Showing Revision 4 created 11/09/2020 by Erin Gregory.

1. Title:
   How we can use the hiring process to bring out the best in people
2. Description:

   Traditional job interviews are stressful interrogations that can often exclude marginalized populations. Here's how psychologist and entrepreneur Gil Winch says we can rethink hiring, training and onboarding to allow people to show their true potential.

3. Speaker:
   Gil Winch
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   A traditional job interview
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   is basically a one-sided,
   high pressure interrogation,
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   almost guaranteed to create
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   significant psychological strain.
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   Ironically, such stressful procedures
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   can totally obscure
   a person's true potential
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    causing us to overlook a lot of people
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    who could be great employees.
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    We need a different way
    to interview and screen candidates.
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    One that will reveal
    hidden potential and talent.
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    [The Way We Work]

    ¶

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    [Made possible with
    the support of Dropbox]
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    Twelve years ago, I founded CY,

    ¶

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    an outsource call center
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    staffed and managed entirely by underdogs.
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    More than half
    of our hundreds of employees
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    are severely disabled.
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    Others come from other
    disadvantaged populations
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    or just suffer from anxiety,
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    low self-esteem and lack of confidence.
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    The problem I needed to solve
    when we started out was

    ¶

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    that traditional
    interviewing and screening,
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    especially for entry-level positions,
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    are totally biased towards people
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    who function well under intense stress.
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    Now, if you're screening
    for Navy SEALS, I totally get it,
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    but the capacity to function under duress
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    is totally irrelevant
    if the actual job is stocking shelves
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    or folding T-shirts,
    unless of course it's Black Friday.
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    Clara is a classic example.

    ¶

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    We met in CY's early days
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    while she was waiting
    for her job interview.
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    Clara was 25 years old,
    had cerebral palsy
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    and used a walker.
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    She seemed quite nervous,
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    but she was likable,
    intelligent and talkative.
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    And yet just a short while later,
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    her interviewer told me
    that she had totally failed,
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    that she couldn't string
    two words together.
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    The screening philosophy

    ¶

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    of "let's pick our employees
    by viewing them at their worst,"
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    not only overlooks disabled people
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    but anyone whose shine
    is diminished under harsh pressure.
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    We developed the reverse screening process
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    to find potential.
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    And as the name implies,
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    we go about things
    practically the opposite way
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    traditional approaches do.
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    In a nutshell, if you want to assess
    a candidate's true potential,

    ¶

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    see how they function
    at their best, not their worst,
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    which for most of us
    is when we're calm and relaxed,
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    not stressed and anxious.
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    So build screening procedures
    specifically tailored
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    to help candidates feel
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    as emotionally comfortable as possible.
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    Three examples how you can achieve that.

    ¶

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    Lower anxiety and insecurity.
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    Start out by losing
    the whole interrogation vibe.
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    Rather, interviewers should
    view themselves as hosts,
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    be friendly and welcoming.
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    Choose an environment that's conducive

    ¶

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    to putting a candidate at ease,
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    like making your interview room
    look like a living room.
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    People are most confident
    discussing things
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    about which they are
    knowledgeable and passionate.
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    So we ask candidates
    to fill out a short questionnaire
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    about their hobbies,
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    and we start out the interview
    by discussing those
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    so that candidates could bring forth
    their verbal skills,
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    strengths and personality.
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    Assess skills in everyday life situations

    ¶

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    with which the candidates are familiar.
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    For instance, sales positions
    require the ability to use persuasion.
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    So ask the candidate to role play
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    how they would persuade a neighbor
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    to pay an extra maintenance fee
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    for the renovations of their lobby.
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    Looking for tough,
    full-throttle negotiations?
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    Ask the candidate to describe
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    how they would persuade a teenager
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    to not look at their phone
    during a family dinner.
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    Help them move beyond the stuck points
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    to see how they adapt and learn.
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    In the reverse screening process,

    ¶

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    we offer candidates three lifelines.
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    We call it "Who Wants to Be an Employee?"
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    If the candidate asks for a hint,
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    the interviewer will model
    a few correct arguments
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    and ask the candidate
    to role play the scenario
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    to see how convincingly
    they absorb and convey those points.
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    Finding people's true potential
    makes for happier,

    ¶

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    more diverse, and more successful
    companies and employees.
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    Remember Clara? We hired her.
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    She gradually improved
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    until she hit her targets
    of calls per hour,
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    and then she kept on getting better.
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     And nowadays Clara gives talks
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     about how many years ago
     no one, including herself,
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     believed she had any potential at all.
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     A job is so much more than a paycheck,

     ¶

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     especially for marginalized populations.
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     By finding and hiring
     those you might otherwise overlook,
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     you will not only
     benefit your own company,
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     you will literally
     transform people's lives.
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     The opportunity to win
     with underdogs is all around you.
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     Make sure to grab it.