall assessment of the interview.

It is also important to note that creating the competency model itself is a rather lengthy and costly process. In order for a qualitative model of competencies to emerge or to be selected from a set of universal, an analysis of the company's activities and management expectations is required. On average, from 3 to 12 competencies are used to evaluate one position. Some companies prefer standard kits, others, on the contrary, prescribe for themselves. Creating your own competency model costs between $ 3,000 and $ 15,000. Training a specialist takes a week, but after that you need at least a month internship under the supervision of an experienced "appraiser." Superficially master the method can be in 1-2 days. One of the advantages of the method is that people without psychological education can be engaged in assessment, however, one should feel the interrelation between motives and behavior and have a high level of personal reflection.

Some practice

I will give a couple of examples from transcripts, when recording was made with the permission of the candidates, as well as the subsequent interpretation of the data.
The interview was conducted by a recruitment specialist (CSP) with a candidate for the position of project manager (PM), who should have 4 people subordinate to him.

Competence "Management of subordinates." A basic level of.
• Competently distributes tasks between performers depending on their experience, potential and individual abilities.
• Setting the task to the performer, each time clearly articulates: the essence of the task, the qualitative and quantitative standards for its implementation, the forms and parameters of control. Achieves the performer a correct understanding of all the elements of the task. Consistently monitors intermediate and final results. Quickly notices deviations and promptly makes corrections.
• Clearly organizes the work of performers in accordance with accepted standards and regulations. Tracks the execution of procedures. Coordinates and coordinates work on the main activities. Knows and takes into account critical points in the work that affect business processes.

SPP: Tell us, please, how when you give instructions to your employees, you are convinced that they understood the meaning of the task correctly.
PM: Oh, it's immediately obvious whether the person has an understanding look or empty eyes. An understanding employee will say the affirmative “good” or “do it”, smile, ask when you need to do the work and leave. And if the task is incomprehensible for some reason, it will be immediately apparent from its confused look. In that case, I'm starting to ask again. Of course, it also happens that the employee seems to understand everything, and in general, he is very obligatory, but the final result is exactly the opposite of what I expected. Then I re-explain the instruction and send to correct the errors.
CPP: And tell us on a specific example?
PM: Yes, here is a simple recent case. I told the chief technician from the technical support service to draw up a schedule for running the project on laying the network in N. office. As a result, I waited for this schedule all day without waiting, as a result I called him myself and said that the work was done immediately within an hour. He sent it almost immediately. Yes, I saw a table in which all the terms and names of the stages were entered, but it was completely incomprehensible when it starts and ends. I had to call him to my room, sit down next to me and explain in detail that I want to get a clear work schedule, with the start and end of all the work ...
SPP: And so what is the result?
PM: Yes, I'm already in a hurry. Time was running out for me then - it was necessary to go to a meeting with this schedule. So I decided not to risk it - I made it all up myself.

Based on the results of this excerpt from the interview, the interviewer can draw the following conclusions:

1) Issuing instructions to the executors, the candidate sets the task not clearly: he did not explain what he wanted, did not define the criteria for evaluating performance, did not set the deadlines for completing the task. In this case, the employee should analyze his mistakes and come to the conclusion that in the future it would be useful to use a tool like a Gantt chart.

2) It does not set deadlines for the control of performance - the skill of implementing intermediate and final control over the work of subordinates is not formed.

3) The skill of correct delegation is not developed - it is taken to correct errors itself. With the ability to delegate, the task is set so that the subordinate himself corrects errors.

Thus, even from one example, one can extract information on different competencies, since here we also note that a person does not manage his time too successfully.

The conversation with the same candidate in order to determine his ability to take responsibility and achieve results looked like this.

Competence - assertiveness in achieving results. A basic level of.
• Clearly keeps the target in focus. It focuses on the final result, and not on the process.
• Accepts personal responsibility for the results of the department’s work.
• It is persistent, brings the begun to the end. Makes all possible to implement the tasks. He persistently and resolutely overcomes difficulties, believes in success, does not give up in case of temporary failures.

SPP: Please remember the situation when you had to solve a difficult problem and tell about it in detail.
PM: At the beginning of last year, one of the tasks assigned to me and my unit was the replacement of computers with a lifetime older than two years. Computers had to be replaced by specialists and managers of all divisions of the management company. It is 330 people. During the planning period of investment expenses, I made calculations, determined how much equipment I would need to purchase. Then he calculated in detail the financial resources that would be required for the implementation of the project. However, due to the onset of the financial crisis, the budget was cut by 20% when approved, and, taking inflation into account, the deficit in the budget was approximately 28%. By the end of the year, in this area, I managed to realize only 97% of the planned task. Replacing 3% of old computers was postponed to the following year.
SPP: And how did you manage with such a shortage of funds?
PM: Yes, it could have been worse, but I managed to get a 20% discount from a supplier company. There were long and difficult negotiations, but still, I managed to prove that this discount was beneficial for them. I calculated for them that, in the aggregate, they make a good profit due to the number of deliveries; Yes, and a contract with such a branded client as our company is already an excellent advertisement! And at the end of the third quarter I agreed with the "financiers" the opportunity to use the savings generated in the budget unit for the needs of our department ...
CSP: Are you satisfied with the work done?
PM: No, not happy. After all, if I did everything right at the very beginning, I would realize 100% of the planned for the year. And so only 97%. If we are to be completely frank with myself, then at the stage of planning the funds I did not provide for a reserve.

From this passage of the conversation, the evaluator can draw the following conclusions:

1) The candidate is assertive - he does not tend to be content with the available opportunities. He is looking for and finds ways to achieve his goals. If obstacles arise, he thinks about ways to overcome them.

2) The achieved indicators in the work serve as a measure of their own efficiency - this is evident from the self-assessment at the end of the dialogue.

3) Self-critical to his own achievements - he evaluates himself not only from the point of view of what he has achieved, but also from the position that he could have done better in order not to make a mistake or a problem.
For comparison, an employee inclined to shift responsibility to external factors or other people could simply refer to a crisis or to the fact that financiers cut their budget plan, or to justify their inefficiency with problems all over the world. And in the end to say that he did everything he could, he tried very hard, put a lot of effort, but the circumstances were higher.
You can also make an additional conclusion that a candidate for a vacancy understands financial resources planning and has budget management skills. Although it is desirable to check it additionally.

The method of behavioral interview allows you to get results that are not based on assumptions, but on specific manifestations in human behavior.

Where do you conduct a behavioral interview?

The method of behavioral interview is introduced in many companies, practically in all large western ones, from Russian ones I can name those where I took part in the implementation in one way or another: MTS, Beeline, TNK, 36.6, Bolshevik, Sveza, Uralkali, Shatura and many others , in Ukraine - DTEK. However, it is not a fact that you will encounter this method when applying for a job, many use it only to evaluate employees for personnel reserve.

A few recommendations to prepare for an interview.

1) Think over examples from your practice, which clearly demonstrate that you not only have this experience, but also have positive results in your work.

2) Do not try to say that there has never been a problem. It does not happen. Everyone, even the most ingenious people make mistakes and get their most valuable experience on them. Consider in advance examples from your practice that you can bring and thereby demonstrate your skills.

3) Try to avoid giving examples with a bad ending. But do not be afraid to tell you that the problem was, but you were able to solve it and came out not only the winner, but also gained experience; thanks to which, you have drawn conclusions, which in turn helped you to significantly improve your performance or reduce the number of errors to a minimum.

4) If it happens that the example does not quite correspond to the question asked, do not be afraid to ask again: “Did I understand you correctly? Did you want to know that? ” If not, then in some cases, you can directly say that now you can not remember the example of the situation that the interviewer wants to hear about. No need to invent and compose; otherwise you will get confused and appear in a bad light, or you will come to a dead end. After all, how not cool, but you can not provide all the questions.

Applications:

THE PRINCIPAL SCHEME OF THE SCALE OF COMPETENCE

3. Skill level (In addition to level 2)
• It assumes a particularly high degree of development of this competence.
• An employee is able to apply competence in non-standard situations or situations of increased complexity.
• Also, this level indicates that an employee undertakes strategic initiatives within the scope of this competency.
2. Experience level - basic level
• Means that the employee has fully mastered this competency. He effectively applies it in all basic work situations.
1. Level of development
• Means that the employee is in the process of learning this competency. He understands its importance, but not fully and not always effectively manifests it in practical work.
0. Level of incompetence
• Means that the employee does not possess the competence, does not understand its importance, does not try to apply and develop it

Example competence

MANAGEMENT OF SLAUGHTERS

3. Skill level (In addition to level 2)
• Creates a control system for key performance indicators, allowing you to quickly detect failures and promptly make adjustments to the work of a specific executor and the department as a whole.
• Conducts systematic work on the optimization and formalization of business processes, regulations and procedures. Performs with valuable corporate-level offers.
2. Experience level - basic level
• Competently distributes tasks between performers depending on their experience, potential and individual abilities.
• When setting a task to the performer, each time clearly articulates the essence of the task, the qualitative and quantitative standards for its implementation, the forms and parameters of control. Achieves the performer a correct understanding of all the elements of the task. Consistently monitors intermediate and final results. Quickly notices deviations and promptly makes corrections.
• Clearly organizes the work of performers in accordance with accepted standards and regulations. Tracks the execution of procedures. Coordinates and coordinates work on the main activities. Knows and takes into account critical points in the work that affect business processes.
1. Level of development
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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/285326/


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