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Staff turnover is expensive.
In a 50-person organization
with 30% turnover and an
average salary of $25,000,
the annual cost of staff
turnover is at least $55,000.
That's the equivalent of
two extra employees!
If traditional hiring
processes work, why is your
staff turnover so high?
Haven't you secretly wondered
why hiring managers bother
to ask questions like "What
are your top strengths and
weaknesses?" or "Why do
you want to work for us?"
After all, who'll tell you
that their strength is talking
on the phone with friends
and their weakness is coming
in late most days?
Is anyone going to admit
that the biggest attraction
is the fact that you're
only three blocks from their
favorite Starbucks?
The truth is that traditional
hiring doesn't work
very well. Average
staff turnover is 50% or
more in many wellness businesses
-- so we're clearly not
doing a good job of matching
candidates and jobs.
And each time you lose an
employee it costs your business
literally thousands of dollars
in hiring, training, and
reduced efficiency.
Behavioral Interviewing
Simple-to-use behavioral
interviewing techniques
help you AND the job candidate
increase the likelihood
of a great match between
the job requirements and
the candidate's capabilities.
What is behavioral interviewing?
Behavioral interviewing
asks candidates to tell and show
you how they would apply
their past performance,
job skills and life experiences
to the most likely challenges
they'll face in your business.
Traditional interviewing
focuses on education, strengths
and weaknesses, and career
goals.
What are the advantages
of behavioral interviewing?
Behavioral interviewing
techniques help you pick
new employees based on their
demonstrated success in
tackling situations required
by the position you're filling.
Human resources specialists
report that behavioral interviewing
accurately predicts on-the-job
behavior over 50% of the
time. Compare that
impressive statistic to
traditional interviewing,
which gets it right just
10% of the time. Yet
correctly predicting how
your employees will handle
their key responsibilities
is critical in hiring (and
keeping) the right people.
And its structured, objective
and consistent process helps
reduce unconscious bias
and is often more legally
defensible. Of course,
we also suggest consulting
an attorney to ensure that
your staff is up to date
on interviewing and hiring
do's & don'ts.
How does behavioral interviewing
differ from traditional
interviewing?
Improving staff retention
and reducing turnover depends
on better employer decisions
AND better candidate decisions.
An effective interview gives
employers AND job candidates
information about the potential
fit.
Traditional interviewing's
emphasis on education, strengths
and weaknesses, and career
goals doesn't help the employer
or the job candidate.
Sure, these factors matter.
But an interview that dwells
exclusively on these areas
leaves a lot unsaid.
First, these factors don't
tell you much about the
candidate's capability for
the position you're filling.
For example, if your wellness
center deals with kids,
you might need to know more
about how this candidate
handles pushy parents.
That's far more important
than knowing, say, that
the candidate wants to start
his own business some day.
Second, focusing on these
areas doesn't tell the candidate
much about the real requirements
of the position. Candidates
don't want jobs they'll
dislike. If they have
no experience with pushy
parents and dread the idea,
you want them to be fully
aware so that they can avoid
a bad decision as well.
How can I start using behavioral
interviewing?
1) Identify the most important
requirements for the job
-- typically five or so.
2) For each requirement,
identify how you can best
assess candidates' capabilities.
3) Make a checklist of the
requirements and the assessments
you identified.
4) Follow the checklist
consistently as you interview
each job candidate.
5) Periodically refine and
update the checklist based
on how well your actual
hires do.
Can you give some examples
of how to use behavioral
interviewing?
For wellness businesses, the three most effective assessments for job candidates
are usually written tests, interview questions, and demonstrations:
| |
Written Tests |
Interview Questions |
Demonstrations |
|
Examples |
Have nutritionists
actually calculate
and explain
caloric needs
based on a sample
client profile
***
Have personal
trainers develop
a proposed workout
routine based
on a sample
client
***
Have
acupuncturists
or massage therapists
write down the
steps to properly
sanitize equipment |
Ask sales managers to explain how they've handled performance issues with reps.
***
Ask
wellness coaches
to tell you
how they worked
worked an especially
reluctant client
***
Have
billing clerks
tell you about
the worst customer
experience they've
had and how
they handled
it |
Ask yoga instructors
to show you
how they would
instruct an
overweight client
to properly
perform the
child pose
***
Have a nurse-practitioner
deliver a sample
presentation
on wellness
during pregnancy
or role-play
a discussion
with a patient
***
Have
fitness instructors
show you how
they would modify
a class for
attendees with
ROM limitations |
|
Avoid |
Written tests
that aren't
important for
the job.
For
example, typing
accuracy isn't
a key job requirement
for personal
trainers.
But
you do want
to verify that
they can read
and evaluate
a PAR-Q accurately. |
Questions that
don't address
key job skills.
For example,
asking about
college activities
doesn't tell
you much.
Asking
how they've
modified exercise
routines for
people with
joint problems
is more meaningful.
|
Demonstrations
that don't match
major responsibilities
of the position.
For
example, how
a fitness director
for a large
center would
teach a fitness
class is probably
not essential.
But
asking them
to role-play
coaching a tardy
employee might
provide great
insights. |
Combine
techniques to assess how
well candidates meet each
job requirement. For
example, if you're hiring
a physical therapist to
work with overweight clients
and a key job requirement
is excellent client communication,
you could:
- give them a case
study and ask them to
write an exercise
prescription to
be given to the sample
client
- ask them to describe
a situation in which they had to find a way to help a client overcome previous
unpleasant experiences
with exercise
- have them demonstrate
how they would explain
a specific exercise
to obese clients who
might not be able to
detect typical cues
like tightening certain
muscles.
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