Tips for staff, interviewing potential new manager
1310
Dear Joan:
We are hiring a new executive director in our small, seven person office. We work for a non-profit organization, and we have highly specialized and stressful jobs. We work very independently in our jobs, but we also need a team atmosphere to support one another because of the stress. Our board of directors will interview the candidates, and then the staff will interview our prospective supervisor. What questions can the staff ask the candidates to help us find the right fit for us?
Answer:
Bravo to your board of directors for using this progressive approach. Employees who have an opportunity to weigh in on who their manager will be are more likely to be vested in their new leader’s success.
You are on the right track when you mentioned some of the important qualities that set your organization apart. These are the kinds of things you will want to screen for.
The board is likely to have a committee that will be handling the hiring process. They may work with an outside recruiting firm. In that case, the recruiting firm will pull in candidates who fit the technical and experience profile, but the recruiter may not know much about the qualities you are interested in.
The first thing I would do is request a copy of the qualifications and job description that is being used by the board and/or has been given to the recruiter. This will give you a baseline to work from. Also, if there is any significant thing missing, you should notify them and ask that it be included. Second, you might ask how much authority the group actually has. In other words, if the board likes the person and the group doesn’t, what then?
Then I would gather the group together and brainstorm a list of the qualities that are important for a healthy culture and future success of the organization. For example, teamwork, quality programs, and commitment to the core mission may be on the list.
Then discuss the leader qualities that would support your desired culture. List the characteristics that you “Must Have” and “Would Prefer.” Caution the group to be realistic. The Must Haves should be a short but important list. For example, since you mentioned the group works independently, a micromanager would be a bad fit. So a Must Have qualification might be “empowers staff.”
Then, determining questions will be fairly easy. Ask open-ended questions that will prompt the candidate to tell a story from their prior experience. For instance, “We would like to know when you are a hands-off or a hands-on type of leader. Could you give us two examples from your past that would illustrate how you worked with individuals on your staff?” For teamwork, you could ask, “Can you give an example of a challenging team situation and how you handled it?”
The best predictor of future success is how they handled past situations. Don’t let the person just give general answers. You want to dig for specifics. If they only can give broad answers they may be all talk. It’s fairly easy to give a politically correct answer if the person has attended a few management courses or read a few articles on leadership. Knowing the right answer and actually taking action are two very different things. The truth about them is buried in the real day-to-day problem-solving and people management they’ve done in the past.
HR professionals, register now for . . .
Internal Consulting Skills for HR Professionals, facilitated by Joan Lloyd
being held on June 10, 2009
This full-day lab is perfect for HR professionals who want to move beyond administrative and tactical duties and add value as an internal consultant in their organization.
Human resources professionals—both functional experts and generalists—are finding new opportunity to act as internal consultants who can help their organizations with organizational changes, performance coaching, conflict mediation and other value-added services. We give HR professionals the tools and strategies they need to help their organizations as well as advance their careers.
You will have an opportunity to work on the problems and opportunities you face in your own organization, as well as to diagnose and strategize with other professionals. Each participant will receive detailed, personal feedback and coaching.
Are you interested, or are there other HR professionals in your organization who would benefit from participating in this intensive, interactive small group workshop? We will accept a maximum of 15 registrations per session, so each of our registrants gets lots of individual attention. Few training opportunities provide this level of intimate, hands-on experience.
You will learn:
Ø How to “market” to internal clients and build credibility.
Ø How to contract with your internal clients and avoid surprises.
Ø How to give honest feedback to senior executives.
Ø How to deal with the political realities and find ways around roadblocks.
Ø How to facilitate diverse, dysfunctional meetings.
Ø How to avoid becoming a “pair of hands” and turn the wrong work into the right solution.
Ø How to become a sought after performance coach.
Comments from prior workshop participants:
"I now understand how important it is to ask the right questions to get the other individual to discover, on their own, what the real issue is. I learned techniques for pushing back, and asking more questions. I’ll find it easier now to do what needs to be done, not just what other people tell me to do. I will definitely recommend this lab to others, it was well worth my time.”
"I found the small group setting to be helpful. It made the lab personable and made it easy to ask my questions and really participate. You were flexible, knowledgeable and encouraging. This workshop will increase my credibility because of my increased confidence, assertiveness and the appropriate approaches I will be using."
"I would highly recommend this lab to other HR Professionals. A large group from one organization would benefit just as greatly from this lab as the cross-section of participants, from different organizations, in the lab I attended. The skills discussed can be put to use immediately upon return to the workplace."
Maximum number of participants: 15 (Register quickly, participation is limited!)
Who: All Human Resource professionals
When: Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Where: Four Points by Sheraton, Milwaukee North, 8900 North Kildeer Court, Brown Deer, WI (convenient suburban location, easily accessible from Hwy 43 and Hwy 41/45)
Time: 8:30am - 4:30pm
Registration fee: $675/person
Two or more for $650 each
Early bird: register before April 15 and receive additional $25pp discount
(Registration fee includes: Lab, course materials, lunch and a copy of Joan Lloyd’s CD, How to Coach & Give Feedback That Gets Results)
NONREFUNDABLE REGISTRATION FEE MUST BE PREPAID TO CONFIRM REGISTRATION. DUE TO THE LIMITED NUMBER OF REGISTRATIONS BEING ACCEPTED, PLEASE CALL TODAY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE YOUR SKILLS TO A NEW LEVEL.
Call (414) 354-9500 or (800) 348-1944 to register!
This lab is also excellent for small groups from one organization. Call for information about scheduling a private, onsite session for your HR Team.
Joan Lloyd has a solid track record of excellent results. Her firm, Joan Lloyd & Associates, specializes in leadership development, organizational change and teambuilding. This includes executive coaching, 360-degree feedback processes, customized leadership & presentation skills training, team assessment and teambuilding and retreat facilitation. Joan also provides consulting skills training for HR professionals. Clients report results such as: behavior change in leaders, improved team performance and a more committed workforce.
Email Joan at
mailto:info@joanlloyd.com to: submit your question, for consideration for publication, request permission to reprint an article for distribution, or for information about carrying Joan Lloyd's weekly column in your publication, or on your Internet or Intranet site.
© Joan Lloyd & Associates, Inc.