Interview Questions Every Manager MUST Ask!

Employee engagement begins with the recruitment process. If we get this element of the engagement journey right, then engaging employees is easy!

The biggest mistake managers make during the recruitment process is that we hire based upon skills and experience. But skills can be taught and experience can be obtained. The best way to recruit people that have a higher chance of being engaged is by recruiting for attitude. And yet, almost every interview guide doesn't have any questions that help to ascertain someone's attitude.

That's where the LMNOP Attitude Rainbow comes into play. This is a model I've used in many organisations that has proven to recruit people who have a better attitude. This is how it works. Each letter of the rainbow represents a unique aspect of attitude. If you implement just one question during the interview process that addresses each one of these five attitude elements, you have a substantially higher chance of recruiting someone with a terrific attitude.

The five elements of the LMNOP Attitude Rainbow are:

Learn: People who have a passion for the learning process.
Motivate: People who are self-motivated and can also motivate others.
Natural: People who are pleasant, nice, and friendly.
Optimistic: People who embrace change and see the positive side of life.
Proactive: People who go the extra mile for their employer, their peers, their customers, and themselves.

To assist you in developing questions to incorporate in your interviews, the following provides you with some examples for each element of the LMNOP Attitude Rainbow. Feel free to use these or to modify them to suit your needs.

Learn

Give me an example of a time when you had to absorb complex information. How did you go about learning it?
What is your preferred learning style? How do you incorporate this at work?
Tell me about a work-related mistake you've made and how you learned from this?
What's the one biggest learning lesson you've had so far in your working history? What were the circumstances that led to this learning lesson?
What sorts of things do you do outside of work to help you be better at your job? Are you a member of any industry associations?

Motivate

Tell me about a time when you worked on a task that was quite repetitive and structured. How did you maintain your focus and your enthusiasm?
What would you do in a situation where you had a manager who wasn't interested in motivating you? How would you motivate yourself? Tell me about a time when this happened to you.
Tell me about a time when you had to persuade a peer or influence a manager to do something. How did you go about doing this?
Give me an example of a time when you attempted to do something but failed. How did you overcome this situation? Did you try again? What were your thoughts?
Tell me about a time when you had to motivate other people. How did you do it? What was the result? What was the impact to the business?

Natural

Tell me about a situation where you went out of your way to help a colleague. What made you do this?
Give me an example of a time when you worked within a team that was dysfunctional and wasn't operating effectively. What did you do to make things better?
How do you deal with difficult people? Think about the most challenging colleague you've had and tell me how you handled working with this person.
Give me a specific example of a time when you were involved in a workplace conflict. What actions did you undertake to resolve the conflict?
What types of people do you prefer to work with? Which kinds of people do you like working with the least? Why? How do you make yourself cope with people you don't like? How do you handle people that don't like you?

Optimistic

Tell me about a time when everything around you was going wrong. How did you deal with the situation?
Tell me about a time when you worked in an environment that was inhabited by people with a negative attitude. How did you react and deal with this?
How do you handle stress and pressure? Give me an example of a time when you displayed these characteristics.
Tell me about a time when your manager asked you to do something with which you did not agree. How did you react?
What types of things make you angry? How do you react? What types of things make you happy?

Proactive

Tell me about a recent process improvement that you initiated and implemented. What made you do this?
Give me an example of a time when you went beyond the call of duty to help a customer. What motivated you to take this action?
How well do you adapt to new situations? Tell me about a time when you were thrown in the deep end.
What's been your greatest achievement so far? What were the steps you took that helped you attain this milestone?
Tell me about a time when you saw a potential problem on the horizon. What did you do to prevent this problem from occurring? How did you recognise that the problem was going to occur in the first place?

Buy James Adonis’ Audio Seminar CD from the Resource Centre:

Employee Engagement: Solved!

James Adonis is Australia’s leading expert on employee engagement. He shows companies how to reduce staff turnover, engage Gen Y, and win the war for talent. For more information and free e-books, visit www.jamesadonis.com, phone +61 2 9331 2465, or email james@jamesadonis.com.
First published: 26 July 2007.
Last updated: 26 July 2007.