Having a solid interview process in place for your business is the first step to ensuring you’re not wasting time with unqualified or poor fit candidates. Far too often, hiring managers and leaders have spent hours of their time processing candidates for long, formal interviews when they knew from the off they weren’t a good fit.
Oftentimes you can tell whether or not someone will be a good fit just five minutes into speaking with them. You’ve already seen their CV and so will be fairly aware of the skills and experience they hold.
But if your first port of call is a lengthy chat with two or three high-level managers – you could be wasting valuable time that could be used on an incredible team member.
Having a strategy in place to properly vet each person before investing more time into formal, face-to-face interviews is critical. But alongside this, value-based interview questions will ensure you are spending your time wisely and covering all bases while getting to know them.
You will be able to find out if their priorities align with the business and what benefits they will bring to the company culture. Having beliefs and an ethos that reflects those of the company can be the difference between a ‘maybe, we’re not sure’ and being one of the stand-out candidates.
That’s why asking the right questions will help you bag top talent. We’ve put together a list of ideas you can use when vetting your next hoard of candidates.
Why Should You Be Asking Value-Based Interview Questions?
We aren’t talking about money here. Instead, think about what your core values are as a person and what your business stands for. Seeking individuals who reflect your company culture and believe in your vision will give you the best chance at retaining loyal employees.
Asking things that prompt answers relating to their work ethic and ethos will often make or break your decision. You’ll find out important information like:
- How they collaborate with colleagues and share ideas
- What they believe a business should be prioritising
- How they like to be managed
- What drives their behaviours
- How they stay motivated
They will also reveal characteristics about the person that can determine how well they will align with your company culture and if they will bring any benefit to the team.
For example, are they trustworthy? Value-based interview questions can prompt more personal answers. From this, you may have concerns due to their attitude or the way they went about answering.
If they’re reluctant to speak about their mistakes or share examples of feedback they’ve been given, for example, it could demonstrate that they are untrustworthy or do not take accountability.
Examples Of Value-Based Interview Questions
The benefit of taking the time to plan a structured process is that it allows you to spend time with candidates you believe in the most. Building a strong team doesn’t happen overnight, so you need to be certain before you hire.
Having stability and loyal employees you can rely on will help you power through change and struggles. This is crucial in times of growth and allows constant development throughout the company. So what should you be asking to make sure you build a quality team?
1. How would you deal with a colleague who you felt wasn’t pulling their weight?
Their answer to this will outline their ability to collaborate and work as a team. But it also provides valuable insight into their work ethic. Are they someone who pulls together to motivate the team? Or are they someone who just tries to juggle everything themselves?
A strong team will be made up of people that support one another and offer solutions when they are needed. If your company thrives on teamwork and collaboration – this will be a key question.
2. Can you tell me about a time when you had to adapt to a sudden change at work?
Here, you will learn what they consider a challenge. But you can also push for information on how they managed to overcome the struggle. Adaptation is key in any work environment and when some people deal with it better than others, it’s important you can pinpoint the people that work well under the pressures of your business.
It also reveals how honest and open they are. Someone who is willing to discuss their challenges will be more likely to approach the situations head-on and take accountability. This shows potential for leadership roles down the line.
3. Give me an example of some negative feedback you have received from a client/manager and what did you do differently because of it?
If you are hiring for a heavily client-facing role, this will determine how well they will be able to manage tricky customers. Similarly, it will show you whether or not they are open to feedback and criticism.
Someone who’s unwilling to listen may make it difficult to integrate into the team and work to set processes. While someone set in their ways may be able to carry out their own role, it will be questionable how well they’ll work with others.
4. When did you last speak up about concerns you were having in the workplace?
This value-based interview question is great for identifying courage and integrity. Push them to reveal what the outcome was and what they learned from doing so. It will reassure you that this person won’t sit back and watch issues unfold. You need someone you can rely on to make you aware of things the business could be doing better.
And if they tell you they’ve never spoken up about concerns – ask them why. Unless they’ve got no experience in a workplace environment or have only managed a few days in a role – it’s unlikely they didn’t come across something they didn’t like or agree with.
5. Who have you most enjoyed working with during your career and why?
If you’re worried about them being the right fit for the team, this will give you a perfect idea of who motivates them and who they enjoy being around. A more lively, in-house role will require personable individuals who can build rapport and maintain relationships.
However, for a remote working environment or very independent role – this might not be as much of a concern. Think hard about your office culture and take this question into account when looking for a candidate with a personality match.
6. Tell me about your greatest work accomplishment. How did you get there?
Not only does this value-based interview question give them a chance to show off a little but it will show you the expectations they set for themselves. You’ll be shown what they consider to be an accomplishment and will get an insight into how hard they worked to get there.
You can also prompt them for more information on organisational processes. What did they do to manage their time and ensure they could keep up the amazing progress? It is a great question to ask if you’re looking for someone hardworking and self-motivated.
7. We all get things wrong sometimes. Can you tell me about a time you made a mistake? What happened and what was the impact of this? How did you fix it?
If you want to open up a great conversation about accountability – this is the perfect opener. You will want to build a strong team that owns up to mistakes and can work to their own initiative to fix them.
Otherwise, you may end up micromanaging which takes time out of your day and won’t allow for much personal growth. A candidate who is honest will demonstrate a better ability to reflect your core values as a business.
8. Describe a time when you were facing a technical issue and your usual solution wasn’t working. What did you do instead?
Here you will be looking for innovation. Most businesses are looking for creative individuals who can implement helpful and valuable ideas. This value-based question will demonstrate their ability to work under pressure and think for themselves.
If they were successful in fixing an issue like this – you could rely on them for thinking outside the box and contributing to the team. They may even be able to better the processes you already have in place or suggest changes that could benefit the whole company.
Improve Your Hiring Process With Azimuth
Beginning with a more structured hiring process will always benefit your company’s uptake. You’ll mitigate the risk of using up time for non-starters and can hone in on real, quality talent.
It goes without saying that every business will benefit from different skills and personalities. And while it is important to diversify the culture – you still need to make sure you’re not missing out on a talent pool that could take your business to the next level.
We can help you nail this to make it far easier for you. Speak to one of our dedicated Azimuth experts today and implement your own, tailored approach. You can reach us at enquiries@azimuth.eu.com or call 01483 24 33 81.
Similarly, pairing this with quality, value-based interview questions will do you the world of good. If you’re relying on a quick phone call and skills test to find your A-team, I hate to break it to you but you’re probably not going to see much retention.
Try out some of the examples in this article and get in touch to let us know how you got on!
