Behavioural_Interviews

Name of the Article: Improving Selection Interviews with Structure: Organizations’ Use of “Behavioral” Interviews Author: Jean M. Barclay, Gaslow Caledonian University, Gaslow, UK Article taken from: http://www.emerald-library.com/ft ABSTRACT This article speaks about the merits of conducting an employee selection process by “Behavioral Interview” method. A behavioral interview or behavioral event interview, also called a competency-based interview is a type of interview based on the notion that a job candidate's previous behaviors are the best indicators of future performance. In these interviews, the interviewer asks candidates to recall specific instances where they were faced with a set of circumstances, and how they reacted. This provides better quality information which thereby improves the selection process. Both the interviewer and the candidate are positive about this process as there are better opportunities for the candidate to explain himself as well as his skills better. However there were a few concerns regarding there were concerns regarding the training, practice, time required, scoring procedures and, limitations of few exceptional candidates. In a nutshell the behavioral interviewing method was considered good in spite of few limitations it possessed. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE To begin with, I would like to define a few terms used in this article summary. Employee selection is the process of interviewing and evaluating candidates for a specific job and selecting an individual for employment based on certain criteria. It can range from a very simple process to a very complicated process depending on the firm hiring and the position. A job interview is a process in which a potential employee is evaluated by an employer for prospective employment in their company, organization, or firm. During this process, the employer hopes to determine whether or not the applicant is suitable for the job. A common type of job interview in the modern workplace is the behavioral interview. This type of interview is based on the notion that a job candidate's previous behaviors are the best indicators of future performance. In behavioral interviews, the interviewer asks candidates to recall specific instances where they were faced with a set of circumstances, and how they reacted. Typical behavioral interview questions can be: "Tell me about a project you worked on where the requirements changed midstream. What did you do'", "Tell me about a time when you took the lead on a project. What did you do'", "Describe the worst project you worked on.", "Describe a time you had to work with someone you didn't like.", "Tell me about a time when you had to stick by a decision you had made, even though it made you very unpopular.", "Give us an example of something particularly innovative that you have done that made a difference in the workplace.", "What happened the last time you were late with a project'", "Have you ever witnessed a person doing something that you felt was against company policy. What did you do and why'" and, so on. A bad hiring decision can be immensely expensive for an organization, such as, cost of the hiring, training costs, severance pay, loss of productivity, impact on morale, cost of re-hiring, etc. Studies indicate that 40% of new executives fail in their first 18 months in a new job. This has led to organizations investing in on boarding for their new employees to reduce these failure rates. This article reports on a study of how behavioral interview has been beneficial by 49 organizations. Various elements in the behavioral interview have also been explored in this article which will be discussed in the following sections. Structured Interview It is very much essential to conduct a “structured” interview. But many were not well versed with what “structure” actually means. Campion et al. (1997) reviewed the literature to explain hoe interviews can be structured. As a result, fifteen components were identified, which were divided into two categories: those that influence the content of the interview or the nature of information elicited, and those that influence the evaluation process or the judgment of the information elicited. The fifteen components of structure are as follows: Components influencing content • Base questions on job analysis • Ask exact same questions of each candidate • Limit prompting, follow-up questioning, and elaboration on questions • Use better types of questions • Use longer interview or larger number of questions • Control ancillary information • Do not allow questions from candidate until after the interview Components influencing the evaluation process • Rate answer or use multiple scales • Use detailed anchored rating scales • Take detailed notes • Use multiple interviewers • Use same interviewer(s) across all candidates • Do not discuss candidates or answers between interviews • Provide extensive interview training • Use statistical rather than clinical prediction From the research analysis conducted by Campion et al., they concluded that regarding content, the use of job analysis same questions and better types of questions appear more important in improving interviews than other components. Regarding evaluation, rating each answer, or having multiple scales, using anchored scales and appear more important. Better Types of Questions There are no particular set of questions designed. The questions asked to the candidates must be situational questions that pose hypothetical situations that may occur on the job and depending upon the answers given by the candidate it can be decided whether he has to be selected or not. Also questions about the past job activities (as mentioned in page 3) can be asked to the candidates to see how the candidate had been performing in the past. Both situational and behavioral questions have been considered better than the less structured questions. Evidence of Validity There were studies conducted by many analysts where they compared the validity of behavioral interviews and structured interviews and found out that the former was more effective as than the latter. Advantages of Behavioral Interview • Flexibility: Behavioral questioning is more flexible than situational questioning as the candidates here are able to explain their skills and problem solving tactics either with the help of past events or the hypothetical situations posed to them. • Equal Opportunities: Behavioral interviews focus on job related criteria thereby reducing biasness due to superficial and personal characteristics. The candidates also do not have to be restricted to work experience to describe their skills. • Avoiding Faking by Candidates: Behavioral questions avoid faking the answers by the candidates as the thoughts, actions, feelings and words help to determine how truthful the answer is when the candidate describes the situations imposed in the question. • Evidence for Decisions: Behavioral interviews help to give a proper reason for justifying the decision or giving feedback to an unsuccessful candidate. • Cost: To observe the behavior of candidates, assessment centers were set up which prove to be costly and time consuming. On the other hand, behavioral interviews serve the purpose of observing the candidates and saves cost and time. Previous Research The author had previously conducted a study in 1999, to identify organizations which were using situational and behavioral interviewing techniques. This article is a detailed investigation for the same. Here it is said that the organizations have adopted the behavioral interviewing method as it links with wider competencies in HRM. It is also accepted by the interviewer as well as the candidates. The Investigation The author conducted surveys where 174 organizations were using behavioral interviewing method. But valid details were available with only 163 of them. The author sent questionnaires to these 163 organizations’ employees to find out answers for the following questions: • The introduction of behavioral interviewing, when and why it had been introduced, changes made since initial introduction and training provided; • Competencies used for selection, and use of these in other areas of HRM; • Approach to scoring and evaluation of evidence in decision making; • Candidates’ and interviewers’ reactions to behavioral interviewing; • Benefits and limitations experienced. Results Introduction of Behavioral Interviewing: From the responses the respondents gave, it was found out that, 44% had been using behavioral interviewing method for more than five years, 35% were using it past two to five years and 21% had introduced behavioral interviewing method recently. Of all respondents, 83% of the selections for all the posts in the organizations were done using behavioral interviewing method. Benefits • Better quality of information gathered • More fairness/objectivity/consistency • Better decisions made • More focus on relevant criteria • Improves skills of interviewers • Allows candidates better opportunities to explain their skills • Allows candidates to ”self assess” • Provides a link with references Limitations • Training and practice required • Time consuming • More preparation required • Ensuring mangers use behavioral interviewing method • Still some wish to use form of test • Less useful for younger candidates and graduates • Some candidates “calm up” • Some candidates still “spin a yarn” • Evaluation of information still difficult Improved Processes and Decisions: The main benefits that the respondents pointed out were improvements in the quality of information gained, leading to better selection decisions: • Getting candidates to cite real life situations which can be probed further • Finding out how someone did cope up, not how they think they would cope Interviewer Reactions: 80% of the interviewers were positive about behavioral interviewing method, the rest being neutral, apprehensive or having mixed views. Training Provided: Most of the organizations provided training in behavioral interviewing ranging from one to three days. 14% of the respondents provided no training and hence found the concerns of poor behavioral interviews. The author says that behavioral interviewing method has many benefits for the interviewer, but it is not a quick and easy procedure and requires willingness and persistence. Impact on Candidates: Candidates preferred the behavioral interviewing method as they were able to present themselves more favorably than the psychometric testing. Competency Approach: 45% of the respondents said that they had made significant change in the way the behavioral interviewing was conducted so as to keep congruency with the competencies, whilst others determined competencies for the job as it aroused. Link with Other Selection Methods: About 65% of the respondents did not rely on behavioral interviewing method alone for selection of candidates. They preferred to adopt a range of approaches to gather information about the candidate. Scoring: As found out by Campion et al., use of “scoring” or evaluating candidates’ answers helps in effective decision making. 63% of the respondents had scoring or evaluation sheets, while the others had doubts in taking decisions. Discussion The investigation shows that behavioral interviewing method has many merits over the traditional methods and can be used for large and small organizations. With respect to the core competencies, the questions can be designed to make the interview more effective. When it comes to training, apart for the training, there must be an adaptability to accept the effective and contemporary methods. Behavioral interviewing method is considered a more advanced skill and training must be imparted so as to make the interviewing process more effective. Before the interview the candidates must be told what exactly is to be expected in the interview. CONCLUSION The present objectives of HRM is to achieving “quality” and for achieving this, the most important issue is employee selection. Investing in techniques and skills in employee selection is very much essential for an organization’s success. Behavioral interviewing method suggests candidates’ competencies should be measured by the past experiences which will give an idea of how the candidate will be performing in future. Thus the candidate most suitable for the job can be selected easily. Every selection method has its own pros and cons. Unlike any other method, behavioral interviewing method also has its own demerits, but these do not camouflage the positive points of this method. Hence it is widely accepted by both the interviewer as well as the candidate. The candidates are given a platform to express themselves better by referring to the situations faced by them and thus making it easy for the interviewer to take decisions effectively and with improved quality. Since the human mind keeps changing after facing various situations, it is therefore mandatory for the interviewer to observe the trends in behavioral change in the candidate as experience was gained. [pic] ----------------------- ARTICLE SUMMARY Improving Selection Interviews with Structure: Organizations’ Use of “Behavioral” Interviews ----------------------- 1