A Performance Feedback Report of Candidates as an interviewer
The report presented below is a performance feedback of two candidates interviewed by the author. The author who is the hiring Manager at Genius computing had posted the advertisement for the position of Marketing Support Associate after preparing the Job Description of the position. Two candidates who fulfilled the requirements were shortlisted and interviewed for the post. Finally a performance feedback report is submitted to the Manager containing recommendations about the candidate.
Job Description
A job description contains detailed information of all components associated with a job of Marketing Support Associate such as Duties and Tasks, Key Responsibilities, Skills and Qualifications and reporting order.
Interview Questions - There were 5 questions framed to test the interviewee’s knowledge, communication skills, key strengths, confidence and analytical skills. The response to each question was rated on a 5 point scale to assess the candidates’ eligibility
Tell me about yourself?
Tell me about a time when you were experiencing multiple and conflicting demands at work or in school?
How did you deal with the pressure?
What impact did it have on your work?
Tell me about a time when you were unfairly criticized?
How did this make you feel and why?
How did you respond?
What are your top three strengths?
Describe a situation when you accomplished something beyond your expectations?
In what manner did you surpass your expectation?
How did this affect your impressions of your own ability?
What did this teach you about the manner of approaching other work?
Reflective Analysis of the interview and Feedback
The interview questions were framed with the aim of extracting such responses that would help to assess a candidate’s skills, his ability to deal with adverse situations, self awareness and the ability to learn. Similarly his way of answering the questions would test his confidence, his communication skills and clarity of thinking, suitable for a marketing job. According to Silverman et al. (2005) feedback is important from both individual and organizational point of view. A good feedback is one which leads the recipient into self analysis and directs him towards improving his skills. If the recipient is not aware of his deficiencies and fails to see the necessity for change, then the interviewer must provide him with specific directions to improve his skills for organizational development. Yet feedbacks must be tactful enough to extract the necessary cooperation from the candidate receiving the feedback. Both feedback givers and receivers have a difficult time recognizing how their own cognitive and emotional dynamics are hindering their effectiveness in the feedback process (Cannon & Witherspoon, 2005).
Influence of literature on Feedback letter to Candidates
The readings of Canon and Witherspoon (2005) and Silverman et al. (2005) had considerable impact on the letter informing the candidates of the decision (appendix B). The information in the letter contained the decision, specifying the positive points that would benefit the organization and the negative points in a manner that did not compromise the candidate’s self esteem. However, the words chosen made them aware of the areas which needed improvement and were important for the development of his career.
Providing Feedback to candidate 1 was more difficult because the individual precursor of awareness (Silverman, et al. 2005) was missing. Moreover the emotional dynamics of the interviewer directed that the feedback was not colored by the personal views of the interviewer. Considering Cannon and Witherspoon’s observation that recipients of feedback perceived themselves more positively than the perception of others, the interviewer first explained the skills needed for the job and then proceeded to explain tactfully how the candidate was not suitable for the job so that the latter was not defensive about the feedback. The candidate was informed about the skills that fulfilled the job description like knowledge of computer language but told that he needed to prepare himself better, be more confident about self and his key strengths, listen to and interpret questions more carefully and must develop analytical skills to fulfill the demands of a marketing job.
Candidate 2 appeared to be more confident and displayed the ability to grasp the questions. He considered the questions carefully before answering. His working experience in customer handling made him suitable in the field of marketing. However his knowledge of computers is limited which may be a drawback in the IT Company. His interest in environmental initiatives displays a social conscience. His emphasis is more on behavioral values as strengths rather than his achievements.
The feedback given to candidate 2 informed him that his experience in customer handling will be useful for the job in marketing but since the product was different he needed to train to communicate with customers of a different segment. Writing the letter to this candidate was comparatively easy because it conveyed positive feedback.
Influence on feedback on hiring decision -The feedback about hiring decision is certainly influenced by Hanna’s model (Silverman, et al. 2005) as well as the inference ladder model presented by Cannon and Witherspoon (2005). Hanna’s model took 5 individual precursors like awareness, willingness to change as important factors that influenced the effectiveness of the feedback. Similarly organizational precursors played a major role in giving feedback on hiring decisions. The hiring feedback took into consideration whether the candidates’ precursors made him receptive to the feedback and the organizational factors which necessitated the feedback. It was assumed from the candidate’s behavior that he was aware of the necessity of feedback and receptive to change and had the willingness to receive a feedback for the development of his career. Genius Computing Company encouraged feedback for providing growth opportunities to the candidates. The other organizational precursors like need for change, compensation package etc. also affected the decision to hire. The performance feedback memo to the Director (Appendix A) has recommended the selection of the second candidate giving reasons for hiring him.
Cannon’s and Witherspoon’s suggestion of understanding emotional dynamics of both the parties and involving a third party such as the HR manager is useful in giving the feedback but the interviewers use of the inference ladder to assess his own inferences on the basis of cognitive abilities described by the authors to lower the defensiveness of the interviewee was used.
Role of Feedback models in acceptance of criticism - Criticism of the interviewer can be used as an opportunity to improve the interviewer’s skills individually as well as from the organizational point of view. An interviewer is a representative of the organization as far as the candidate is concerned. From the model described by Silverman, et al. the interviewer could understand how he can develop his skills as an interviewer if he was aware of the faults in the feedback and was willing to change. This indicated openness to hearing others' honest opinions of oneself and taking the risk of experiencing negative emotions to improve his performance. The model helped in developing a positive orientation towards the feedback. Although the interviewees’ rating of the interviewer was good the interviewer was aware that he could draw the expected responses as they were vague in some cases.
The inference ladder was a very effective tool in accepting the criticism because examination of the inferences drawn by the interviewer made him consider reframing each of his questions to draw each response more clearly. Understanding his own cognitive and emotional dynamics as well as that of the candidate made him aware of the deficiencies present in the interview process and their rectification. Moreover the ladder made him aware that he retraced the steps in his own inference-making process by walking down the ladder of inference while watching for overconfidence, attributional biases, and emotional baggage suggested by Cannon and Witherspoon.
Interview Analysis
A rating scale of 1 to 5 was used to grade the answers, on basis of predetermined standards such as confidence, clarity, language, elaborating ability and use of STAR method when answering behavioral questions (Situation, Task, Action, Results). They were also graded on the basis of professional dressing and posture.
The most difficult part of the interview was verifying the candidate’s honesty in answering the questions. It was very difficult to judge whether the candidate’s responses were spontaneous or he came prepared with ideal answers. The interviewer decided to include more questions to test the responses for contradictions, next time.
References
Cannon, M. D., & Witherspoon, R. (2005); Actionable feedback: Unlocking the power of learning and performance improvement. The Academy of Management Executive, 19(2), 120-134.
Silverman, S. B., Pogson, C. E., & Cober, A. B. (2005); When employees at work don't get it: A model for enhancing individual employee change in response to performance feedback The Academy of Management Executive, 19(2), 135-147.
Appendix A
Genius computing, Toronto, Canada
With reference to the interview conducted for the post of Marketing support associate, it has been decided that candidate B is more suitable for the post as he has the required behavioral skills for marketing job. Also he has the work experience in the field of sales. The performance rating document his enclosed that justifies his recruitment. Also
His only drawback is his lack of computer language, which he has indicated that he will learn after the feedback was provided to him.
Candidate A although has knowledge of Java, was not considered suitable for the post because he lacked the confidence, communication skills and interpretive skills needed for the job. Moreover he appeared to be defensive of the feedback and considered himself more able than he actually was. His individual precursors did not match the organizational precursor.
Appendix B
Letter to the candidate
Candidate B,
Toronto, Canada.
Dear B,
We herby thank you for applying to our company and for appearing for the interview. We are pleased to inform you that we have decided to appoint you as the marketing Support Associate at our company. We request you to present yourself at the head Office located at 12 B, 5th Avenue, Ward Street, Toronto on the 20th of March and report to the hiring manager. A formal appointment letter will be handed over to you on the same date.
We were pleased by the confidence exhibited by you and your emphasis on the right qualities that made you suitable for the job. However your experience though helpful is not in the field of IT. We expect you to learn the skills through on the job training. We also expect that you will learn the software needed for the job at your earliest. We are happy that you have indicated that you are willing to learn the skills necessary for the job.
Hiring Manager,
