How to Use the TEAM Approach for Interviews
The T.E.A.M.
So now that you have effectively screened your candidates; here are some interview question categories that you want to use when doing a phone screen or sitting down face-to-face with a potential hire. Remember these categories by thinking about your T.E.A.M. approach.
Track Record: Does the candidate have the skills and experience you need? To find out, ask the candidate to share their work experiences with you. Ask interview questions like, “Tell me a time when you fixed a machine problem?” or “Describe a problem you had with a process you were involved with and how did you overcome it?”. It's very important that the candidate describes their work experiences with a high level of detail. If they’re being too vague, ask for more details. When a candidate gives details, it proves that they were actively engaged in their work. A lack of details is suspect, and they could be describing a situation that a coworker actually navigated, and they were just an observer and not an active participant in the problem-solving process. Hearing details is a requirement as far as I’m concerned. Even if the candidate describes a process that you’re not familiar with, you still want to hear about the specifics. If the interview is for a technical position, make sure the interview team includes a technical resource.
Effort and Work Ethic: Will the candidate go above and beyond to make your department successful? To find out, ask for examples of when they did exceed expectations. Ask questions like, “Tell me a time when you went out of your way to help a coworker?” or “Tell me a time when you went above and beyond to get a customer order out on time?” You want your team to be staffed with employees who are willing to work hard, not staffed with employees who need constant supervision.
Active Learner: Is the candidate someone who can grow with the company? An active learner is looking to grow as an individual and as a worker. This type of employee will be looking for future promotions and this can feed your growth. Ideally your company always promotes internally and hires-in only entry level positions. But to create this situation, you need to hire active learners. Look at the candidate's resume; do they have examples of self-training? Did they invest in themselves? If a company paid for their training – ask for some context. Ask is they enjoyed the learning experience?
Multiplier: Is the candidate a team player? Does their presence add to the team so that the whole team is greater than the sum of the individual contributors? You want employees who can enhance or multiply your team’s effort and improve total productivity. Ask the candidate for examples of when their team excelled because of their efforts. You want to see if they acted as an individual contributor or as a team member or team leader. Did they give or follow direction, or did they do their own thing?
Remember that as a leader, you always want to be involved in the hiring process from beginning to end. So once you hire you ideal candidate, you then want to effectively onboard them and there are three aspects to the onboarding process: 1) Providing company information, 2) Cultural acclimation and 3) Job specific training.
Shoutout to Sianna McKinley from Pivot Connections for her insight on the topic. Looking for manufacturing training? Checkout Tools for the Trenches!
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