Sin-terviewing: The Harsh Reality of Selection at the Coal Face...
By Nichola Weston
74% of people in business have been judged by UK heads of HR to use poor interviewing techniques. Interviewers hire (or don't hire) on stereotypes, gut feel or simply because they're having a bad day. And this is in spite of today's focus on objective decision-making and non-discrimination. Interviewing somehow seems to slip through the net of good employment practices. What are the three frequently occurring sins and how can they be avoided?
1. Retrospective Interviewing:
The Interviewer forms an impression, positive or negative, about a candidate within seconds of their arrival. And worse, they tend to collect evidence throughout the interview to substantiate the Yes/No decision they've already made.
First impressions count, of course, but they can often be very wrong. We've all formed misjudged impressions of people who've gone on to prove us wrong. Interviewers often forget what they are interviewing for; they should not look to hire someone who fits a stereotype they have constructed – often modelled on themselves.
2. Stereotyping:
This is an interesting area which has strong links with psychology. If a candidate reminds the interviewer of a person who had a negative influence on them in the past; perhaps they share the name of a childhood bully or look a bit like an ex-lover, the interviewer will form a negative opinion from the outset. The unsuspecting candidate will find it almost impossible to overcome. Clearly this is unforgivable as far as good practice goes. Human nature is a difficult thing to beat, however the first thing to do is to recognise this as a completely unreasonable basis for decision-making.
3. Environmental Factors:
Another sin is to allow time pressure or a stressful day to influence the treatment given to each candidate. Even factors such as the temperature of the room or the availability of a cup of tea can affect a candidate's chances of success – clearly, none of these can be affected by the candidate, leading to an entirely unfair and indefensible decision. The effect, not only in terms of cost, but lost revenue and productivity, is huge. Again, research from A&DC, surveying UK heads of HR, shows that 24% believe poor interviewing affects the bottom line.
How to Get it Right
Now, more than ever, HR must spend shrinking budgets wisely; not squander cash on ineffective and short-lived hires. A better approach is desperately needed.
The answer lies in business psychology and the concept of the structured interview. Structured, or Competency Based Interviews (CBIs), give interviewers a platform to collect and evaluate evidence of a candidate's suitability based on evidence of their past actions and reactions in common workplace situations relating to the role.
Interview questions must relate directly to competencies required in the role. So to start, you need to understand the competencies or skills needed. This can be done by reviewing job descriptions and interviewing current job incumbents, line managers and other key stakeholders.
A clear set of questions can then be created so they can inform interviewers about a candidate's past performance. Structured questions often begin with "Please give me an example of when you have..." or "Tell me about an occasion when..." and include "What did you do?" or "What was your role?"
A candidate's response can then be classified as either positive or negative evidence of the competency in question. Each competency can be given an overall rating, using a scale ranging from Unacceptable to Highly Acceptable.
Since candidate responses are based on actual experiences and behaviours, information collected is highly relevant. CBIs follow a systematic process and can therefore be repeated by multiple interviewers without results being affected by the sins of bias, stereotyping or environmental factors.
So, Sin-terviewing shouldn't be a necessary evil. Following a structured approach can vastly reduce the risk of making bad decisions. Plus, online CBI tools mean that Line Managers can conduct CBIs without the need for formal training.
