Forget "Fit": A Competency-Based Approach to Equitable Hiring
Chapter Leadership Brief 12.13.24
by Carmel G. Napolitano
Vice President, Lindauer Global
Much of the bias we face in the workforce and in life is expressed in subtle ways. In recruiting, we constantly check our biases and work to acknowledge how it affects our decisions (and our clients’ decisions) about candidates.
One way to avoid bias in the hiring process is to favor a structured, competency-based interview. Often, organizations trust that their staff will prepare for candidate interviews on their own in advance. These interviews, however, tend to be added to what are already busy days for the interviewers. As a result, advance preparation can be difficult unless some structure and support is provided. When hiring organizations take a proactive, organized approach centered on competencies, they can prepare and align interviewers and promote better, more equitable assessments of candidates.
There is much prep work to be done before you even get to the interview questions. Here is an outline of a competency-focused structured interview process:
- Have a well-thought-out job description. Throw out the laundry list. Determine the top three to five skills/competencies/experiences needed. AND make sure all involved in hiring agree on what they are. In my work, I often see job descriptions that are too expansive and not focused enough on what is more essential. Doing the work upfront to get a “tight” position profile is an essential part of the process.
- Beware of “fit” and “culture.” If you hear the word “fit” over and over again from those involved in hiring, make sure you understand what they mean. The words “fit” and “culture” set off alarm bells for me because they are vague concepts that may not actually help you assess someone’s ability to do the job or bring value to your organization. Ask probing questions of staff: Is it fit about working style, time commitment or is it about liking the same sports teams or sports at all? Is culture about being from the same community or about commitment to the mission?
- All interviewers should use the same questions. There can be nuance to the questions and to individual styles, but make sure you ask questions assessing the agreed-upon competencies for the job. Look to obtain actual data from the interviews and not just vague assessments or observations. For a frontline solicitation role, ask about specific dollar goals and how that was achieved; don’t just assume competency based on what is on a resume. What are the metrics that will be measured in the role? Probe to find out if the candidate has the ability to work within the framework of what your organization is going to measure.
- Add behavioral and situational questions. Behavioral-based questions will elicit information about behaviors your organization values. Situational-based questions – i.e., questions that present hypothetical scenarios – can assess problem-solving and decision-making skills. It is important that these questions reflect ACTUAL behaviors and situations that occur in your organization and not vague or generalized conditions. No trick questions. Include questions such as, “How do you develop relationships with colleagues? With donors?” and “Provide an example of how you dealt with a difficult donor situation.”
- Take a data-driven approach to candidate assessments. It may seem impersonal to reduce the interview to data points, but the goal is to remove subjectivity. Create a form of scoring to the responses. I always set up a sheet with the five most important Key Performance Indicators and then rate candidates at each stage of the process (for example, on a simple 1 – 5 scale for each KPI). Having a system/rubric helps you qualify the information you’re receiving and compare and contrast candidates in a fair, equitable way. As discussions move along, the ratings often change as I obtain more information.
- Timing. Assessments and notes MUST be done in the moment or soon after the interview. Don’t rely on faulty memory. It isn’t effective to wait until you see all candidates to do your assessments. It is best to do your assessment when the interview is fresh in your mind. It is not complicated to set up a Survey Monkey survey to have the hiring team to use.
- Final Discussions – Try to review as a group and review the positives and negatives. Things that may at first appear to be negative may actually end up being qualities that the organization may need. When everything is positive, you may have a charming candidate – but remember: DON’T CONFUSE CHARM WITH COMPETENCY!”
There are challenges to this approach. It is time intensive. Interviewers must understand that they will need to prepare and that there is follow-up work involved. This approach can also overemphasize the interviewee’s performance in a single interview (or series of interviews). To form a more complete picture of the candidate, it is always a good idea to use other meetings/assessments to complement the structured interview, such as work samples and presentations.
Here are a variety of tools that will help you recognize and overcome bias in the hiring process.
A recognized leader in retained executive search for the nonprofit sector, Carmel possesses a network that reaches from local to global. As a Vice President with Lindauer she conducts leadership searches with advocacy, arts/culture, economic development, educational, environmental, global health, human services, and other mission-driven organizations. She has been an AFP-Greater New York City board member since 2018.