HR Advisor November 2003

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HR Advisor

MRSC has joined with Janice Corbin and Janet May, Partners, Sound Employment Solutions, Rhonda Hilyer, President, Agreement Dynamics,and Bruce Schroeder, Employment/Litigation Attorney, Summit Law Group, to bring you the "HR Advisor" article series on employment and labor law issues affecting Washington local governments. The "HR Advisor" will feature a new article each month with timely HR management information and advice you can use.*

Making the Most of the Hiring Process

November 2003

Janice Corbin and Janet May
Sound Employment Solutions, LLC

As a side effect of a struggling economy, employers have, for the first time in over a decade, seen an increase in the number of job applicants competing for vacancies. The increased size of the applicant pool does not mean the employer should stop the recruitment process, or step away from a very stringent selection process. Hiring the right employee is the first step to helping increase productivity and efficiency in your workgroup, and to meeting your agency's mission.

Targeted Recruiting

One of the first steps to successful hiring is to ensure you have the right people in your applicant pool. Studies show that within the next five to ten years there will not be sufficient employees to fill vacant positions. So, rather than simply wait for the right candidate to come to you, you will need to do targeted recruiting. Although detailed recruiting tips are outside the scope of this article, one suggestion is to identify the attributes of the candidate you are looking for, determine what industries employ persons with those attributes, and target your recruiting to those industries.

Here is an example of how this process works. Suppose you need to hire police officers. Attributes of good police officers include, but are not limited to, the ability to work in a 24/7 operation-including major holidays, the ability to problem solve, good customer service, and integrity. Both the hospital industry and the food service industry employ persons with these attributes. Thus, if you are not getting sufficient candidates through traditional means, you may want to do targeted recruiting in those other industries.

The Interview Process

The next step in a successful hiring process is the interview. The interview process provides the employer an opportunity to determine if the prospective candidate possesses the qualifications to perform the essential functions of the job. (Note 1) In addition to determining whether the candidate possesses the necessary job skills, the interview process is an opportunity for the employer to determine if the applicant's interpersonal skills and attributes are compatible with the employer's workplace expectations and the work assignment being considered. The key to the interview process, and later, the questioning of the reference, is to ask how the applicant has demonstrated in his/her current position, his/her ability to work with others, handle conflict, make decisions, adapt to change, work as a team, and so on. The interview process requires more than just asking the applicant to describe how he/she performs a task or responds to an issue. The interviewer needs to ask the applicant to describe what occurred, how he/she handled the issue, and how he/she would approach the same circumstances in the future.

So, for example, if teamwork is an important aspect of the job assignment, ask the applicant to describe what he/she learned from working as part of a team, how he/she felt when others contributed less to the team, and how he/she will approach less productive employees if he/she is selected for the position. Based on the applicant's responses, the interviewer now has information to compare to what is wanted or expected of the applicant in the position. The interviewer may be surprised to hear the applicant respond that he/she prefers working more independently, or that he/she left the prior employer because he/she was frustrated that others did not contribute to the team equally. These responses provide valuable insight into the applicant's ability to work within the work environment and to work with others, critical attributes in a team environment.

Here are some examples of the types of questions you may want to ask the applicant (Note 2)

Describe a work related mistake that you made in a prior position. What role did you play in the mistake occurring, and what steps did you take to resolve the issue? What did you learn from the mistake?
Describe a work related conflict with a coworker and/or supervisor that did not get resolved to your satisfaction. What steps did you take to resolve the conflict and what was the outcome of your efforts? How did you respond to the situation when the conflict was not resolved to your satisfaction?
As an employee, how do you motivate yourself to keep working when circumstances beyond your control have made it difficult to accomplish the job assignment? Provide an example.
Describe your experience working as part of a team and/or working independently. Describe your concept of how a team should work together, and what occurs when not everyone contributes equally to the team.
Describe your experience working in the absence of guidelines or procedures. Please provide examples of when you have had to change work priorities in performing tasks. Were there consequences if the priorities had not been met? Did other work tasks get set aside, and how did you determine which tasks were less critical?

Reference Checks

One of the last steps in successful hiring is a strong reference check. To help ensure that references will share information, make sure the candidates sign a waiver and release allowing you to speak with their former/current employers. (Note 3) As with your interview questions, you will want to ask questions that elicit how the candidate actually has demonstrated the attributes you are seeking. Thus, you will want to use the same types of questions when speaking with references as you did in the interview process. By doing so, the reference check will verify the applicant's work experience, and will provide valuable information about the applicant's work performance and interpersonal skills from the perspective of his/her former supervisor/coworkers.

Here are some examples of the types of questions you may want to ask the references:

Please share your observations of how the applicant managed a conflict that occurred in the workplace. Did the applicant take responsibility for his/her individual role in the conflict? How was the matter resolved?
In your observations, does the applicant prefer to work as member of a team, or to work independently? When working with others, did the applicant become frustrated with less productive employees? How was that frustration demonstrated? How did the employee function as part of a team? Please provide examples.
Did the applicant accept responsibility for his/her mistakes, or did he/she attempt to shift the blame to others? Please provide an example of a mistake made by the applicant that affected the work product or work environment. How did the applicant react when the mistake was brought to his/her attention?
How has the applicant interacted with coworkers and supervisors? How often did he/she have conflicts or differences with others? Was the applicant respectful of others even when experiencing strong disagreement with others?

Note 1: Prior to the recruiting and interview process, the employer should already have identified the essential functions of the job and the minimum level of skills and/or education that are necessary for the employee to perform those essential functions.

Note 2: Make sure all your interview questions comply with federal and state law. Washington's pre-employment inquiry guide can be found at WAC 162-12-140. The pre-employment inquiry guide describes both permissible and impermissible questions, and provides an explanation for why certain inquiries are prohibited. In addition, on its website, the EEOC has guidelines regarding permissible and impermissible questioning.

Note 3: If the candidate has worked for another public agency in Washington, you also should consider sending a public disclosure request to that agency for any and all records reflecting instances of misconduct on the part of the candidate.

Bruce Schroeder is an employment / litigation attorney with Summit Law Group, Seattle. Bruce's practice is concentrated on representing management in the entire range of employment law matters. More.

Janice Corbin is a partner with Sound Employment Solutions, LLC, Seattle. Janice has over 15 years of human resources experience with the Seattle Police Department and the International Harvester Truck Company and has worked in the law enforcement field for over 22 years. More.

Janet May is a partner and attorney with Sound Employment Solutions, LLC, Seattle. Janet has over ten years of experience in the labor and employment law field, and has represented both management and labor. More.

Rhonda Hilyer, President and Founder of Agreement Dynamics, is an international consultant with a reputation for helping convert traditional, conflict-based environments into productive, collaborative ones. More.

*The Articles appearing in the "HR Advisor" column represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Municipal Research & Services Center.