In 2020, an article inspired by a reader’s question topped the most viewed list for the second year in a row

At the end of each year, I review the stats related to my brieflynotedonlince.wordpress.com blog. I want to know which articles received the most views so I can provide Briefly Noted readers with more of what the numbers suggest you want to read.

This year’s top 10 list divides into two broad categories: half the articles are related to hiring and the others are about staff recognition as a tool to engage and retain staff. At least three articles were inspired by changes resulting from the pandemic. 

For the second year in a row, an article inspired by a question from a Briefly Noted reader first published in 2017 has proven to be the most popular blog post.

You asked: How do I discover if a candidate is a quick learner?

Over the years, questions from readers and participants in my programs at conventions or during workshops have enabled me to publish articles that you want to read. If you have a question about hiring, engaging and retaining the right people, let me know. 

I will respond directly to your question and it may lead to a future article. Chances are that others have similar questions and by asking your question you are providing information they want. Email your questions to nmscott@telus.net. 

Here is the rest of the top 10 list for 2020:

Why a friend’s Christmas letter was so disappointing

A friend’s Christmas letter delivered electronically reminded me of the value of handwritten messages, especially when saying thank you.

Recognition for staff members who suddenly find themselves working from home

COVID-19 resulted in people who had always come to a workplace being told to stay home, which meant that new ways to recognize staff were required.

An interview checklist: what to bring the next time you interview

Even after writing more than 100 articles about hiring, I discovered I have overlooked the obvious — a list of the tools managers need to have with them when they meet with candidates.

The mystery of the vanishing room steward turned up another case of fear-based discrimination

On an Asian cruise in February, we witnessed discrimination directed toward people because of where they came from, not because of who they were or what they did. Similar biases can influence hiring decisions if we don’t guard against it.

At least 9 ways to recognize off-site staff

Even before COVID-19 had its impact on workplaces, some people were already working remotely, which meant different staff recognition techniques were required.

National Boss Day reminds us that recognition should occur up and down the hierarchy 

Most conversations about recognition focus on how leaders can express appreciation to staff members, which ignores the reality that everyone needs and deserves recognition, including leaders. Written nearly seven years ago, this article suggests ways in which staff can let bosses know they are appreciated for what they do.

Why please is not as magical as you were told and why saying thank you is

Looking at photos from our trip to Iceland several years ago, I remembered a server in Reykjavík explaining why their language doesn’t include any equivalent to “please.” But there is a word to express appreciation.

Grab this tool to navigate your journey through the interview journey

As important as it is to ask the right questions during interviews, it’s also necessary to compare what you hear to what your top performers do. Here is a template for identifying which answers are unacceptable, acceptable or outstanding (top performer) quality.

An interview no-no: questions to which the answer is yes or no

Watching the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC one evening inspired me to write this article. When the guest responded with a single word, which was all that was necessary to answer the host’s question, it left Maddow speechless.

Related articles: 

Top 9 for 2019: the most popular articles of the past 12 months

Most popular 2017 bogs answered readers’ question or included lists

You, the readers have spoken: the 9 most popular blog posts of 2016

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Interviewing online: What hasn’t changed, what to adapt and a few benefits of interviewing virtually

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed much about how we do business, including how we conduct hiring interviews.

Gone now, and for the foreseeable future, is the practice of inviting strangers to meet with you or with an interview panel in your office or other confined space. Interviews have gone virtual.

What does that mean for leaders with a vacancy to fill? How does interviewing need to change? And what remains the same?

The good news is that the essence of good of interviewing practice has not changed. Interviewers still write and ask questions that focus on the candidates’ past performance. They create interview experiences that are fair to all candidates and maximize the quality and quantity of information gathered. Reference checks can still be conducted during telephone conversation, as they were pre-COVID.

There are even benefits derived from the transition to online interviews using platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Team and Go To Meeting:

Virtual interviews save money and time—Neither the candidate nor the interviewers need to travel. This eliminates or significantly reduces the costs associated with interviews, both financial (gas or airfare, accommodation, meals) and in terms of the time required for travel. 

Virtual interviews make scheduling easier—Because no one has to travel, either across the country or just across town, it’s easier to find times that are convenient for both candidates and members of the interview panel.

Virtual interviews can be “blind”—Biases can influence hiring decisions, in both positive and negative ways. Visual clues related to biases, particularly race and gender, can be eliminated by turning off the candidate’s video, just as orchestras audition musicians sight unseen by asking them to perform from behind a screen, so that factors such as race and gender don’t enter into decision about who gets hired.

Related article: Name-blind recruitment meant to exclude biases from hiring process

Virtual interviews might end coffee shop interviews—The inappropriate practice of interviewing candidates in public settings, such as in coffee shops, is less common since the pandemic struck. This is a good thing. Asking candidates to talk about themselves in a public space, surrounded by distractions and by others who may inadvertently overhear the conversation is interview malpractice. Even when life “gets back to normal,” online interviews will be a superior alternative to interviewing in public.

Although the core elements of interviewing and hiring haven’t changed, we need to adapt how we prepare, conduct and follow up virtual interviews:

Preparing for Interviews

How to prepare yourself:

1. The criteria for finding the right place to interview hasn’t changed. The space should be quiet, free from interruptions and free from items that could distract you. For video interviews, consider what will appear behind you that might distract candidates or other panel members. You don’t want people to spend the interview wondering why you have “that thing” on your bookshelf. A blank wall works best. And please, avoid those virtual backgrounds. The halos they create and the way they cause arms and other body parts to disappear can be distracting.
2. Check the technology you will be using to ensure that the audio and video are working properly. Check the lighting. Too much or too little light may make it difficult for others to see you.
3. There are items that you should bring to traditional interviews that you will still require during virtual interviews—the candidate’s resumé, a list of the questions you plan to ask, and paper or a note-taking form (and at least two pens, just in case).

How to prepare the interview panel:

1. Encourage panel members to find a quiet, interruption- and distraction-free space from which to join the interview.
2. Because you are not going to be together, ensure that all panel members have what they need beforehand—resumés, questions, note-taking forms.
3. Encourage panel members to pre-check the technology they will be using.
4. Design an interview plan. Who is going to ask each question? What is the process for asking followup questions?

How to prepare the candidate:

1. Encourage the candidate to find a space that is quiet and interruption-free for the interview. At the same time, be tolerant of unexpected distractions on the candidate’s end. There may be an unexpected phone call. The dog may bark. The candidate’s partner may be working from home or the kids may be off school.
2. Ask the candidate to test the technology that will be used. You might even set up a brief test call if the candidate is unfamiliar with the platform you will be using. Provide your phone number in case something goes wrong during the interview. 
3. In a traditional interview, you would provide water for the candidate. For the virtual interview, suggest the candidate have water or something else to drink on hand. 
4. I suggest that prior to traditional interviews, the person managing the process meet briefly with candidates outside the interview room to prepare them for what they will experience: let them know how many people will be on the interview panel, who will be asking questions, where the candidate will be sitting.  Answer the candidate’s questions about the interview. In the context of a virtual interview, this information could be provided when the candidate first joins the call, or better yet, provide this information in an email or during a short virtual meeting prior to the interview.

During the interview

The candidate should remain in the waiting room until the panel is ready to begin. Emphasize the importance of all panel members being online before the candidate  arrives. When the candidate is invited into the room, begin the interview as you would begin an in-person interview—introduce the panel, explain the process. Then proceed as you would have done prior to the pandemic—ask questions and probe for additional information. For traditional interviews, I suggest printing questions on cards that you hand to the candidate as you ask each question. For virtual interviews, prepare slides and use the screen-share option.

Ending the Interview

In a traditional in-person interview, the process ends with the interviewer providing information about the organization, reviewing the decision-making timeline, offering an opportunity for the candidate to ask questions and finally, handing the candidate a business card with instructions to “contact me if you have any questions or additional information for us, prior to us letting you know our decision.” In the virtual setting, tell the candidate you will be sending information about the organization and highlight what’s included before inviting the candidate’s questions.

After the Interview

1. As occurs following traditional in-person interviews, panel members should assess the candidate, following the process agreed to prior to beginning the interview.
2. Send information to the candidate (as promised). 
3. Conduct reference checks and make sure that what you learn is one more part of the information used to hire the right person to fill your vacancy.
4. Take time to determine how to improve the virtual interview process. Ask panel members three questions: What went well? What could have been done differently? What is the key lesson we learned from these interviews? You might also ask candidates for their input, using a brief survey about their interview experience.

 When this pandemic ends, we may return to interviewing in person, but we are unlikely to totally discard virtual interviews from our hiring toolkit. What we learn now from interviewing virtually may make us better interviewers in the future, whether we are asking our questions in person or online.

COVID-19, truck drivers and staff recognition

When recognizing staff we may miss some people because what they do falls below the radar.

This observation is an unanticipated consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has made us aware of the contributions of those whose efforts have gone unnoticed in the past.

They have always contributed to our well-being, but what they have done has occurred in the background of our lives—until now.

I’m not referring to first responders and health-care workers, about whose contributions we were already generally aware. We may not have given much thought to what they do but we always believed they would be there when required.

During this pandemic, this pre-existing awareness has come into sharper focus. We appreciate them because we know many health-care workers are putting their own safety at risk to respond to what threatens us all.

There are others of whose contributions we should have been more aware. They no longer labour below our radar. 

These are the people who clean the places we visit, prepare food in restaurants for takeout or deliver all of our online purchases.

And of course, there are the truck drivers who deliver our food and other supplies to retailers who stock the shelves so we can shop for all that is essential to our daily lives.

As a society, we were slow to realize how much we depend on these essential workers. The needs of truckers were not considered by governments who locked roadside rest stops which drivers use, to prevent vandals from removing toilet paper and hand sanitizers. 

Fast food restaurants along major highways closed their dining rooms and then chased away drivers who attempted to place orders by walking up to drive-through windows.

Politicians and restaurant owners eventually reversed course after drivers made them aware of the impact of these decisions.

Hearing about the plight of truckers was a wakeup call for the rest of us. Today, we better understand the value of the contributions of these unsung heroes of the pandemic—truckers, grocery store clerks, cleaners and others upon whom we have discovered how much we depend.

People have found different ways to express their appreciation, from saying thank you more frequently and with greater sincerity to those who serve us in grocery stores to providing meals for truck drivers.

Hopefully, this appreciation of those whose contributions have largely gone unnoticed in the past will not end when this health crisis passes. 

We can prepare now to improve how we express appreciation by thinking about those within our organizations whose efforts can go unseen. These could be custodians whose workday begins only as ours end. Or colleagues on whom we depend but who we don’t thank often enough. Or people from other departments or organizations who contribute to our success.

Let’s resolve to do more to let them know we appreciate them for what they do, because in some way everyone performs an “essential service.” 

No job is unimportant, because if it was, it wouldn’t exist.

Image credit: http://www.bigstockphoto.com