Competency-Based Interviews

Measuring Success: How Competency-Based Assessments Can Accelerate Your Leadership If it’s you who feels stuck in your career despite putting in the effort. To help you gain measurable progress, one can use competency-based assessments to track skills development over time. 💢Why Competency-Based Assessments Matter: They provide measurable insights into where you stand, which areas you need improvement, and how to create a focused growth plan. This clarity can break through #career stagnation and ensure continuous development. 💡 Key Action Points: ⚜️Take Competency-Based Assessments: Track your skills and performance against defined standards. ⚜️Review Metrics Regularly: Ensure you’re making continuous progress in key areas. ⚜️Act on Feedback: Focus on areas that need development and take actionable steps for growth. 💢Recommended Assessments for Leadership Growth: For leaders looking to transition from Team Leader (TL) to Assistant Manager (AM) roles, here are some assessments that can help: 💥Hogan Leadership Assessment – Measures leadership potential, strengths, and areas for development. 💥Emotional Intelligence (EQ-i 2.0) – Evaluates emotional intelligence, crucial for leadership and collaboration. 💥DISC Personality Assessment – Focuses on behavior and communication styles, helping leaders understand team dynamics and improve collaboration. 💥Gallup CliftonStrengths – Identifies your top strengths and how to leverage them for leadership growth. 💥360-Degree Feedback Assessment – A holistic approach that gathers feedback from peers, managers, and subordinates to give you a well-rounded view of your leadership abilities. By using these tools, leaders can see where they excel and where they need development, providing a clear path toward promotion and career growth. Start tracking your progress with these competency-based assessments and unlock your full potential. #CompetencyAssessment #LeadershipGrowth #CareerDevelopment #LeadershipSkills

Pre-assessment methods help trainers understand trainees' baseline knowledge and skills before starting a training program. Here are various types of pre-assessment methods along with examples for each: 1. Quizzes and Tests Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs): Assess specific knowledge areas with questions offering several possible answers. Example: "Which of the following is a primary key feature in relational databases?" True/False Questions: Quickly gauge understanding of basic concepts. Example: "True or False: The Earth orbits around the Sun." Short Answer Questions: Require brief, written responses to test knowledge recall. Example: "What is the capital of France?" Essay Questions: Assess deeper understanding and the ability to articulate thoughts. Example: "Explain the impact of globalization on local economies." 2. Surveys and Questionnaires Likert Scale Surveys: Measure attitudes or perceptions with scales (e.g., 1-5, Example: "Rate your confidence in using Microsoft Excel: 1 (Not confident) to 5 (Very confident)." Self-Assessment Surveys: Trainees evaluate their own skills and knowledge. Example: "How would you rate your proficiency in programming languages? (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)" Open-Ended Questions: Gain insights into trainees’ thoughts and experiences. Example: "What are your main goals for this training program?" 3. Practical Tasks and Simulations Hands-On Exercises: Assign tasks that mimic real-world scenarios relevant to the training. Example: "Create a simple budget spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel." Role-Playing Scenarios: Simulate situations trainees might encounter. Example: "Role-play a customer service interaction to resolve a complaint." Problem-Solving Activities: Assess critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Example: "Solve this case study on supply chain management challenges." 4. Interviews and Discussions Structured Interviews: Ask standardized questions to each trainee to compare responses. Example: "Describe a time when you successfully managed a team project." Unstructured Interviews: Allow for open-ended conversation to explore trainee experiences. Example: "Tell me about your experience with project management." Focus Group Discussions: Facilitate group discussions to gather diverse perspectives. Example: "Discuss as a group the challenges you face in your current roles." 5. Skill Assessments and Competency Tests Technical Skill Tests: Evaluate specific technical abilities required for the training. Example: "Complete a coding challenge in Python." Competency-Based Assessments: Measure specific competencies related to job roles. Example: "Complete a leadership assessment to evaluate your management skills." #training #trainthetrainer

“When you empower the wrong people to lead, you inspire the best people to leave.” Bachar 💜 Naamani Before promoting your individual contributors to become people managers and leaders, do this👇🏼 ⚪️ Trial Period: Consider a trial period or project where they can showcase their leadership abilities, and monitor their performance closely before making a permanent decision. ⚪️ Feedback from Peers and Subordinates: Gather feedback from colleagues and team members on their leadership potential, and consider 360-degree assessments to capture a holistic view of their capabilities. ⚪️ Succession Planning: Assess the potential impact on the team, and consider how this promotion aligns with long-term succession planning. ⚪️ Emotional Intelligence: Gauge their emotional intelligence in handling diverse personalities. Consider empathy and self-awareness too. ⚪️ Conflict Resolution: Examine past instances where they effectively resolved conflicts, and consider their approach to managing disagreements within the team. ⚪️ Mentoring and Development: Look for instances where they have mentored or helped develop their colleagues, and assess their commitment to the professional growth of their team members. ⚪️ Team Collaboration: Examine their history of collaboration within the team, and consider if they have demonstrated the ability to foster a positive team culture. ⚪️ Alignment with Organizational Values: Ensure their values align with the organization's mission and culture, and consider whether they can embody and reinforce the company's core values. ⚪️ Strategic Thinking: Assess their capacity for strategic planning and long-term vision, and consider whether they understand the broader organizational goals. ⚪️ Leadership Skills Assessment: Evaluate the individual's ability to inspire and guide a team, and assess their communication skills, decision-making, and conflict resolution capabilities. ⚪️ Results Orientation: Evaluate their record of achieving individual and team goals, and consider their ability to drive performance while maintaining team morale. ⚪️ Decision-Making Skills: Assess their ability to make well-informed decisions under pressure, and consider their approach to risk management and problem-solving. ⚪️ Communication Skills: Evaluate their ability to communicate clearly and transparently, and consider how well they can articulate expectations and provide constructive feedback. Remember: “Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.” - Simon Sinek Agree? 💜

Critical thinking is not solely about finding the correct answer but also about the ability to analyze, synthesize, and adapt to different situations. Evaluating a job candidate's critical thinking skills during an interview is essential, especially for roles that require problem-solving, decision-making, and analytical abilities. Aside from the methods outlined in this Harvard Business Review article, here are some effective strategies I've used to assess a candidate critical thinking skills: 1️⃣ Behavioral Questions: Ask candidates to describe specific situations in their previous work experiences where they had to think critically to solve a problem or make a decision. Questions like: "Tell me about a time when you had to analyze a situation and make a quick decision. What was the outcome?" 2️⃣ Situational Judgment Tests or Scenario-Based Questions: Present candidates with hypothetical scenarios or real-life case studies related to the role they are applying for. Ask them how they would approach and solve the problem. Pay attention to their thought process, the steps they would take, and their reasoning. 3️⃣ Brain Teasers or Riddles: While not suitable for all roles, a well-chosen brain teaser or riddle can assess a candidate's ability to think creatively and logically under pressure. Ensure that the riddle is relevant to the job or industry. 4️⃣ Discuss Their Decision-Making Process: Inquire about how they approach decision-making. Ask candidates to describe their decision-making criteria, whether they involve others in the process, and how they prioritize different factors. 5️⃣ Analytical Skills Assessment: Administer a brief analytical skills assessment or test during the interview. It can include math problems, data analysis tasks, or logic puzzles. Ensure that the assessment aligns with the job requirements. 6️⃣ Follow-Up Questions: After candidates respond to your questions or scenarios, ask follow-up questions to delve deeper into their thought process. For example, ask why they chose a particular approach or what alternative solutions they considered. Look for candidates who demonstrate the ability to approach problems systematically, consider multiple perspectives, and make informed decisions based on evidence and reasoning. Tailor your evaluation methods to the specific requirements of the job and industry to ensure a meaningful assessment. #performancehiring #talentassessment #criticalthinking #interviewing #behaviorassessment https://lnkd.in/eRhhCsYj

After many years leading high-performing finance teams 🏢💼, I've seen talented junior professionals make mistakes that can hold back their careers. Based on my experience, here are the 3 biggest pitfalls to avoid if you want to set yourself up for long-term success in finance roles: 1️⃣ Getting Too Heads-Down 👩💻📉 It's easy when starting out to put your head down, grind through tasks, and not come up for air. But you miss critical context about business priorities that shape decisions. Take time to understand company goals, competitive landscape, and how your analysis translates into impact. Ask yourself - why are your tasks strategically important? 2️⃣ Lacking Commercial Context 📈⏰ Mastering the hard technical finance skills is crucial but not enough. You need business fluency to understand performance drivers, communicate insights simply 📊, and influence decisions. Make effort to learn the basics of sales, marketing, product - ask peers about their roles and pain points. 3️⃣ Failing to Translate Numbers into Insights 📉💡 Finance professionals have a treasure trove of data at their fingertips. But leaders don't make decisions based on numbers alone - they want your insights and recommendations based on analysis. Storytelling with data is an art and a key CFO skill. Always share the "so what" behind the numbers! The future top CFOs will bridge technical expertise with commercial strategy and leadership. 💼Avoiding these early career pitfalls will set you up for success as a rising finance star! ⭐ Have you faced any similar challenges? Would love to hear experiences and connect. #CFOInsights #FinancialLeadership #CareerAdvice #RisingStar

In over two decades of consulting with organizations, one confusion surfaces in almost every boardroom conversation: leaders use the words #values, #culture, and #competencies interchangeably. The result is muddled HR frameworks, appraisal systems that measure the wrong things, and culture-change programs that change nothing. Let me offer a simple distinction I share with CEOs and CHROs. Values are what we believe. They are the non-negotiable principles an organization commits to — integrity, customer centricity, respect for people. Values answer the question: what do we stand for, even when it costs us? The test of a value is not the poster on the wall but the decision taken under pressure. Culture is what we actually do. Culture is the lived, observable pattern of behaviour — how meetings run, how bad news travels, who gets promoted, what gets celebrated, and what gets quietly tolerated. I always say that culture lives between the "best behaviours we are ready to reward/ celebrate and the worst behaviours we are ready to tolerate". Culture pillars are those values / behaviors that we are best at - amplified by purpose : like quality of toyota or customer centricity at Amazon. Competencies are what we are able to do. These are the skills, knowledge, and behavioural capabilities individuals need to perform their roles — strategic thinking, coaching, commercial acumen, execution discipline. Competencies are developable, measurable, and role/level specific. A values statement applies to everyone equally; a competency framework differentiates by level /function. Your frontline manager and your CFO share the same values, but they need very different competencies. Why does this distinction matter practically? First, it sharpens your people processes. Hire and fire on values, promote on competencies, and manage the environment for culture. Second, it clarifies accountability. Values are set and modelled by the founders and top leadership. Culture is shaped by every manager, every day, in every interaction: which is why great managers matter more to culture than any HR intervention. Competencies are built through deliberate development: training, feedback, stretch roles, and coaching. Third, it prevents lazy diagnosis. When performance falters, leaders often announce a "culture problem." Sometimes it is actually a competency gap : people simply do not know how. Sometimes it is a values breach : people know better but choose otherwise. The remedies are entirely different. My advice to leadership teams is straightforward: write your values in ten words or less, audit your culture through behaviour feedback that matters, and build competencies with the same rigour you apply to financial planning. Confusing the three is easy. Distinguishing them is where organizational excellence begins. #leadershipdevelopment #coaching #culture #values #competencies #founders #CEO #chro #hr People Business Consulting

Over the years, I’ve seen many accomplished professionals hit a wall in their careers...not because they lack skills or ambition, but because of how they approach clarity. Here are three common pitfalls I notice (and at times, have fallen into myself): 1️⃣ Skipping Reflection It’s tempting to believe the next promotion, bigger role, or industry switch will solve the feeling of “something’s missing.” But without stepping back to examine your values, strengths, and long-term vision, the cycle of dissatisfaction often repeats itself. 2️⃣ Unclear Career Direction Many leaders are excellent at making decisions under pressure...but when it comes to their own careers, they sometimes take opportunities that don’t align with the bigger picture. Without a clear compass, even the best role can eventually feel draining. 3️⃣ Focusing on Jobs Instead of Careers A role is just one chapter. The real question is: how does it contribute to the story you want to tell about your career? Too often, we chase the “next big job” without asking how it fits into our broader professional legacy. If any of this resonates, it may be time to pause and recalibrate. Because true clarity doesn’t come from the next role. It comes from aligning your career with who you are and where you want to go.

60% of new managers fail within 18 months. Rarely from lack of talent. Often, their good intentions can hurt the team. You were the best doer. So you keep doing. And doing everything is no longer the job. These can sting. Skip my mistakes. 9 Common Traps (and what to do instead): 1. Solving problems too quickly Lead with questions. Before you offer a single answer, ask "What have you already tried?" and "What would you do if I weren't here?" 2. Hiring for skills, compromising on character Name the one behavior your culture can't tolerate. Screen for it in the first interview. Hire for values; teach the skills you're good at developing. 3. Confusing feedback for coaching Run the loop: they self-assess first, you agree on the one gap to close, then they write the plan. People follow a plan they wrote. 4. Managing tasks instead of energy Find your team's peak hours and defend them. Schedule deep work there, batch the shallow work into one block, and protect real recovery time. 5. Focusing on motivation over momentum Manufacture a visible win in the first 48 hours. Then remove one friction point and lock in one repeatable routine. Momentum outlasts motivation. 6. Only managing your team Take radical ownership of the 1:1 with your boss. Make their goals your goals, bring solutions instead of problems, and over-communicate the bad news early. 7. Confusing hiring with recruiting List your 2-3 most critical roles, then start a real relationship with 5-7 ideal candidates for each today. Before a seat is ever empty. 8. Thinking you're not in sales Embrace your role as a powerful storyteller. Connect your team's impact to your boss, your mission to a candidate, a teammate's win to the org. Lead with the problem you solve, not the tasks you do. 9. Not leading with enough clarity Write down what "great" looks like for each role. Make expectations explicit, give feedback in real time instead of saving it for reviews, and learn to tell whether a gap is skill or will. Remember: Your team doesn't experience your good intentions. Our students asked us to build a new manager program for this moment. Join us in September https://lnkd.in/gCwT7kU7 📌 Save this. Revisit it monthly. ♻️ Repost to help someone. 🔔 Follow Marsden Kline for more.

Recruiters! Ever had hiring mangers with different ideas of what good looks like? And all your candidates fall through the cracks because nobody can meet everyones personal criteria? Here's how to fix that 👇 First lets define terms : Success criteria are the measurable outcomes that define what it means to be successful in a role. They are tied to specific results, goals, or achievements expected of an employee. Competencies are the underlying skills, knowledge, behaviours, and attributes required to perform effectively in a role. They are about how an employee performs their job, rather than the results they achieve. 1️⃣ Requirement Gathering - You need to take the ambiguous requests and turn them into SPECIFIC success criteria. - Start with outcomes. What outcomes the successful candidate should achieve. this is more objective than "should have gravitas" so is a good place to start. - If its not outcome oriented, specific, time bound and measurable, it doesn't qualify as a success criteria. 2️⃣ Use the success criteria to define competencies - Candidate oriented. What specific skills & behaviours are needed to achieve the success criteria - Avoid defaulting to years experience. It's handy for sourcing but experience isn't a competency, its a very rough proxy for competency. 3️⃣ Questions - Design 2-3 competency based questions for each competency. - Do this with or have the hiring manager review the questions for feedback 4️⃣ Review guidelines - Create review guidelines for each question. - A RAG chart with an example of an answer that fails, meets and exceeds the expectations f the question is suer useful - Again, work with the HM for feedback on the review guidelines. - You can actually use the review guidelines as a scorecard if you don't have an ATS by highlighting each questions and your score for each answer. This gives you specific criteria, in an unbroken logical chain from the hiring manger right through to the recruiters on screening calls. Its enormously valuable, saves tons of time and money, and it's free. Oh also, there's a full video of me doing it, a link (in comments) to an example and a series of GPT prompts to help you first draft it. You're welcome. How about you? any horror stories of unaligned stakeholders schmutzing up your lovely candidate experience? Tell me in the comments! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi 👋 I’m Luke. I empower recruiters with data. Want to get data-driven for free? Link in the comments for my free weekly newsletter. #recruitment #recruiting #recruiters #talentacquisition