The Talent Edge: A Behavioral Approach to Hiring, Developing and Keeping Top Performers

A practical step--by--step approach to hiring the right person. Every hiring manager knows that the traditional hiring and interviewing process is a poor tool for predicting organizational fit and future on--the--job success. Behavioral interviewing can improve your chances of picking the right candidate two to five times over traditional processes. It focuses on how the candidate works rather than on skills, qualifications, and impressions. The Talent Edge shows how you can develop a concrete understanding of what your own top performers do differently than the majority of their peers, and how to translate that knowledge into a better hiring system. While using case studies from organizations that have successfully transformed their hiring practices, the book articulates the business case for a Behavioral Interviewing system, and provides a roadmap for implementing it. Comprehensive coverage includes: how to write job profiles and translate them into questions and answers that can be used in the interview; how to prepare for the interview, ask questions, and probe for the right information. The book also offers advice on how behaviors that are defined and proven to be useful in the hiring process can be incorporated into performance management, career development, and succession planning.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Introduction: Leaders Needed Chapter 1: Value Beyond the Balance Sheet: The Right People Are Your People Really Your Competitive Advantage? The Traditional Interview: Rolling the Dice The Hiring Manager The Human Resources Professional Behavioral Interviewing: Examining the Past to Predict the Future Not a Cookie--Cutter Approach Case Study Profiles That Lead the Way A Vision of Organizational Clarity Chapter 2: Making the Business Case for Behavioral Interviewing Competing for the Best Why Hiring Decisions Fail The Job Description The Re sume Technical Credentials Experience Hypothetical Situations and Opinions Behavioral Information Comparing Types of Information The Interviewing Skills of the Candidate The Time It Takes for a Decision Reference Checks Structured and Unstructured Interviews The Odds and the Options Determining the Economic Value--Added Getting Buy--In From the Organization Case Studies: Two Approaches to Behavioral Interviewing Summary Chapter 3: The Organization, the Job, and the Candidate: The Right Fit Understanding What to Look for Employees Success and Failure The Importance of Defining Fit Organizational Values Organizational Culture Organizational Vision Corporate Mission, Strategy, and Objectives Linking Values to Behaviors The What and How of a Job Technical Knock--Out Factors Behavioral Competencies Transferability: The Hierarchy of Behaviors Developing Behavioral Competencies in Your Unique Organization A Road Map for Success Working With Values: Case Studay Examples Summary Chapter 4: Developing Behavioral Profiles that Benchmark Top Performance Identifying, Examining, and Describing Top Performance Critical Incidents A Critical Incident: An Example Breaking Down the Incident The Right Critical Incident and Behaviors Critical Incidents and Behavioral Interviewing Focus Groups Identifying Must--Have and Preferred Behavioral Competencies Writing the Behavioral Profile Sample Behavioral Profile Case Study Profiles Summary Chapter 5: Writing Behavioral Questions that Elicit High--Yield Information Behavioral Questions Key Words Sample Behavioral Questions The Interview Guide Summary Chapter 6: Interviewing to Select and Sell the Best Laying the Groundwork How Much Structure? Time Allocation How Many Interviews? Note Taking: Recording Behavioral Information Preparing for the Interview Opening the Interview The Agenda--Setting Statement Open--Ended and Closed--Ended Questions Listening Probing Getting Behavioral Answers Selling Your Organization Closing the Interview Behavioral Reference Checks Post--Interview Debriefings Ensuring the Fit of Your Selection Training Hiring Managers to do Behavioral Interviewing Case Study Profiles Summary Chapter 7: Doing the Numbers: The Right Decision Suspending Judgement and Developing a Common Language of Assessment The Process Determining Evidence of Behaviors Scoring Responses: Using the Anchored Rating Scale Anchored Rating System Case Study Profiles Sample Response Rating Common Rating and Profile Assessment Errors The Decision Making the Offer Chapter 8: Aligning Organizational Values, Strategy and People: A Common Language of Success The Hub of the Wheel Michelin North America HMV North America Calgary Police Service Abbott Labs Thomas Cook Starbucks Sprint Canada A Final Thought: Championing a Behavioral Approach Chapter 9: Hiring in a Dot--Com Start--Up: The Tug of War Between Growth and Time Does Hiring Right Work When Youa re Hiring Fast? An All--Out Hiring Blitz First Steps: Easing in a Behavioral Approach Seizing the Opportunity to Spread the Word Adaptions to the Behavioral Interviewing Workshop Benefits to the Organization: Adapting to Change, Choosing the Right Competencies and Building a Global Culture How Hiring Managers and Senior Executives Have Embraced the Process Conclusion: A Step--by--Step Approach Index

About the Author :
Dr. David S. Cohen is a Principal in the Strategic Action Group, a consulting firm specializing in human resources development. His work with corporations is in several primary areas: management and leadership development; behavioral--based recruitment, selection, and performance management; helping corporations to articulate their values and develop a strategic vision; creating high--performance, results--focused teams. Dr. Cohena s background spans both corporate consulting and education. He has consulted with a diverse group of industries in Canada., the United Kingdom, and the United States, specializing in the design and delivery of management development programs and human resources processes that are integrated with the business plan, vision, and values of individual clients. Dr. Cohen is a sought--after speaker on human resource issues that has presented frequently for groups such as Linkage, the Institute for International Research, Insight, IQPC, the Canadian Management Centre (of American Management Association International), and the Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario Annual Conference. He is also called upon as a keynote speaker at a variety of corporate programs. Dr. Cohen holds a doctorate in Education from Boston University and is a member of the Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario (HRPAO).