Dear Bubbleboss:
First of all, I love your nickname! Very appropriate for your
employment title. :)
As a frequent customer of Bath & Body Works stores, I'm going to
suggest customer-related aids first because I have been in many BBW
shops and have not received the best of service. Many of the
employees I have encountered there seem more interested in their own
purchases of the products or in their personal lives than in my
business. This doesn't stop me from visiting BBW or buying when I
enter a store yet I do know what to expect...or perhaps, what not to
expect.
Having been a retail manager for many years, I would suggest an
excercise for your audience based on recognizing "enthusiasm for
customers" in an interviewee. While I am certain that management
personnel has no trouble in this area, being able to spot that quality
in a potential salesperson is paramount to repeat business and overall
customer satisfaction. People are normally on their best behavior
when interviewing for a job but, after being hired, they relax into
who they really are and many times that differs greatly from who
management thought they were during the interview.
A low tech excercise could be this:
Take 10 index cards and write ten different answers to the same
question a manager could ask a prospective employee during an
interview.
EX: What do you know about our products?
Some answers would be vague, some humorous, some serious. Like:
1. It's bath stuff, right?
2. I love your aromatherapy lines.
3. Being in a Bath and Body Works store is like having one continuous
nasal orgasm.
Compose differing answers, maybe not 10 but enough to show a scope of
answers. Then pass the cards out and ask each cardholder your
question. When he or she answers reading from their card, ask for a
show of hands or yeas and nays if the audience thinks this person
would make a good employee. Then, explain your take on the answer and
where you would proceed from there in an interview. The exercise
would be fun for the audience and laughter will relax them, too. You
might also extend this to role-playing exercises for them.
If there is room in the seminar space, I would also suggest you get
all seminar attendees in a circle and, one by one, ask them to briefly
relate the worst hiring mistake they ever made. Then ask each
responder "What did you learn from that?" Keep it light and fun with
no admonitions from you, just support. Close the exercise by having
everyone join hands and say some positive hiring phrase in unison,
like "Beware - Be aware!"
*****************
At http://www.discoverypersonnel.com/tips/interview.html is How to
Master the Art of Interviewing by Bill Radin ©1998 Innovative
Consulting, Inc. In this article addressing how an interviewee should
prepare, he writes:
"Here are seven of the most commonly asked interviewing questions. Do
yourself and the prospective employer a favor, and give them some
thought before the interview occurs.
Why do you want this job?
Why do you want to leave your present company?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
What are your personal goals?
What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
What do you like most about your current company?
What do you like least about your current company?
The last question is probably the hardest to answer: What do you like
least about your present company?"
If these, indeed, are common then perhaps you could ask your seminar
audience what is *not* common yet important. This is also a great way
to find out if your managers are asking "illegal" questions in
interviews. As you know, the law is strict about requesting certain
personal information from a job applicant. I'm sure this is already
part of your focus in your planning and maybe the above exercise will
assist you further.
"Questions Interviewers Ask" at
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/svp/carct/interviewquestions.html may also be
a good handout outline for "waking up" the crowd. Some of the
questions like the ones there might give them ideas for interviewing
that they hadn't considered before.
***************
I found some online resources from which you might find ideas:
I don't know if you are interested in purchasing a board game, but
there is one available from
http://www.franklinlearning.com/highadult.htm - a tool for high school
and adult education on the workplace, it's titled "You're Hired" and
is explained as "...players learn the impact of applications and
interview techniques on getting hired. Players in the game play the
role of the employer. They evaluate applications and interview job
candidates. In order to win, they have to think critically and assess
each candidate’s strengths and limitations against the demands of the
job they are hiring for. In the post-game discussion, players explain
their reasons for making their hiring decision. Players realize that
they need to avoid the mistakes that caused them to reject certain
candidates. You’re hired is an effective and cost efficient way to
learn vital job search skills, and it’s FUN! Grades 9-Adult."
You may be able to design your own game by sampling this one. The
game costs $44.95 and more information is available at
http://www.franklinlearning.com/products.htm
Also, see "Interviewing Tips" at
http://www.womengamers.com/jobs/tips.html#TOUGH INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
and "Don't Be Caught Off Guard: Interview Tips" at
http://hr.monster.com/hrwatch/1999/10/25/
If you require clarification of any of the links or suggestions I have
provided, or if you have certain buzzwords you would like me to search
in addition, please request it and I will be happy to respond.
SEARCH STRATEGY:
personnel interview role playing
employer interview tips
employer interview games |
Request for Answer Clarification by
bubbleboss-ga
on
02 Apr 2003 08:49 PST
I love the idea of the index cards that were recommended in my answer.
I really need more ideas like that..... I have a guidebook
"selecting for success" that I have to use as a reference tool
throughout the entire seminar and I really need creative ideas on how
to make this as interactive as possible. Thanks for your feedback on
your experiences in BBW. Come visit in Virginia and your experience
will be stellar.
Thanks
bubbleboss
|
Clarification of Answer by
journalist-ga
on
02 Apr 2003 09:22 PST
I will be happy to give you more ideas and, because I don't have
access to the guidebook, would you take a look at the information at
http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:THI00wBgfOYC:www.limra.com/learning/narratives/selectingwinnersseminar.doc+%22selecting+for+success%22&hl=en&start=6&ie=UTF-8
and http://www.restaurantville.com/sc/hr/recruiting/goodbad.cfm then
let me know if these links encompass the same seminar material? If
not, would you share with me encapsulated versions of a few main
headings to be covered? That way I can brainstorm along the same
lines.
SEARCH STRATEGY:
"selecting for success"
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bubbleboss-ga
on
02 Apr 2003 09:54 PST
Hi,
thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Selecting for success
workshop is in 2 parts. The training workbook itself and then an
interview guide that you use to "rate" each candidate using a 1-7
below average to above average scale.
I found no website source for "selecting for success"; however, it is
distributed by Personnel Decisions International Corporation. Will
that help?
I looked up the websites you mentioned in your reply. I'm sure they
were similar, but not exactly what this program entails.
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Clarification of Answer by
journalist-ga
on
02 Apr 2003 10:54 PST
Since I can't directly access the guidebook, I'll peruse the links
mentioned in my last clarification and brainstorm from there. I
visited the Personnel Decisions International Corporation and their
description of the course is "interactive program designed for anyone
who interviews or makes hiring decisions. Participants learn how to
structure and conduct effective interviews around the skills and
competencies needed for the job."
Keeping this in mind, and the info at
https://www.powerhiring.com/training/offline/halfday.asp?p=google2&aff=nk
(if applicable), I'll post more ideas by tomorrow morning.
Does BBW ever give products to employees as a gift? If so, it would
be a neat activity to place a product in every attendee's hands and
ask them to "describe it to a customer." Wait until the end of the
activity to tell the audience they get to keep their samples.
Thanks for the invitation, too! If I was closer, I'd definitely drop
in to meet you. :) If there is any way you are able to share the
topic headings from the guidebook without violating any copyright, it
would be of assistance.
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Request for Answer Clarification by
bubbleboss-ga
on
03 Apr 2003 05:01 PST
Hi,
Unfortunately, BBW does not distribute free products to employees,
however, I'm sure we could come up with something creative. Maybe
since it's springtime, easter, etc. jellybeans, peeps, bunnies who
knows.
In reference to topics covered.... I'll try to be as thorough as I
can.
Principles of Effective Selection
subtopics..... Leadership, customer service, problem solving, admin.
skills,
motivation, adjustment.
The Selection Interview
Subtopics... Preparing, opening and structuring, gathering
information, telling, selling, closing and finally evaluating. The
end of each section there are self-evaluation quizzes and summaries of
each section.
The second part is the guidebook to utilize when conducting actual
interviews.
Included in this book are questions based on management competencies,
i.e.
leadership, customer service, problem solving,admin. skills, problem
solving etc. etc. Followed up by a rating scale to be used once the
interview is over and you will evaluate the candidate based on the
answers given to each section of competencies. The trick here is to
keep everyone consistent with their ratings. I hope this clarifies
somewhat and will be of help.
Any further assistance will be greatly appreciated!!!
Thank You
Bubbleboss
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Clarification of Answer by
journalist-ga
on
03 Apr 2003 13:51 PST
My schedule hasn't turned out as planned today and I apologize for my
tardiness in responding. Thanks for your continued patience.
|
Clarification of Answer by
journalist-ga
on
04 Apr 2003 07:55 PST
Thanks for your extended patience! :)
Since the index cards idea is very low-tech and manageable for any
room configuration, another activity would be to have each attendee
write a synopsis of the "perfect" employee on a card and then have all
the members pass their cards to another manager (or you collect them,
shuffle them and redistribute the cards).
Then, each manager would read about an "ideal employee" from someone
else's card and briefly comment on what they might add or subtract to
the description. You would be making notes of the good qualities
read, and at the end of the exercise, you share the compilation of all
with the audience. Certainly, there should be a general correct
description on each card but because everyone interprets things
differently, you'll be able to offer pointers on spotting strengths of
character they may have missed.
Another activity would be to ask the audience to write a question on a
card that can't be asked in an interview. As you know, it's important
to catch those mistakes before they happen. I never asked the
"illegal" hiring questions when I was a manager but it was difficult
not to sometimes because a manager wants to know as much about a
person as possible before hiring them, and managers sometimes relax
too much during an interview and one will pop out. Coach the
attendees to always schedule second interviews and the importance of
those - potential employees are usually more relaxed on a callback.
Making a hiring decision when rushed is always a poor choice but
managers often do it, especially during a holiday rush. So, have them
tell you what they cannot ask and then you can guide them from that.
A visual you could use along the lines of recognizing after-hire
awareness would be to have a an exercise titled "The Incredible
Shrinking Employee" - you'd need access to an inflatable animal
character or person for this to be best effective.
In this excercise, you'd state something like "Beth gave a great
interview and was hired but then she didn't perform like the manager
thought she would..." Give a scenario of "all the right things" Beth
said to get hired but that she didn't live up to. As each one is read
or stated, let some air out of the inflatable character - at the end
of the exercise, the character would be totally deflated. Then, you
might choose to have an employee blow up the character again as you
pointed out the little clues as to how the manager could have spoteed
beth's inconsistiencies, trained Beth better, etc. until the character
is inflated again.
An alternate would be to use a big beach ball - if you used this, you
could bat the reinflated ball into the audience stating, "but you can
bounce back from rushing to hire and find the best by paying close
attention" or something similar.
I hope these additional ideas are of assistance. I'll continue
thinking along these lines and post more as I think of them. Should
you need clarification on any of my ideas, please request it and I'll
be happy to respond.
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Clarification of Answer by
journalist-ga
on
04 Apr 2003 08:00 PST
I just thought of another in the vein of a "recipe for good hiring" -
have a big plastic container or garden tub where the audience can't
see the interior. Inside, there is a pretty cake.
As you speak of good hiring practices, put "recipe ingredients" into
the container and then, at the end, bring out the cake you already
have in the tub, the culmination of the "sweetest recipe for hiring" -
then share the cake with the attendees.
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