Having
the right members on your team is critical to the success of a business, and
this makes hiring one of the most important decisions a company makes.
Realizing this, many organizations are shifting from a single person interview
to a team-based approach to hiring. Having a potential co-worker’s perspective
about a candidate can provide insight, as well as assist in avoiding blind
spots or biases. However, most non-HR employees participating in these new
hiring-panels lack the experience and thorough understanding of the interview
process. Fortunately, this is an issue that HR is able to rectify.

For
most employees working outside of HR the only understanding they possess of
interviews is from their own personal previous experience. It is paramount to
coach them to avoid any discriminatory or unlawful questions, but also empower
them through interview skill training. Many have never participated in an
interview panel (on either side of the table), so either an informal meeting
with HR or a formal training process, can improve the quality and efficiency of
future panels.

Empowering
staff to be a part of the interview process can help create unity across a
company. It works towards eliminating the gap often felt between employees and
upper management. Even small steps toward employee training can have a huge
impact. Digital Ocean, a cloud platform company implemented a training program
in 2017 called Sailor Certification. This was a brief e-module followed by a
90-minute instructor lead class covering the whos, whats, hows, and whys of an
interview panel. Now over 300 employees have completed the training, and an
astonishing 100 percent of responders agreed that they now have more knowledge
on the company’s hiring practices.

Michele
Mavis, Director of Coaching Services at Atrium (a workforce management and
talent acquisition firm in NYC), developed the following recommendations for
employee interviews. First, focus on the importance of the interview experience
for a candidate, including respecting their time. Second, be sure questions are
open-ended and behavioral-based. Finally, remember that not all questions are
appropriate for an interview.

Interviewers
should be employees who will work directly with the candidate, or have a
background on what success is in the particular field. Further, they should be
provided with a copy of the job description and the candidates’ resume prior to
the panel. Interviewers should be prepared to answer questions regarding
corporate culture. It may be beneficial to go so far as to provide them with
sample questions they may likely hear. Having a kick-off call with the entire
panel prior to the interview can also be a wonderful opportunity to prepare
new-interviews. Having HR lead a review of job descriptions, skills, attributes,
as well as types of questions interviews may use as well as a scorecard
process.

If you would like more information on potentially re-vamping
your company’s interview process you can read the full article here: http://bit.ly/2FR24Wt . 

If you have any questions
regarding the interview or hiring process, we can help. Please feel free to
contact us at (610)-296-8550 or info@convergehrsolutions.com.