Using competency systems made up of critical workplace behaviors to
establish quality control over employment interviewing is a best practice
destined to become standard practice in human capital management. (See,
Daniel Goleman, “What Makes A Leader,” HBR, January 2004.)
If used effectively to analyze job requirements in order to structure
candidate interviews, they will reduce employee turnover and increase
profits.
What is the difference between a competency and a behavior?
The words are often used interchangeably. However, when used together,
a behavior refers to a basic workplace activity, such as listening or
deciding. Then, competencies are created from multiple behaviors and refer
to organizational activities, such as customer service or project management.
How can competencies and behaviors be used to analyze job requirement
for interviewing? Competency and behavior systems provide organizational
menus of workplace activities which can be selected from in describing
what is required to succeed in a job. At its simplest, this is a mere
prioritization process. While all behaviors on the list have some value,
a manageable few are normally critical to success in any given job.
Typically, a panel of experts in what it takes to be successful in the
job under study are gathered and through a facilitated discussion create
a list a critical competencies and behaviors.
Once I identify critical competencies and behaviors, how do
I use them in interviewing candidates for employment? Structured
interviewing is another best practice dealt with separately. In brief,
when using the structured interviewing approach, a candidate is asked
to provide narratives of when he or she has exhibited the behavior or
competency selected as critical for the job.
To keep the candidates’ answers relevant, they are told to follow
the STAR approach:
Situation or Task
Describe the situation that you were in
or the task that you needed to accomplish. You must describe a specific
event or situation, not a generalized description of what you have
done in the past. Be sure to give enough detail for the interviewer
to understand. This situation can be from a previous job, from a volunteer
experience, or any relevant event.
Action you took
Describe the action you took and be sure to keep the
focus on you. Even if you are discussing a group project or effort,
describe what you did -- not the efforts of the team. Don't tell what
you might do, tell what you did.
Results you achieved
What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What
did you learn?
STARway Service uses a statistically studied competency and behavior system
to create job specific interview guides for each position.
To find out more, please send an e-mail to contact@starwayservice.com.
