In the hospitality industry it is crucial to ensure that you hire someone that is not only competent at the job but is also a cultural fit and a good brand ambassador. Hospitality, like no other industry relies on its employees for its reputation. When you hire someone who is a poor fit with your organisational culture it can damage your brand and reputation, be detrimental to customers and also impact your existing team.
One interview is never enough to determine if someone is going to be right for your business culture. The first interview can be stressful and many people do not show their true personality in the first interview. Here are some tips to assist in ensuring your interview process has a higher chance of success.
Avoid Yes / No Questions
When you ask a question that can be answered with a simple Yes or No you are missing out on valuable information and also potentially being told what someone thinks you want to hear.
A better line of questioning is to ask someone to describe how they have behaved / dealt with real life situations in the past and to provide examples. This is also known as “behavioural interviewing”. The first step is to define what your company values are so you can align your questions to these values.
For example:
Your company values team work above all else. So you could ask someone the following question to get some insight as to how they work as part of a team:
“Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or help others to compromise. What was your role? What steps did you take? What was the result?”
If you were looking at someone’s ability to handle stress you could ask:
“What has been the most stressful situation you have ever found yourself in at work? What happened? How did you handle it?
This method relies on the research that supports the thinking that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. This style of questioning will help you understand in detail how a candidate has acted in specific circumstances. Make sure you ask the same questions to candidates that you are interviewing for the same role – you need to compare the same answers to make an informed decision. Your questions should always include the following:
1. Situation (what was the situation)
2. Action (what did they do – not the team or someone around them but what they themselves did)
3. Outcome (how did it end up)
Involve your current team in the interview process
Current employees will provide valuable insight into whether or not the candidate will fit with the organisational culture. It also allows you to see if they have a quick rapport or not. The bonus here is that if the candidate is hired they will know a couple of people in the team already and their onboarding process will possibly be smoother.
Scenario Based Questions / Role Plays
If you wanted to take this a step further you could set up some role plays where you have someone in your business act out the role of a frustrated / unhappy customer. You would then have your candidate deal with the situation on the spot.
The above strategies should enhance your recruitment process and take some of the mystery out of how to assess someone for cultural fit.
