Talent Identification: 10 Key Interview Questions Every Manager Should Ask

To create an engaged, committed, and accountable team, managers should focus on creating recruitment strategies that (1) assess and select job candidates for talent, (2) right fit for the team, and (3) organizational culture. In order to do this, managers need to ask great interview questions. The following 10 interview questions can help managers focus on excellence to attract talent and expand their team’s strengths:


1. What was your most significant achievement in the past 12 months?
2. What are you passionate about?
3. What kind of roles or activities do you naturally excel in?
4. Give me an example of a weakness.
5. Are you a big picture or a detail person?
6. When you achieve success at work, how do you like to be recognized?
7. Give an example of a time at work when something distracted you from being positive, productive, or accurate in your job responsibilities?
8. Review the last two weeks in your mind. When were you at your best -- engaged and productive? What talents were being used at that time?
9. What unique qualities could you bring to the company?
10. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 

A team's success ultimately depends on its ability to perform. I help managers recruit, engage, manage, and develop their employees based on their unique talents. In addition, I coach managers and teams to learn how to intentionally use their talents and strengths to help them achieve performance objectives and maximize the team's potential for success.

A Must Read for Leaders, Managers, and HR Professionals! No Joke!

“God gives each of us special talents and gifts. It is both our privilege and our duty to make the most of them.” – Robert E. Allen

If you are a Leader, Manager or HR Professional, you have to read this! It is no joking matter!

As a former HR Professional, I have personally witnessed the profound impact not engaged and actively disengaged employees have on an organization's financial success, productivity, profitability, and customer satisfaction. That is why I made a BIG SHIFT!

1. WHAT IS DIFFERENT? 

I am a strengths-based Executive Coach/Trainer that helps Leaders, Managers and teams develop and use their talents and strengths​ to achieve success!

2. WHY? 

Gallup's work personally resonated with me as a former Certified ​HR Professional for 15 years,​ because all the companies I have worked for used ​the conventional approach of​ focusing​ on what an employee did wrong, identifying​ and developing​  performance plans based on fixing his/her​ weaknesses, and if all else failed, terminate the employee.

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​This April, I had the privilege of training with Gallup to become a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. I am only the 3rd person in the State of Arizona to have this certification. I chose to study under Gallup because of the extensive research and work they have done for decades with employees and organizations to understand the impact of employee engagement in the workplace. 

3. MY AH-HA MOMENT: 

"Why in all my HR years did I not know about strengths-based development?" Darn it! What bus did I miss!

 4. THE ASTONISHING DISCOVERY:

"According to Gallup's most recent study that only 30% of the U.S. workforce in engaged! Which means, 70% of the U.S. workforce in not engaged or actively disengaged.

• Engaged employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. 
• Not engaged employees have “checked out.” They put their time in, but have little energy or passion for their work. 
• Actively disengaged employees are plain “unhappy.” They act out their unhappiness and undermine what engaged coworkers accomplish." Can you relate?

​5. THE SHOCK FACTOR: 

My reaction to learning these statistics was, "OH MY, what can be done? This just breaks my heart!"  

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​6. THE PAINFUL REALIZATION:​ 

"Gallup estimates that actively disengaged employees cost the U.S. between $450-$550 billion each year in lost productivity." Seriously? OUCH!

7. THE PROOF:​

I am here to tell you "the proof is in the pudding!" Gallup’s research has proven over and over that employee ​engagement is directly correlated with business outcomes essential to financial success, increased productivity, profitability, and customer satisfaction.

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8. MY MISSION:

​My mission is to coach and train​ leaders, managers, and teams to create​ cultures that are strengths-based, engagement focused, and performance oriented.  

9. HOW I SERVE:

To create a strengths-based culture, you must start with training managers from top-down how to:

1. H​ire the right talent to fit their team’s culture to achieve performance goals.
2. Identify what excites, motivates, and engages each team member and to individualize their approach and understand and appreciate each employee's unique gift and contributions.
3. Set the right performance expectations, hold employees accountable for these expectations, and help each team member ​use his/her talents to learn, grown, and improve performance.
4. Effectively on board employees and provide role specific development opportunities to help them gain proficiency and achieve success.

​And then, it is time to work with the teams....​Want to know more?

10. ROI, YOU ASK?​

Simply put (again the proof is in the pudding):

• People who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged on the job.
• Teams that focus on strengths everyday have 12.5% greater productivity.
• Teams that receive strengths feedback have 9.8% greater profitability.

​If your organization could benefit from these improvements, what impact would this have on its profitability, productivity, employee engagement and retention? If you do the math, the ROI speaks for itself.

11. CALL-TO-ACTION

My Call-To-Action is if you are a Leader, Manager, or HR Professional and want to be successful and have great teams to work with, get on the Strengths Revolution Bus with me! You cannot afford not too!