Hiring Wisdom: How Performance Reviews Help With Structured Interviews

If you have a performance review form, you have a structured interview form

And, if you have a GREAT performance review form, you also have a GREAT structured interview form because:

The purpose of the performance review form is to gain a shared understanding of how well the employee is meeting agreed to goals and objectives as well as company standards. (It’s also an opportunity to explore the person’s strengths, challenges, and interests as well as set new goals.)
The purpose of the structured interview form is to gain an understanding of how well an applicant will meet goals and objectives as well as company standards. It’s also an opportunity to explore the person’s strengths, challenges, and interests.

Rather than just winging it with off-the-cuff, gut instinct interviews, a structured interview is much more efficient and effective. When you ask every applicant the same questions time after time, you can compare “apples to apples” and will be able to make better hiring decisions.

In fact, if you have a structured interview form that doesn’t use the criteria measured on your performance review form, you’re just setting yourself (and your new hires) up for failure since everyone will be evaluated against its standards.

(For some specific examples of how to create your customized structured interview form, email lhamel@melkleiman.com with “SIF” in the subject line.)

This was originally published on Mel Kleiman’s Humetrics blog.