Make the Most of Candidate Interviews

After nearly thirty years of recruiting, both from inside a company and as a consultant, it’s fair to conclude many companies are not using interviews effectively to determine whether or not to hire a candidate.  This article will illustrate three key areas where you may refine your skills.

Know what you’re looking for and ask about it

Begin with a thorough discovery process and explore the company, its competitive market position, and the position itself.  In defining the role, dig into the job duties, the department composition, and manager’s style. This “picture” is a key part of a search strategy to identify candidates who best meet the needs of the role.

A mistake many companies make is not beginning their search with a thorough understanding of the situation and needs. Too often, the interview does not get to the real point of the interview: can the candidate do the job?

Interview questions need to explore the candidate’s practical experience in specific components of the role, and candidates should be asked to give examples and results of their work in executing various responsibilities of the position.  For a manufacturing engineer, relevant questions might include:

•  Give me an example of a time when you had to resolve a fixture design problem with your company’s design engineering staff.
   
• Describe your working relationship with floor employees.  Give me an example of building this relationship, and another about how you mended a relationship that was in trouble.
• What have you found to be some practical approaches to increasing efficiency or driving costs out of the production process?  For example…

Candidate answers should not be thoughts, theories or opinions…candidates should be asked for specific examples and experiences.

Use multiple interviews to gather information

At InPursuit, any viable candidate is evaluated during multiple contacts, beginning with a telephone interview, lasting up to an hour.  Use this initial contact to prequalify candidates and determine the quality of mutual fit.  In-person (or video) interviews, also lasting about an hour, may follow to further explore candidate qualifications and match to company need as described in the position specifications. 

Hiring companies benefit from a multi-stage selection process. Screen candidates “in or out” by phone before setting up a live interview.  The goal is a slate of a few qualified candidates, rather than how many candidates were interviewed live.

It is also recommended that the candidate interview several people. For a Manufacturing Engineer, the interview team might include the direct supervisor, quality manager, a production manager, and plant supervisor. The number should be restricted to those with decision-making impact on hiring. The interview team should be trained in interviewing, be provided a list of approved questions, and be prepared to complete an evaluation of each candidate, which includes the “must have requirements” of the position.

Final candidates are invited back for a follow up meeting, with dual purpose:  first, to confirm the candidate’s qualifications and second, to promote the opportunity to the candidate.  You might consider meeting in a less formal setting, such as over lunch or dinner.  In such a setting, other aspects of the candidate’s style, communication skills, and interpersonal skills are explored.

Focus on “culture fit”

At InPursuit, our qualifications matrix has two parts: tangible skills and experiences, and intangibles. The first part is used to qualify a candidate; however the second part, the intangibles, will make or break a good hire. 

Companies improve the hiring process by fully understanding their culture, or “what it feels like to work here.”  It is important to use descriptive words to describe the culture, so the interview process may be used to explore how well the candidate will fit. 

 Most candidates will have experience working in different settings, and the interview may explore these settings further.  In our example, cultural fit includes the department environment, as well as the direct manager’s style

Ask a candidate to give examples of the environments in which they have worked, and what they liked and disliked about each situation, then how they would describe an ideal work environment.  Keep in mind that candidates won’t really know your company culture; therefore the candidate description of a desired culture or work environment should be a solid prediction of the quality of fit on the culture side.

In the end

Interviewing is challenging and time consuming.  There are three ways to improve interviewing:  explore the candidate’s experience based on specific qualifications, evaluate the candidate over multiple contacts, and determine the culture fit.

If companies improve in these areas, better hiring decisions will be made, and candidates have a much improved chance of making key contributions and staying with the company longer.

Minnesota Manufacturing: A Recruiter’s Perspective

The past few months have proved to be a difficult time for Minnesota manufacturers. According to the article posted below, manufacturers across the state are having trouble finding the skilled workers they need to fill their jobs. In a recent survey conducted by the state of Minnesota concerning the shortage of skilled workers, almost half cited that positions were unfilled due to a lack of skilled applicants and that the shortage of workers was a mild to serious problem in their company. This is indeed a serious problem for the manufacturers of Minnesota. Plants need the engineers and skilled laborers to continue production and keep the company afloat. Without these technical laborers, production in Minnesota won’t meet the needs of customers and businesses will go out of business.

From our vantage point, as a retained search firm that specializes in manufacturing, we’ve rarely seen organizations across the state with such a need for professional manufacturing talent. It’s clear from the data that MN manufacturers need to step up and compete for future business by looking at their workforce. We have already seen several companies in the same industry gain market share or go out of business due to their technical staff and production capabilities. MN manufacturers can improve their positions by identifying their pivotal workforce, identifying high potentials, creating succession plans and evaluating their workforce strategy. Now is the time to review all these areas as well as the employee brand, retention policies, employee training and total compensation packages. We highly recommend creating an alliance with professional services organizations that have the expertise and understanding of small to medium sized manufacturers to provide you with a marketplace advantage through your employees.

Here is a link to the article from myfox9.com: http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/job_shop/skilled-worker-shortage-mn-oct-24-2011

Written by: Sarah Tessien

A Plant Tour is Priceless for Candidates

After each search we realize how important access to information is for both ourselves and candidates. Many companies recruiting process ends up to be a one way street.   The more knowledge and information a candidate receives about the company and the position, the more they become engaged. For candidate, having an indepth understanding the company, processes and the people during the recruiting process is invaluable. Explaining a manufacturing process versus getting out on the floor and witnessing the process makes a world of a difference in the hiring process, benefiting both the client and candidate.

We have been working with a Sales Manager to hire a National Account Manager-OEM.  Our client is a distributor that provides industrial products as well as value added services. 

Assumption

All candidates understand our client’s business as well as we do, so there is no need to explain much of what we do, who we serve and why clients want our products and services.

Problem

Candidates were having difficulty understanding what does our client really do and what are these “value add services." Candidates consistently asked, “So you mean this” or “they do that” and “I am not sure if I am technical enough for this position”.  Many times they were off the mark

Minor Details

• Sales Manager travels regularly
• Client’s HQ is in the Twin Cities
• Position is in Northern IL area territory.
• Service center is in Northern IL
• Candidates live throughout the U.S.

Solution

Because of logistics, hours and hours have been spent on the phone, in coffee shops and restaurants in the middle of nowhere - together Sales Manager and candidates discussing the position without seeing the operation. Our Client’s Operations Manager created a presentation demonstrating our client’s value-add capabilities.  This document was originally used to communicate capabilities in the sales process.  You know “Engineer to Engineer” or “Real cost savings to the Procurement Dept” stuff.  He took the initiative to develop this “360 view of the backroom” and present it in a Powerpoint.  Now we can step through the presentation and describe exactly what our client does to add value to the distribution process without actually visiting the facility.  Once there is a mutual interest, he provides a “Hands-on” Operations tour for our candidates. 

Conclusion

Giving candidates the opportunity to visualize in the presentation and visit the plant to understand the value proposition of your products/services is invaluable.

Additional Benefits

1. Self-filters candidate in/out of the recruiting process
2. Sells the opportunity –from the presentation and tour candidates can easily see the opportunity to sell these services
3. You can observe very quickly if candidate can see themselves in the role

The Top Five New Manager Mistakes

"First time and/or new managers have a lot of weight on their shoulders. Just coming to terms with the realities of leadership, a new manager is still expected to drive the performance of their team and push the limits of their own skills and competencies.

While there is no definitive learning curve for great leadership and management, the transitional period from regular staff level employee to manager is inherently stressful. Even so, many new managers start their management tenure with radical notions and rash decision making.

Here are the top five mistakes a new manager can easily make:

1. Taking too much control: Don’t let your new position go to your head. As any good manager knows, It’s not all about you – it’s about the results of the team. Don’t leverage your management authority to make the workplace an environment of fear and animosity for your employees.
2. Not appreciating your team: Understanding the value of your team is the key to unlocking any successful project or goal. Realize that your subordinates are not carbon copies of yourself and that each individual has different strengths and weaknesses that they bring to the table. They are motivated and are driven to perform for different reasons.
3. Moving too fast: Many a new manager wants to start their career with a bang and come in to the role expecting to change the world. Slow down and take baby steps – radical change is seldom accepted wholeheartedly. Most management gurus suggest a three month “grace period,” where you evaluate the team and understand your goals.
4. Not taking any advice: New managers are expected to make tough decisions even though they don’t possess the years of experience and insight a seasoned decision maker would have. For any new manager, now is the time to listen and learn. Seek advice from colleagues and mentors while working hard to bridge communication gaps with team members. Building a rapport with your team builds trust.
5. Not taking enough control: The antithesis to Mistake #1, not taking enough control is just as deadly to any new manager. Your authority is paramount or else the whole system falls apart. As a leader, you can be cordial and respectful with your teammates, but you can’t be their best friend. This is the sacrifice that any good manager must realize, and accept.

The road to great management may in fact be a lifelong journey, not a skill easily acquired in a number of months on the job. Many new supervisors take it upon themselves to overcompensate in certain areas – terrified that someone might perceive their freshness as a weakness. They make poor choices that impact organizational effectiveness and quickly find themselves burnt out from the stress.

In fact, many employees struggle to get into management roles, but once they get there, they realize it isn’t for them. Managers must possess a very particular drive and personality in order to be effective. If it’s not for you, don’t be ashamed to realize this. But if you are a new manager, be sure to give yourself some time on the job. More so than perhaps any individual profession, managing people presents the most complex challenge, but also presents the greatest rewards."

Source: www.recruiter.com

Link: http://www.recruiter.com/career-advice/new-manager/