The necessity of competency-based interviewing

The trouble is that most job seekers in South Africa cannot really prove they have been discriminated against during the interview process. Perhaps more importantly for organisations, the trouble is that recruiters will miss talented candidates. On the one hand, they get seduced by the 'professional interviewee,' and so if the candidate is well-coached and prepared for the interview, they have a very good chance of landing the job. On the other hand, if the candidate does not come across well in the interview, they will be regretted. The truth is, talented recruits are sometimes not talented interviewees! Now if you are 'old school' and your interview method is your intuition or 'gut feel', you are more at risk of missing great talent.

The following are scenarios from some of my recent experiences dealing with organisations that have fallen prey to incorrect interviewing processes:

Scenario 1:

"Our organisation does not require this methodology, it's really simple for me. I meet the candidate in the reception area and by the time we arrive at the interview room, I know if I am going to employ them or not" - response from the director of very well-known local company, when discussing the value of Competency-based Interviewing Methodology with him.

Scenario 2:

A large local organisation is attending a Competency-based Interviewing workshop where all the heads of HR have convened. The head of talent shares with the group her frustration around sourcing talented individuals: "I was so impressed by a recent candidate's resume, until I went on her Facebook profile and saw her picture (she pulls a face), she is just not a culture fit for our organisation."

Scenario 3:

I was assigned to work with a colleague during a graduate recruitment project. I was told that I would be working with their senior consultant who knew how the company "liked things done". We had over two days of interviews to conduct and as we settled in for our first day she explained her 'signal' - "If you see me take off my watch, then you know I don't think this candidate is suitable and we will terminate the interview." For some, this happened after five minutes and others after fifteen! No explanation, just "the candidate is not a culture fit."

Scenario 4:

After a robust and expensive assessment process five candidates made it through. Unable to decide whom would be placed in the available position, the recruitment team wrote the names on pieces of paper, and while the candidates were in the room they put them in a hat and drew out the 'winner'.

The scenarios are real, and have involved high-level employees in large, well-known companies. The question to ask is, are organisations at risk of unfair and ineffective recruitment practices? As an experienced HR consultant, this prompts a lot more other questions which recruiters and leaders need to ask themselves:

• Do you recruit from current job profiles based on correct competencies?
  
• Do your interview guides ask competency-based questions? Like: "Give an example of when you had to deal with conflict and how you handled it, what was the outcome?" vs. "What would you do if you had to deal with conflict?" The professional interviewee can prepare for the latter with an answer from a search engine.
  
• Are all candidates for the role asked the same questions, and is the note-taking accurate and correctly filed, in case they are subpoenaed for a CCMA case?
  
• Are all candidates scored fairly? And can you show why they were not qualified for the role, if they are unsuccessful?
  
• Is your recruitment philosophy sensitive to the human condition of automatic bias? These include, but are not limited to, attractiveness bias, primary attribution error, change blindness. A hint that the latter is happening is when the following reasons are offered as to why a particular candidate was not successful: Well, they were late, or dressed poorly, not very confident, too anxious, don't have transport or, my personal favourite, they do not fit our culture?

Recruitment is a valuable PR opportunity for any organisation and, as talent is very scarce, it is prudent to handle all candidates in a way that will leave a positive impression of the organisation. Research shows that a department where high staff turnover is a theme, one must consider the recruitment practices. Often the decision-maker is the manager, who traditionally does not have interviewing training and prides themselves in their 'knowing'. For HR professionals, how untrained managers conduct interviews is so contentious - it becomes a delicate dance of tact vs. ethical practices.

In truth, competency-based interviewing is relevant, especially in today's human capital economy. This environment dictates that organisations scour every corner for the best talent possible. The best and guaranteed way is to employ recruitment practices that are validated scientifically and that are robust. This will mean that the (high) cost of making poor recruitment decisions, that is, through missing great talent, is averted.