Feature

posted 1 Nov 2002 in Volume 5 Issue 6

Making the right hire: talent + fit = success from the start

Recruiting the wrong person can have dramatic consequences for your firm, from increased workplace stress and interpersonal conflict to unproductive employees and high turnover. Kevin Joyce, a practising attorney and founder of The Quantum Group LLC, takes us through the hiring process, arguing that there’s a lot more to successful recruitment than checking academic records and references.

As managing partner, you are undoubtedly aware that the hiring process must do more than just identify talented individuals. You not only have to find talented people, you also have to recruit people who fit into your organisation and into the available position. An effective process does more than increase the odds that you’ll

make the right hiring decision. It will also boost employee retention, which is important to bear in mind when considering the substantial investment that firms put into the recruitment procedure. The following specific steps will improve your firm’s hiring process:

Build the hiring process around your firm’s organisational strategy;
Use behavioural interviewing;
Consider personality tests when making the firm’s most important hiring decisions.

These three steps will improve the fit of your new employees with the position and the firm.

Organisational strategy as a cornerstone of the hiring process Be certain to make your firm’s strategy the major consideration throughout the hiring process. By strategy I mean the firm’s self-identity, its goals, objectives and direction that are contained in its purpose, mission and value statements.

Organisational strategy is too complex a topic to address in any detail here. It’s worth noting, however, that establishing an organisational strategy is nothing more than doing group goal setting and there’s an avalanche of research demonstrating the efficacy of that.

The benefits of goal setting are so overwhelming that it has become ‘black-letter law’ in management circles: successful organisations invariably have a strong sense of self-identity.

For instance, in Built to Last: Habits of Visionary Companies, (Harper Business, 2002), James Collins and Jerry Porras present a compelling case demonstrating that companies with a strong sense of self-identity, expressed through their mission, values and culture, almost always outperform their competitors. Collins and Porras show that an organisation that knows what it is and what it wants to become is likely to reach its goals. All other things being equal, a firm with specific and challenging goals is likely to be more successful then a firm without them.

What I mean by ‘strategy’ is much more than the numbers that might be found in an organisation’s long-term plan. Successful firms do more than run the numbers. They draw a picture of themselves that is easily communicated to partners, employees and clients. That picture is a map to move the organisation from where it is now to where it wants to be in the future.

Every law practice would be well advised to take the time needed to create a purpose, mission and values statement. However, putting a mission statement in place and putting it into use are two different things. Putting it in use means incorporating the firm’s strategy into its day-to-day operations. The hiring process is one place where an organisational strategy can be put to good use.

Use the strategy when you create a profile of who the successful applicant ought to be. As Edward Lawler says in his highly-acclaimed book, From the Ground Up: Six Principles for Building the New Logic Corporation, (Jossey-Bass, 1996): “It is critical that there be a fit between the types of employees who are hired and the values that the organisation espouses in its mission and values statement.” So, for instance, if your organisation’s mission is to overtake a major competitor, you may want to make competitiveness one of the qualities you look for in job applicants.

Use the strategy to decide how to advertise the position. For example, a firm that values diversity has a number of options, such as including an invitation to women and ethnic minorities in all print advertising and announcements at the law schools where interviews are planned.

Use the strategy when you outline the topics to be covered during interviews. If client satisfaction is one of your firm’s primary goals, for instance, you should probably ask questions based on that topic during job applicant interviews (more about how to conduct interviews later).

And, don’t forget to apply the strategy to interpersonal relations with job applicants in interviews and letters and on the telephone. Treat job applicants in the same way that the firm’s mission statement says clients and employees are to be treated.

Making the firm’s strategy the foundation of the hiring process will ultimately pay big dividends because, from the start, each person hired will be more comfortable with the firm and the firm will be happier with its new employee.

Behavioural interviewing

You’ve found several great candidates who seem to fit in with the organisation. How do you make the interview itself as productive as possible?

The key to an effective interview is to use what is called competency-based questioning or behavioural interviewing. What is a competency? A competency is a skill, behaviour or knowledge that contributes to a person’s ability to perform a specific job. Every job requires different competencies, ranging from technical skills (knowledge of word-processing software, for instance) to interpersonal skills (such as written communication skills). Before the interview, you must identify the core competencies required for optimum performance in the available position. In fact, it’s best to identify the required competencies at the outset of the hiring process, before announcing the opening. Then, take those competencies and use them to develop behavioural interviewing questions, focusing on whether the applicant appears to have what it takes for on-the-job success.

Here’s how behavioural interviewing works. An employer conducting a behavioural interview asks job applicants specific questions about actual past behaviour in order to better predict their future behaviour, should they be selected for that position. The interviewer asks for examples of times when the applicant demonstrated specific skills or behaviours that the job requires. Competency-based or behavioural interviewing works because past behaviour by human beings is known to be an indicator of similar, future behaviour (unlike the securities industry!).

Behavioural interviewing requires a substantial amount of preparation time. You must take a close look at the open position and identify what behaviours are needed to assure outstanding performance by the new employee. Then, base the questions you ask during the interview on this analysis of job skills, abilities and knowledge.

Let’s look at some examples of competency-based questions. Suppose a large firm has an opening in its appellate practice section. The firm knows that an appellate specialist must be able to work under the stress of deadlines for filing briefs, for example. So, the firm will identify the ability to handle deadlines as a key competency for this position. The person conducting the interview will want to learn about the candidate’s experience in this area. The applicant might be asked: “Give me an example of a time when you were faced with a number of deadlines at the same time, and tell me how you met this challenge.”

On the other hand, suppose a firm of one is interviewing for a second member for the firm. A sole practitioner, Ms. One wants to find a new solicitor to take responsibility for her criminal defence practice, so that she can devote more time to probate work. A lawyer in a criminal defence practice could expect to have at least some clients who are dissatisfied with the sentences they receive. So, Ms. One would ask this question during the interview: “Describe a time when you had to deal with a customer or co-worker who was very upset, and tell me how you handled that situation.”

You can see that behavioural interviewing questions are often open-ended. As a result, you must be willing to allow periods of silence during the interview, so the applicant has an opportunity to recollect a situation that is responsive to the question.

Don’t be concerned with filling up this quiet time during the interview. Also, note that you’re not asking hypothetical questions, so don’t allow applicants to describe how they would have behaved. Have them describe how they actually behaved.

Use follow-up questions to get specific answers. Insisting on specific answers will improve the accuracy of our predictions about an applicant’s on-the-job behaviour.

Keep in mind that interviews should be used not only to look for indications of future success, but also to look for evidence to the contrary. Ms. One would probably not want to offer the position to a law student with a wealth of experience aggravating the emotional state of upset co-workers.

Remember also, the importance of the non-verbal aspects of communication. The interviewer’s job is to both listen to an applicant’s answers and observe their behaviour. Signs of defensiveness while discussing a subject critical to the position, such as the appellate practice applicant’s experience with deadlines, is a strong clue as to whether they would fit this position.

Finally, just as you maintain control of an adverse witness by using leading questions, you must maintain control during the interview. Follow up on incomplete answers and when candidates veer away from the subjects you outlined beforehand, tell them that you want to get back to discussing their qualifications for the open position.

Behavioural interviewing will help you find the right person, someone who can easily adjust to the specific demands of your job because they’ve met similar demands before.

Personality tests

Just as it’s important to find an individual who fits the firm’s strategy, it’s important to identify a person whose personality matches the position available as well as the needs of the organisation. Having said that, I should explain what I mean by ‘personality’.

What I’m referring to as ‘personality’ is the combination of interests, abilities and aptitudes that make every individual unique. Really, the attributes fall within the realm of psychology. Tests are available to determine where a person’s interests, abilities and aptitudes lie. Take a look at one facet of everyone’s personality, their learning style.

The Learning Style Inventory (LSI) created by David A. Kolb, is founded on the concept that human beings learn in four basic ways:

Concrete experience;
Reflective observation;
Abstract conceptualisation;
Active experimentation.

By testing an individual’s tendency toward these four learning modes, the LSI identifies that person’s learning style. There are four styles, assimilation, divergence, convergence and accommodation. Someone with an accommodating style, for example, learns mostly through concrete experience and active experimentation and is best suited to situations in which one must be able to accommodate changing circumstances. These individuals, who are sometimes seen as pushy and impatient, are often found in action-oriented jobs like sales and management. It would be helpful for Ms. One to know which of her applicants is an accommodator, who might be well suited to the criminal defence position that’s open at her office.

Compare the large firm, which is looking for a solicitor whose primary responsibility will be to write appellate briefs. What type of person is best suited for a brief-writing position? It will probably not be an accommodator, but perhaps an assimilator. Individuals in that category tend to learn by reflective observation and abstract conceptualisation. They tend to be comfortable with ideas and abstract concepts and often work in research. It may be important for the large firm to know that the candidate who scored highest with the interviewers doesn’t have an assimilating learning style. That firm may want to take a second look at the other leading applicants.

The more important a position is to the organisation, the more important it becomes that the individual’s personality fits that position. Organisations looking to fill important positions might consider using any of a number of tests available to assess various attributes of personality. A firm with a vacancy created by the departure of its top rainmaker may want an assessment of applicants’ sales aptitude and ability. A partnership seeking to replace a soon-to-retire office administrator should consider testing for an inclination toward supervisory duties and for an understanding of how to manage people. Helpfully, tests have been created, and validated, which can be used to assess any number of characteristics beyond learning style, sales aptitude and management ability.

Both the firm and the individual benefits from testing. The firm can use the test results to improve the match of individuals with the jobs they perform. A better fit should lead to greater job satisfaction and help the organisation avoid such difficult problems as what we in the USA, call burnout, and high turnover. Individuals can use test results to guide their personal development. Those with a greater understanding of their own personality, with all its strengths and weaknesses, will have a greater understanding of why they perform well in some situations and not in others. If the solicitor hired by Ms One scores high on sales and lower on management skills, Ms One will know why the new recruit has no difficulty attracting new clients and can provide training in supervisory skills, so as to avoid having a string of secretaries quit on her.

Conclusion

Making bad hiring decisions can have dramatic consequences for the firm, from increased workplace stress and interpersonal conflict to unproductive employees and high turnover, so take the time to assure that your hiring process has all the steps necessary to find the right people. Writing samples, academic records and references are all essential, because they tell you who has the talent. But there’s more to hiring than simply finding talent. Maximise your opportunity to hire just the right person by looking at talent plus fit. Use the organisation’s strategy, behavioural interviewing and personality tests to match the job applicant with the open position and your organisation.

Making the right fit in all your hiring decisions can boost the performance of your organisation and the quality of service you provide.

Kevin Joyce, J.D., is a practising attorney and the founder of The Quantum Group, LLC, based in Toledo, Ohio, USA. He can be contacted at: k.joyce@e-quantumgroup.com, or: www.e-quantumgroup.com.