Accelerating Organizational Performance

Creating a Results Oriented Culture, Part Two

Two - The Hiring Process
II you want a results oriented culture, the hiring process is a very important part oI making it
happen. Hiring is a perIect example oI being either activity or results oriented. Too many
companies do hiring, but they do not have a 'hiring process. 'Filling a position is not the same
as identiIying key success Iactors Ior a role, then rigorously searching out someone with those
key success Iactors. Integrating the newly hired person into the company in such a way as to
ensure their success is an important, Iinal step oI the hiring process.
A great book that describes in detail how to do this is Youre Not the Person I Hirea by Joyce
Boydell, Barry Deutsch, and Brad Remillard.
II you want to hire results oriented people, you ask job candidates questions that will require
detailed answers. 'Are you a results oriented person? is an awIul interview question because it
can be answered yes or no (a closed ended question), and the desired answer is obvious, even to
an activity oriented person. Good interview questions will be open-ended, that is, they cannot by
answered yes or no, they require details, they require an explanation.
Interviewing questions where we are looking Ior results oriented people will sound like 'In
detail, tell me about a time where you. AIter receiving a satisIactory answer, ask 'can you tell
me about another time that you. The right candidate will be able to talk about, in detail, more
than one situation where they achieved the results you are looking Ior.
II we were interviewing people Ior a check in desk position at a hotel, it might sound like this:
'In detail, tell me about a time where you addressed customers with reservations showing up to a
Iull hotel. Then, 'can you give me another example?
II we were interviewing people Ior a sales position, it might sound like this: 'In detail, tell me
about a time where you addressed customers placing an order Ior less than the quantity break and
then expected the quantity price. Then, 'tell me about another time.
There are several parts to using this approach successIully. Start the interview questions with 'I
am not looking Ior short answers, you will have 3-5 minutes (or whatever is appropriate) to
answers each oI these questions. Make it very clear short answers are not desirable. Start each
oI the questions with, 'In detail, tell me about a time. 'Tell me more about that is very
useIul when the person being interviewed is giving answers that are shorter than what we are
looking Ior.
The key parts oI this line oI questioning are, 'in detail and 'give me another example. Again,
short answers are not allowed, because you will not learn anything about the candidate Irom
2009 Roger Olson www.aop1.org Get Where You Want To Go. Faster.
them. And you want more than one example, because iI someone is 'Iabricating their answer, it
much harder to Iabricate two or three examples, in detail.
Having a results orientation means dealing with roadblocks, dealing with the unexpected, and
achieving what was originally expected anyway. No stories or excuses. So in interviewing, you
want to give job prospects several questions related to the job opening, which would require the
candidate to talk about how they have dealt with roadblocks and achieved the desired results
anyway.
II they say, 'I have never had to deal with that they are not oII the hook. Now you say, : 'In
detail, tell me how you would handle.. Then listen careIully to their thought process, is it
likely to achieve the desired results? You can ask 'what-iI questions as they are describing how
they would handle the problem. Activity oriented people tend to get Irustrated quickly and a
series oI what-iIs will bring that out.
Results oriented people know being responsible is part oI overcoming unexpected problems,
where as activity oriented people tend to be allergic to responsibility.
II you want to hire results oriented people, then you have to be clear about the results you are
looking Ior. 'Someone with 10 years in the IT inaustry is activity thinking. 'The iaeal
canaiaate will have successfully improvea uptime for the IT aepartment ana improvea internal
customer satisfaction is results oriented. The ideal candidate who meets these requirements will
be able to talk in detail and at length about what they did, how they did, the problems they
encountered, and how they overcame them. They will talk about it enthusiastically and they will
welcome questions.
Three - Clarity In Giving Directions And Expectations will be on the website 1une 15
Four - Follow Up, will be on the website 1uly 1
Accelerating Organizational Performance
2009 Roger Olson www.aop1.org Get Where You Want To Go. Faster.