How do you go about quickly and effectively integrating new hires into the culture of your team? The trick is to not wait until the individual is hired, but rather to begin the process of onboarding right from the very first interview. Not only will this facilitate a smooth onboarding process, but it will serve as the basis for more productive and informative candidate interviews.
The interview process
You’re sitting across the desk from a prospective new hire. The challenge is that in the vast majority of cases, they are strictly there to sell themselves to get an offer. You’re striving to form an honest, accurate picture of the individual, while they want to highlight certain facets and shield others. Only after receiving an offer will they even begin to consider whether or not your team is a good fit for them. Why not suggest a different approach that’s in the best interest of everyone?
“Let’s do this differently because we both have an important decision to make here. You’ve got to decide if we’re a good fit for you, and we’ve got to decide if you’re a good fit for us. So let’s really be honest and forthright with each other, and thoughtful about sharing what we know best about our respective areas of expertise (you know everything about you, and I know everything about our firm). That way, we’ll both be in a much better position to determine if we’re a fit for each other.”
In addition to being a forum to assess the candidate’s skills and personality, the interview is a critical platform for you to share essential information about your team. At a minimum, you want the candidate to walk away from the interview with a clear understanding of, and ideally alignment with:
Coaching Questions from this article:
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