Hiring 101; ‘Everybody Lies’

I recently discovered the greatest television show - ‘House’.  I know, I know... that’s like saying I just found microwaveable popcorn since the program has been a huge hit for years.  I’m a late bloomer, ok?  The good news for me is that they run the old episodes on cable, sometimes 4 or 5 in a row, so I can really get immersed.  The bad news is that it’s the last season.  But, I am still catching up so I won’t be sad for about another year or so, I estimate.

I find the show entertaining without being too demanding.  The writing and acting are top-notch, it balances drama and humor nicely and there are certain elements that remain consistent; House will always be on the verge of being fired, sued or both, whatever the original diagnosis is will be wrong, and will change a dozen times before the patient is cured and, most times, House will have his doctors break into a patients home in search of ‘something’ significant.  He never asks the patient’s permission because he believes that “if they know we are looking for something, they’ll hide it” since, as he is fond of reminding his staff; “people always lie.”

He has a point.  We all have things that we don’t readily share with others, parts of ourselves that we share with our family and friends and keep outside of the workplace.  Recently, there has been a lot of discussion around employers asking for access to potential employees Facebook and other social media accounts.  The argument being that this will be a way to gain insight into the candidate to enable the employer to make the best hiring decision.

What a bunch of fertilizer!

Let’s get real here.  The first thing the employer is going to be looking at is the candidates profile page and what that is going to reveal will be two types of information;  boring unimportant stuff that is already on their resume or application, and interesting unimportant stuff that it would be ILLEGAL to ask a candidate about directly.  The boring stuff is info like hometown, schools attended and previous employers, the juicy interesting stuff is religion, political affiliations, relationship status and ‘extracurricular’ activities.  All private stuff that people are able to keep private by using privacy settings to limit who can see it… because it is PRIVATE. 

It’s SOCIAL networking, like chatter in a nightclub, not PROFESSIONAL networking, like a job fair.  If I am meeting a potential client, I am in my business finery.  If I’m out with the girls for Cosmo’s… it’s a whole different section of my wardrobe… and a very different type of conversation happening at the table.

In case you’re not sure… I am opposed to employers asking for access to social networking sites.  It’s like asking for an invite to my family reunion or the keys to my front door.  You’ll find out some interesting things about me, for sure, but nothing that will help you determine whether or not I am going to be able to help you improve your contact center’s performance and customer sat scores.  In fact, you may find out some things that will lead you to think I am nuts (my sisters still like to tell people about the bleached blond Mohawk I was sporting in the mid 80’s).

I was reviewing ACD reports at a client recently and something jumped off the page and smacked me – one of the reps took less than half as many calls a day as her peers.  I figured that maybe she was that one in a million rep that just happened to get all the really, really complex calls… but, no, her call length was about the same as everyone else.  Puzzled, I asked the contact center manager if she could shed some light on this for me and she told me that that particular call center professional didn’t like taking calls so… she just avoided them like the plague!

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I am pretty darn sure that NOWHERE in her Facebook or LinkedIn profiles does it say; Likes – sunsets, Jeopardy, soft jazz and the Twilight books.  Dislikes – slushy sidewalks, Wheel of Fortune, Justin Beiber and answering the telephone!

Sure, look at your candidate’s LinkedIn profile, that’s what it’s there for… to give them a chance to sell themselves.  But, if you really want to know what you are getting before you hire a person …change the way you interview.

To insure that you select the best candidates to add to your team you need to be able to get them to reveal the secret toxin that may be hidden beneath their bathroom sink.  (Dr. House always has his team look under the sinks.)  After talking to, literally thousands of representatives over the last 20 years, we have determined that there a few ‘poisons’ that can be discovered up front.

Do they see things in black and white, or shades of gray?

There are folks who approach work with a ‘just tell me what to do, when to do it and for how long’ attitude and that is great for some jobs… service representative, however, is not one of them.  A great rep is flexible, adaptable and creative and, as such, able to survive in the ever-changing, super demanding, fast paced call center environment.  The folks that need to ‘be told’ what to do are going to become frustrated, frazzled and just plain burnt out in no time.

So how do you tell what kind of person is sitting across the table from you?  Ask the right questions and listen for the wrong answers.  Get them to tell you about a time that a customer wanted something out of the ordinary.  Do they refer to the ‘rules’ and what they ‘weren’t allowed to do’?  Talk with them about a time they had to juggle multiple tasks.  Did they need to be told which was most ‘important’?  Did they solicit assistance from others on their own or need their supervisor to ‘get them some help’?  Did they do what it took to get everything done or ‘try their best’ and get most of it completed?

Are they able to communicate clearly over the phone?

I listen to calls, lots of call, and it amazes me how many contact center professionals sound like they are half asleep, incredibly bored and/or talking into their armpits.  We all know that vocal tone, pacing and clarity are as important as the information being communicated and yet every call center has experienced that employee who thinks they sound great… and they don’t.  We are hiring people to talk on the phone most of the day, but how many of us actually talk to them on the phone before hiring them?  The candidate sitting upright on the opposite side of the interview room, looking you in the eye and answering your scripted question is ‘on guard’.  They are in your environment and watching your reactions (I hope).  Talk to them when they are in the comfort of their own home, slouched on the sofa, and see how they sound.  Crisp, clear and engaged?  Bring them in for a second interview.  Mumbling, distracted and hard to understand?  Don’t waste your time.

Can they rise above the fray?  Avoid the call center drama?

When hiring we are looking for people who will be able to stand their ground and support management, people who are willing to be leaders. 

I interviewed a woman who was an experienced rep in the long distance division of a telephone company.  Her department had closed due to cuts so she was looking for a new job.  She had all the right answers to all the right questions and had been passed to me for a final interview.

After the introductory niceties and building rapport, she was relaxed and I tossed out one of my favorite openers.  "So, Mary, working in a contact center for so many years, you must have experienced everything.  Tell me one of your juiciest stories."  She smiled, leaned back and launched into a story about how it was common practice for her peers to provide free long distance calls for prisoners without authorization from the company.  I clarified, "you mean, FREE phone calls WHEREVER they wanted?"  Oh, yes and “everyone knew", in fact every day at lunch the reps would try and outdo each other with stories the inmates had shared with them before their calls were connected.

So I asked her if she thought it was wrong for her peers to be giving away free calls and she agreed that it was, in fact, stealing.  But had she ever shared that opinion with her peers, or advised management about the practice?  No.  She told me, "It's not my job to say anything.” 

By allowing Mary to chat about her past experiences, to be ‘in control’ of the conversation, I was able to get her to reveal that she was inclined to turn a blind eye to unacceptable behavior rather than confront her peers and do what was best for the organization.  Needless to say, I passed on hiring her.

Dr. House is right, people do lie… a lot.  But they also tell the truth when given the chance.  Yes, approach your interviews in an organized, methodical and consistent manner, but don’t be afraid to create an environment where the candidate will feel at ease, to have control over the direction the conversation may take. 

Candidates are savvy, they know the type of question we are asking and have prepared answers in advance.  If you are expecting company, you make sure your house is in order.  It’s when someone drops by unexpected that they’ll catch you watching ‘House’ with the unfolded laundry next to you on the sofa, instead.  Not me… I ALWAYS fold the laundry as soon as it’s dry.  You believe me, right? 

Would I lie to you?