Competency-based questions can help managers decide whether candidates from outside the apartment industry will thrive.
Implementing behavioral interviewing techniques during the hiring process can greatly increase the chances of a successful hire, whether or not the candidate has previous related experience.
Behavioral interviewing’s premise is that a person’s behavior does not fundamentally change over time. How they have responded in certain situations in the past is a good indicator for how they will perform in similar situations in the future.
The first step in developing behavioral interviewing questions is to determine core competencies needed to perform the position the manager is recruiting for. Competencies include a combination of behaviors, knowledge, skills and abilities and job-related experiences.
While a job description includes specific skills that are required to accomplish certain tasks, competencies describe how the individual goes about performing the work.
For example, a core competency for a property manager position may be “consistent leadership,” whereas that competency would not be necessary or as important for a leasing consultant position. A competency for a leasing consultant position might be “action orientation.” Each competency should be clearly defined and include observable behaviors that, when performed effectively, may indicate acceptable performance.
Next, the manager should determine which competencies are most important and develop questions that will draw detailed responses from the candidate to determine if the candidate has the desired characteristics. Questions should be open ended, and typically start with a phrase such as, “Give me an example of…” or “Tell me about a time…”, and usually have several follow-up questions to elicit more response from the candidate.
A follow-up question could be as simple as, “What happened?” or “Tell me more about that.” The interviewer wants to understand the impact or end result of the situation the candidate is describing.
The S-B-I Model
One way to prepare for and conduct the interview is to use a three-step process sometimes called the S-B-I Model, which stands for Situation-Behavior-Impact. The Center for Creative Leadership created the S-B-I model, which is used as a tool for giving and receiving feedback, but is also an effective framework for behavioral interviewing questions. For example, if perseverance is a key competency for a leasing consultant position, the manager may want to determine how effective the candidates are at overcoming objections and closing the sale.
Even if candidates don’t have previous leasing or sales experience, they may have related work and life experiences where they have had to exhibit perseverance. An example of a behavioral interviewing question for this competency using S-B-I may be: “Tell me about a time when you persuaded someone to see another point of view. What was the situation? How did you respond (behavior) and what was the outcome (impact)?”
To fairly and accurately assess candidates’ interview performances, organizations should establish an interview rating system and each interviewer should rate the candidate’s capability for the core competencies based on the interview. Next, interviewers should discuss their findings and compare their ratings.
The process of preparing for this discussion will help the interviewers to be more disciplined and objective in their assessments, as they will have to explain the reasons for their ratings.
Julie Blaikie is Equity Residential’s Organization & Talent Development Director.