Roundtable for making a hiring decision
What has been your experience using a roundtable approach (as profiled in the course content) to make a final hiring decision? Has anyone ever experienced a type of "group think" (i.e., a senior executive's opinion dominates individual opinions of the candidate)? How did you ensure that group think is avoided?
Gale,
We used that approach when we were hiring admissions reps and it worked well. I would classify it as a group interview. There needs to be a leader who ensures that everyone has an opportunity to ask their questions and all candidates need to be brought into the conversation. One way to ensure that no one person dominates the opinions is for each interviewer to write an assessment of each candidate and that then becomes the basis for the debrief conversation. Good question.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Gale,
In a company I used to be with we did something similar to the round table. We called it a group facilitated discussion. After introductions and administrative information was out of the way, the applicants sat at a table and were given a scenario to talk about. A few people already with the company, usually three, sat outside the circle to evaluate what was being said by the applicants.
It gave us a chance to observe a variety of things. Was there a clear leader? Follower? Did people speak up appropriately? Was there someone who monopolized the entire dialogue? It also seemed to be a good way to see how people worked on a team and dealt with views that differed from their own.
We found it to be one of the most valuable pieces of our interview process. This was only one part of a multi-step interview the candidates went through.
Denise,
I have seen this work particularly well with candidates for admissions rep positions for all of the reasons that you state above. It is important to design the questions in advance and to design questions that can be answered by all candidates. One person needs to facilitate the dialog, asking all of the questions. This gives everyone else an opportunity to truly observe and jot down notes resgarding the candidates' responses and reactions. It also helps to limit the number of candidates in a group. I am not certain as to the ideal number of candidates but three to four seems like the right number. Thanks, Denise, for adding to the thread.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Gale,
We have continuously used the roundtable approach on our second interviews. I feel it is an open way to communicate and include everyone in the hiring process, if they'd like to get involved.
As long as our Campus Director has been present and in control, there haven't been too many problems with one opinion dominating others. I really think it is up to the Director to maintain that control and to remind everyone to stay objective.
Thank you,
Erin Bjornson
I think the roundtable approach is a great way, after you have narrowed down the candidates, to get other Managers involed in the hiring process and maybe to uncover some areas of concern or expertise that you might have originally missed. Especially if you have two candidates that are very close.
Group think is a very serious concern though. One way to avoid this might be for the roundtable to take notes in the interviews on positives and negatives of the candidates and turn them in to the hiring manager before getting into the final discussion.
Erin,
That is so true, Erin. As the campus director/ leader you establish the ground rules up front. That prevents some participants from dominating the conversation.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Jack,
I agree, Jack. It is risky. I remember using this process a number of years ago and handled it as you suggested. I used it when I was hiring a dean and I involved the faculty in the interviewing process. Rather than asking them to select the best candidate, I asked them to write down the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. I could certainly tell from their comments who was their favorite candidate but it was a subtle way to allow them to assist in the selection.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I find that the round table approach is very helpful. Other managers come with different questions that could really show the true capability of a candidate. They could also help to bring about other perspectives on the position.
Ensuring that each manager keeps their own notes during the interview will help prevent the "group think". Also allowing the others give their insight prior to the executives' could be a benefit.
Gale,
We use this method when hiring more than one person for a position (Teaching assistants) and it has worked very well. You can see who becomes natural leaders and how well they participate with others.
shana,
I have been in situations where the executive gives his/her opinion first and then others simply mimick what was said. This can also be controlled by who is selected to serve on the selection committee. If possible, avoid putting someone on that committee who will intimidate others into thinking in the same way. The round table can be stressful for the candidate but doing what you can to create a comfortable environment is a big help.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Alana,
You also see those who try to monopolize the conversation vs. those who will share the spotlight. It will give you a sense of how that person or those individuals will work in a team environment as well. It is a great process. You just have to realize that it can be intimidating to some candidates and to possibly make allowances for that.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
In the past, I have done a group interview when hiring multiple positions. I quickly screen resumes, invite multiple candidates, and thenconduct a presentation. Candidates get to determine if this organization is one in which they would like to work. I then give brief details of the job, break, and let the interested candidates return. From there, we do a mini-interview, with my staff present. We thend decide which candidates we want to bring back for which positions. have had much success in the past.
I think this process is great because it does give others the oppurtunity to ask questions that u may not have thought about that may assit in the hiring process...I know it may also help you in asking something based off the other persons question too. It may also make the candidate feel more comfortable because there are more then one person interviewing which might take some of the edge or anxiety off
PARIS,
That is a great process. There is no one process which everyone must use; any process can work. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. If those you hire work out well for your organization, then stay with the process you like. Your process accomplishes a great deal in a relatively short period of time. I like it.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Germaine,
Or it might have the opposite effect and be intimidating to the candidate. It all depends on your ability to put the candidate at ease in front of the group. One posting recommended doing a tour before the interview during which the candidate is introduced to various other employees. This can help to increase the comfort level.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Our campus has utilized the round table interview while hiring instructors, but this webinar opened the possibilities to other positions as well. I can see the effectiveness of each manager keeping their observations and sharing them after the interview. Ultimately the new candidate will be part of the team, it makes sense to have a broader perception of the final interviews. How many team members do you include? Does everyone prepare questions for the candidate?
Kara,
I have also seen the round table interview used when we were hiring admissions reps. Three to four interviewers is probably ideal. This group needs to meet prior to the interview to determine logistics like who will greet the candidate, who will ask the first question, what questions will be asked? This kind of interview can be very intimidating, so it will give you an indication of how well this candidate will perform under stress and interact with different people.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I have a question that is a bit more related to the end game. What discusssions should take place at the roundtable if we universally agree on a candidate, hire the person and they don't work out. In other words, where in the process did we fail? And, what can we do to minimize failure in the future.
Jeffrey,
Good question, Jeffrey. A de-brief with the team who participated in the roundtable is certainly an appropriate action step. If, however, the candidate/employee is terminated, you need to be careful to maintain employee confidentiality. Talk with your HR Director to understand what you can and cannot say and how much information you can divulge. In an effort to minimize failure in the future, you might want to pull together a small team comprised of a couple people from the original roundtable along with the employee's supervisor. The failure might not be in the hiring process but instead may be the result of poor onboarding procedures, for example. There can be many contributing factors to a hiring failure. Explore as many of those factors as possible to help avoid a similar situation in the future.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
