Talent Acquisition

Gohar Alam
Competency Based
Interviewing
CBI
Our learning targets for today
1. Understand the importance of Competency
Based Interview (CBI)

2. Get an overview of the best practices associated

with preparing for, conducting and evaluating
CBIs.

3. Learn using CBIs and selecting the best

candidate

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4. Gain hands-on practice.
External challenges

We face a highly
competitive business
environment.

Jobs are getting bigger Supply of talent is Less experienced

and more complex. getting smaller. people will get bigger
jobs sooner.

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 % of respondents who describe the business environment of their companies as
“more” or “much more” competitive than 5 years ago (n=2,963)*
What single factor contributes most to the increasing competitive intensity in your industry today?

Improve capabilities of competitors (e.g., 25

better knowledge or better talent)
23
More low-cost competitors
More competitors 13

Growing size of competitors 10

Growing number of innovative market entrants
9
Regulatory changes (e.g., market or industry
deregulation, trade agreements) 8
Rising consumer awareness and activism
6
Growing number of attractive and accessible
markets 4

All data weighted by GDP of constituent countries to adjust for differences in response rates from various regions; figures do not sum to 100%, because
respondents who answered “other” are not shown, Source: March 2006 McKinsey Quarterly global survey of business executives
Source of Value: Our People

Percentage of Market Value Related to…

Intangible 38% 62% 80%

Assets

Tangible
Assets
62% 38% 20%
19821 19921 20022
1. Brookings Institution analysis of S&P500 companies
2. Kaplan & Norton
Excellence in Talent Management drives
business success
• Companies with state-of-the art HR solutions achieve a higher
economic impact
Revenue growth

Delivering on recruiting 3,5x

Onboarding of new hires and retention 2,5x

Improving employer branding 2,4x

Managing talent 2,2x

Performance management and rewards 2,1x

Developing leadership 2,1x

Source: BCG/WFPMA – From Capability to Profitability July 2012

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Competencies
What is the definition of competency?

com·pe·ten·cy
An observable and measurable knowledge, skill, ability,
behavior, motivation or other characteristic that contributes
to successful job performance.

Competencies are important because they:

Contribute to individual success
Can be learned
Can be assessed
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Competencies : Target for Success

Describe the knowledge, behaviors and motivations needed to do a job

successfully

Technical Knowledge -- skill, ability to do a job

Behaviors -- Can do

Motivations -- Will do
Bayer Competencies
Competency model composed of 3 clusters

Consistent & Mandatory Optional Addition

Core Leader Functional

Competencies Competencies Competencies

Core Leader Functional

competencies Competencies Competencies
All employees a) All R-Managers • Steered by
b) VS 2+ (leadership Communities / CoE TM
role) • Linked to Job Groups
• Applicable to whole
function at Bayer

Evaluation scale Not applicable Developing Capable Strong

Reference: relative to what is expected of an employee in current position / role.

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Competency Model
Overview of Core & Leader Competencies

Core Competencies Leader Competencies

Customer
Customer Focus focus Business Insight
DrivesDrives
ResultsResults Strategic
Strategic MindsetMindset
Collaborates Builds Effective Teams
Instills Trust Courage
Values
Values Differences
Differences Cultivates
Cultivates Innovation
Innovation
Manages Complexity Manages Ambiguity
Plans & Aligns Drives Vision & Purpose
Self-Development Attracts & Develops Talents

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Goals of a Selection System

• Accuracy
• Equity
• Buy-in

Attract, hire and retain the best people

CBI is an addition to Bayer’s interview
approach … not a replacement
Components of Interview

Culture Fit

Competencies CBI interview approach

Past experience

Functional knowledge

Conversational interview approach

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CBI methodology offers significantly better
chances to selecting high performers

Structured Standardized
= More
Accurate

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Technique Comparison

Selection Technique Validity Coefficient*

Traditional, casual, one-on-one interview .20
Reference Checks .26
Unstructured Interviews .34
Traditional Panel Interviews .37
Ability Testing .50
Structured Behavioral Interviews .67

*Validity coefficient measures the degree to which job performance can be accurately predicted by the selection
method. The range is from .01 to 1.0; the higher the score, the more valid the method.

Source: Sources: J. Conway, R. Jako, D. Goodman, Journal of Applied Psychology, 1995 / Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2006

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Key Interviewing Challenges

Interview Challenges … ... lead to Common Mistakes:

• Lack of preparation
• Time pressure
• Overweighing first impressions
• Decision pressure
• Insufficient data gathering
• Ambiguity
• Making too much of a negative
• Social expectations
• Overemphasizing fit
• Process and logistics
• Biased/leading questions
• Hasty evaluation and decision
making (i.e., rushing to judgment)

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Making right hiring decisions is complex and cannot be
achieved by traditional approaches

Future performance is directly related to competencies

• 40-60% of successful performance is due to competencies
• Functional/Technical skills account for 10-20%
• The remainder is due to motivation, experience and
Good
circumstances
hiring Source: Korn/Ferry/Lominger

decisions
are Most hiring managers do not adequately evaluate
difficult to competencies during interviews
make
• Too much focus on functional/technical skills

Source: Hunter, J.E. & Hunter, R.F. (1984). Validity and utility of alternative predictors of job performance
:

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Mis-hires have Significant Cost Impact

Cost of employee turnover

• Costs related to new hire turnover (<12 months)
• Rule of thumb: 2-4 times base compensation
(for more senior jobs 6-8 times)

Cost of inferior performance

• Good performers outperform the average by 32%-48%
• Superior performers have a disproportionate positive impact
on company performance

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Cost of Mishires
3-step competency based interviewing
process
• Identification of competencies that are
1 relevant for success in the role
Clarify Needs and Prepare
• Develop interview guide based on
competencies

2 • Use simple best practice tools

Conduct CBI
• Apply standardized interview approach

3 • Individual assessments are discussed

Evaluate candidates
and debrief collectively
• Hiring manager makes decision

Page 20 • HR CoE Talent Management • Competency Based Interview • Half-day

Getting The Right Competencies

If you don’t get the

competencies right,
the rest doesn’t matter

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Core & Leader Competencies
Using competencies to gain competitive advantage

Key differentiators Price of Admission

• Important across all
Strategic Mindset hierarchical levels
LEADER

Drives Vision & Purpose • Fundamental and easier

Builds Effective Teams to develop
Competitive Edge: Cultivates Innovation Competitive Edge
Business Insight Manages Ambiguity • In shorter supply
Attracts & Develops Talents Courage • More difficult to develop

Price of Admission Manages Complexity Key Differentiators

Customer Focus Values Differences • In short supply
• Hard to develop
CORE

Drives Results Self-Development

Collaborates
Instills Trust
Plans and Aligns

High correlation between competencies and performance

Source: Korn/Ferry Normative Study 2013

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Goals of a Selection System

• Accuracy
• Equity
• Buy-in

Attract, hire and retain the best people

Describe Yourself
(What good behavioral info is not)

What do you think were the Top 5

responses from 1,000 candidates to:

“How would you

describe yourself to
an interviewer?”
(P2-13)
Top 5 Responses
I am ....

1. A people person
2. A hard worker
3. A quick learner
4. Dependable
5. A team player
These statements do not
provide any real behavior!
The Goal of CBI process …

is to gather examples of what people

have actually said or done
- their behavior -
in the competencies for the target job.
False STARs …
all glitter but no substance

 Vague statements

 Opinions

 Theoretical or future-oriented
statements
Tips on ANSWERS / STARs
• Actions can also be inactions.

• False ANSWER / STAR:

• “would”  theoretical, future-oriented

• “typically”, “generally”, “usually”, “we”, “the team” 
vague
• Past tense vs. present & future tense
Interview Guide Includes Behavioral
Probes to Drill Down on Experience

SITUATION
What was the situation?
ACTIONS
Competency
How did they approach it / achieved target ?
Assessment
OUTCOME / RESULT
What was the result?

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 Situation – Action - Result
SITUATION: During tight schedules and short staffing Ahmed was able to
achieve his targets within needed time frame

Action
----------------------------------
Although the team was short staffed and extremely busy, Ahmed went out of his
way to expedite all the Sales Calls by listing them in order of priority and date and
delegating tasks to his FMOs. He was very pleasant about doing the organizing,
and the team really appreciated his work

Result
All Sales Calls were made on time, the commitments of promotional gifts were
also fulfilled, and the customers were extremely satisfied. Our reputation for
good service was recognized, and our business will benefit because of Ahmed’s
extra efforts and caring

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What are we looking for from the
candidate?
• Evidence they have
demonstrated the
competency in the past
• Alignment with the
definition of the relevant
competency
• More positive than
negative aspects

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Exercise

Ask question from your colleagues and record as follows:

1. Situation / Task
2. Action
3. Result

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Exercise

Recognize
A Complete Answer
B False Answer
Partial Answer that:
C Needs Situation/Task
D Needs Action
E Needs Result

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Practice:Interview Roleplay

• Form groups of two

• Determine interviewer, interviewee
• Each interviewer gets 10 min to interview for one competency
• Ask the question and probes
• Interviewees will draw from real experience
• Take notes
• Switch roles and repeat
• Debrief the round of interviews (10 min)
• Prepare to report back (5 min)

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Practice Debrief

• What stood out?

• Where were you fascinated?

• Where did you feel challenged?

• What would you do differently?

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Individual Evaluation
Components of Interview

CBI interview approach

Culture Fit

Competencies
Past Experience

Functional Knowledge

Conversational interview approach

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Complete candidate summary evaluation
after each interview

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Evaluation and Decision Making

• Hold a meeting with all interviewers

• Review decision criteria
• Review interviewer assessments
• Discuss agreements and differences (be
specific)
• Make a hiring decision
• Consider and use findings for onboarding
process later
(findings can be a good input for
development dialogue)
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Final evaluation of Candidates

1) How to score a card sort:

3 3 Capable When you finish the sort, record
2 3 Developing your individual results under
1 column “My competency selection”
3 3 Strong as follows:
2 • Mark the 5 cards in your HIGH-
3 pile as a 3
• Mark the 6 cards in your
2
MIDDLE-pile as a 2
1 • Mark the 5 cards in your LOW-
pile as a 1
2 3 Strong 2) Final competency set:
1 Agreed with the other experts on
2 the final competency set and
record it in column “Agreed
3 3 Strong
competencies”
1 3) Candidate Evaluation:
3 Capture the results of your
1 evaluation for each candidate ín
2 3 Capable columns A/B/C…

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What Questions Do You Have?

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What’s in for you

By clearly defining what is critical for success in the role you

make the whole process more efficient
• You get better pre-selected candidates
• You have to spend less time in interviews
By using well defined CBI questions
• You need less time to prepare for interviews
• You get deeper insights into candidates
• It gives you more confidence in your hiring decisions (less gut feeling)
Every hire is a unique opportunity to strengthen your team
Never forget: Good performers outperform average performers
by 32%-48%

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Quiz - Answer the Questions in 5 min.

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Quiz – 1. Question

Which of the following is true about selecting interview

questions?

A.Questions should be chosen randomly to ensure fairness and

equality among candidates.
B.All questions provided are acceptable; select the one you feel
most comfortable with.
C.Questions should reflect the current situation and future goals for
the role.
D.All the questions provided should be used.
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Quiz – 2. Question

Which of the following statements is true?

A.It is good to hire candidates who we see as similar to ourselves.

B.It is best to avoid coming to conclusions early in the process.
Pursue all the follow-up probes with an open mind.
C.It makes sense to assume that a candidate, who is strong in one
skill, will be skilled in the rest of the required skills.
D.A candidate’s previous performance will have little bearing on his
or her ability to perform in a new job.

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Quiz – 3. Question

• Which of the following is an example of a structured behavior-

based interview question?

A.Describe your thoughts on project management.

B.Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses.
C.Describe the project management tools you use.
D.Tell me about a time when you were faced with making an
unpopular decision.

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Quiz – 4. Question
According to research, what structure is best for candidate
interviews?
A.It’s best to structure the questions asked but leave the rest alone.
B.It’s best to structure all aspects of the interview content and
process.
C.A casual, natural style interview is the most productive and liked
by most interviewees.
D.The interview process should be structured, but the content
should be left loose and flexible to fit each candidate.
E.No real research has been done on the structure of the interview
outside the questions.
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Thank You