Selecting between shortlisted job candidates

We’ve shortlisted the top two candidates for a managerial position. The difference between them is minimal — a few decimal points in our scoring system. Is there a good way of resolving the tie in coin-toss situations like this? — Mad Scientist

A coin flip is an accepted tool for breaking ties in sports and elections. Between two job candidates, there are other options available.

One option is to conduct a final round of face-to-face interviews using a common set of questions for the two candidates, who are to be interviewed separately. You can do a panel interview where department heads or their representatives are tasked to assess the candidates.

You can have about 20 questions in a form that includes a space for the rating by the interviewers. For example, each interview answer is graded on a scale of one to 10, 10 being the highest.

Even if you have already chosen your best candidate, one option is to delay a decision pending the completion of preemployment documents (like an NBI clearance), medical clearance and background investigation.

Further, you must understand that many interview questions are predictable, especially to managerial applicants. They may have done it many times before as interviewers for their organizations. The key is to formulate questions that are unpredictable but still relevant to the job.

IN THE WORKPLACE REY ELBO

ELBONOMICS: Asking questions is good, but listening to the answer is best.

UNPREDICTABLE QUESTIONS

The first thing to do is to identify the key elements of the managerial job. What are the critical requirements to make a job holder successful? Is it leadership? Initiative? People skills? Technical competence? Problemsolving? Decision-making? Don’t ask the same questions you’ve raised during the first few rounds of the hiring process.

Instead, ask open-ended but direct-to-the point questions. You can create your own key questions that are likely to bring out characteristics of an ideal candidate. Take note, however that you should connect these questions to what’s happening in your organization, including its management style, without telegraphing your internal problems:

Leadership. Give one specific example of how you transformed the performance of your department resulting in improved profitability and sustainability. This question focuses on the applicant’s results orientation. It’s difficult to fake an answer as the question requires detailed information on “profitability” and “sustainability.”

Initiative. Tell us about a performance milestone that was unprecedented in your organization, either among your peers or predecessors. This is designed to surface any “black swan” experiences. While it’s difficult to find unprecedented accomplishments for every applicant, the answers provide clues on whether the applicant strives to do extraordinary things.

People skills. Who is more important to you — the customer or employees? Management experts will always tell you that the right answer is employees. There’s truth to the maxim that if you treat your workers well, they will treat customers better. Douglas Conant is right: “To win in the marketplace, you must first win the workplace.”

Technical competence. If your assistant has an emergency situation and can’t report for work, can you perform his task given your best customer’s tight deadlines? Can you perform the same tasks, no matter how difficult? This question explores whether a manager can demonstrate mastery of his direct reports’ tasks.

Problem-solving. Tell me about a complex issue that you solved without incurring major expenses that prompted your boss to give you a bonus, a commendation, or a promotion. This measures creativity in resolving issues without throwing additional resources at the problem.

Decision-making. There are two applicants for one job. Both are equally competent and have nearly identical qualifications. How would you decide? What objective approach would you take to identify the best candidate for the job?

OTHER OPTIONS

When an applicant gives you an obscure answer, probe for clarification until you reach a point where you can conclude they have or don’t have the experience needed. You can also make the final interview process more interesting if you can assign one or two interviewers to intentionally create stressful situations for the applicants.

This means throwing applicants off-balance. The method sometimes involves asking questions in a loud, threatening voice. You can also pretend to be in possession of reliable information that would prove negative for the candidate’s image. Propose to call a former boss right there to gauge the applicant’s reaction to a situation where the ex-boss is asked whether he would recommend the candidate or not.

Attend REY ELBO’s Feb. 23, 2024 public program on “How Management Lost its Labor Cases in 2023” about the new decisions of the Supreme Court. Chat with him via Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter) or e-mail operations@reyelbo.consulting for details.