But Can He Carry On a Conversation?

I like to do all the talking myself. It saves time, and prevents arguments. Oscar Wilde

Okay, if you're a brilliant playwright, maybe you don't have to get along with other people. However, the rest of us do. In fact, our interpersonal skills are arguable the most important skill we can have in today's competitive, interconnected business environment.

If you're interviewing job candidates, you need to hire employees with good people skills. But how do you find out if an applicant is a good listener, acts as a team player and is able to communicate effectively? People don't wear t-shirts proclaiming their proclivities and I'm skeptical about psychic abilities. If you draw a blank when it comes to assessing communication skills, here are some questions that might separate the wheat from the chaff:

1. Tell me about the time you had to gain the cooperation of a group over which you had little or no authority. What did you do?

2. Describe a situation in which you had to help a subordinate solve a problem. What did you do? How successful were you?

3. Give me an example of the approach you would take to explain the features of a product or service to a customer who has trouble understanding them. (Hint: If your interviewee says s/he would talk louder, end the interview.)

4. Tell me about a time you had to get a point across to different types of people. What approach did you take?

5. Give me an example of how you would explain a complicated procedure to someone who was new to the situation.

6. Describe a decision you made based largely on data you obtained by asking questions.

No matter how technical the available position, don't make the mistake of overlooking interpersonal skills when you're assessing your candidates. People tend to be promoted to manager because of their business or technical skills, and you don't want a technical guru winding up without a clue as to how to communicate effectively.

Oh yeah, before you start interviewing, make sure you have a clear picture of the criteria and standards of performance that will make or break a job. Limit your questions to these factors.

WORKRELATIONSHIP TRIVIA: Workplace bullying is four times more prevalent than illegal harassment/discrimination and takes the same toll in terms of turnover, absenteeism and stress-related medical complaints.

Question of the Month: Burning Out Before Thirty

I am the first human resource professional in our high-tech start-up company and I'm getting burned out after three months on the job! While I thought my toughest challenge would be setting up and managing the administrative side of our department, it's the technical managers who are driving me nuts. They come to me with every little employee problem and expect me to fix it. I'm glad they see me as a resource, but I spend about six hours out of every 8 putting out their fires and end up doing my paperwork until midnight.

It sounds like you have some training to do, not only in terms of helping your technical managers gain some much-needed management skills but also in terms of how they view you. Perhaps it's time to redefine "human resources" as the human with the resources to help your managers solve their own problems. Require more of your managers when they come to you for help - ask them to come prepared with a few ideas, refer them to a management book, and/or set up a management training class. When appropriate, ask the manager to sit in when you're resolving a employee conflict between two of his employees; not only are you role modeling valuable conflict resolution skills, you can then require him or her to do the follow up.

Get in touch with your inner what? Too restless for meditation? Too pooped to exercise? No worries. Discover the secret passion guaranteed to lift those spirits, relieve that tension, and soothe that weary soul.