Debriefing with Interviewers

A very critical step to achieve this is a debriefing meeting. A well-managed objective post-interview debrief meeting makes all the difference between a great or a wrong hire. So how does one hit the ball out of the park?

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Why is an interview debriefing important?

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You have finished all the interviews and now have your top 2-3 choices. This is when you get all the team members together for a debrief - get those discussions flowing and build a consensus. Hopefully, after this, you make an offer to one of the candidates. Simply put, the aim of the debrief is to converge and analyze all viewpoints and make a decision. But why do a debrief for it? You have all the feedback, just review it and go ahead

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Here is why. The importance of a hiring debrief meeting lies in its ability to:

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• Facilitate Collaboration - It provides an opportunity for participants to share their observations, impressions, and concerns. This lays the foundation for them to come on the same page eventually on a decision.
• Minimise Bias - Different viewpoints mean an opportunity to challenge assumptions, question preconceived notions, and identify any potential biases that might have influenced individual evaluations.
• Validate Impressions - In the debriefing meeting, interviewers can validate their impressions of candidates by discussing their observations with others who may have interacted with the candidates in different ways. This makes for a holistic view.
• Reach Consensus - The meeting helps ensure that decisions are well-informed, reflective of the organization's requirements, and aligned with the job criteria.
• Improve the Hiring Process - The debrief meeting also serves as an opportunity to evaluate and improve the overall hiring process. Participants can provide feedback on the effectiveness of interview questions, assessment methods, and the candidate's experience.

Also Read: What is HR Analytics? | Definition, Functions

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The foundation of a good debriefing meeting

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The foundation of a successful interview debrief meeting lies in your interview process and the groundwork is done before the meeting. Here are some tips to ensure a good conclusive debrief meeting:

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• Having structured interviews ensures the interviewers have objective and relevant feedback on candidates
• Having an interview rubric during the process and keeping it handy would sharpen and shorten your discussion time
• Interviewers must have copious notes on all the attributes being evaluated in their rounds. A great tool for this is interview intelligence software which will make it super easy for interviewers to just focus on the candidate and not be too distracted with notes making. This tool will record and transcribe, create AI notes, and highlight every interaction
• The planning of the meeting should be timed shortly after the last interview for the role but not too late so interviewers still have their memories fresh
• Apart from inviting all the interviewers, you can even consider inviting some key team members so that they can contribute and react to the observations of the interviewers
• The Hiring Manager should be aware of and have probing questions ready on any contradicting feedback received especially if it's on an important attribute. Interview intelligence software can make this easier by simply putting together a summary and highlighting contradictions. Such software can also guide you to specific points in the interview recordings relevant to debriefing.

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Running the debriefing meeting

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They are typically led by hiring managers with help from the recruiter.

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• Go around the room with each interviewer talking about their recommendation based on their rubric, strengths, and any areas of concern identified. If discussing multiple candidates, then let them share a ranking as well
• Ask questions wherever you need more clarity or need to dig deeper. Keep guiding the discussion towards a decision
• When you seem to be leaning toward a candidate, get deeper into the weak points. A 100% match or perfection is rare so try to understand if any weak point is a potential deal breaker
• Wherever it seems that you are listening to opinions or gut feelings, ask to substantiate with examples. Interview intelligence software here could be super handy so you can just see/ read the actual conversation
• Ruthlessly reject biased viewpoints that may emerge from stereotyping, halo/ horn effect, or any other biases. Use these opportunities to build awareness around biases, how to actively remove them, and the importance of an unbiased process
• Overall through this process, strive to build an in-depth understanding of the candidate, their top strengths, and weaknesses. This awareness will uniquely empower you to set this new hire up for success when they join
• Most importantly, create a safe space for everyone to share their perspectives openly and allow room for lapses and errors. Use them as opportunities to impart learning

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Handling the grey scenarios - split vote or lack of consensus 

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Ideally, you would expect to arrive at a decision and even communicate it in the meeting itself in most cases.  However, if you are often having inconclusive meetings, then your interview process has gaps as it is not throw up enough data for decision-making. Relook at your process then. Interview intelligence can be a game changer here for a process that enables structure, and ease and generates a goldmine of data and evidence so you can make those hiring decisions faster and better than ever. 

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So what is the best approach when you are unable to conclusively decide on a candidate? Here are a few things to consider:

• You could give an additional assignment to the candidate to fill up the gaps in evidence
• If you feel torn then maybe take some time to think about the key points of difference of opinion
• In smaller teams, it is usually more important to have consensus. It would help keep the team in sync and work well together
• If you do happen to make a favorable decision despite the group being torn about the candidate, do explain your reasons. Interviewers took time out to evaluate the candidate and it's respectful and important to explain why you are going against some of the viewpoints in the group.

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So either way, debrief meetings done well are a good winning formula in hiring.

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Do debriefs to harness the collective wisdom of your team, mitigate bias, and make well-informed decisions that lead to the selection of the best-fit candidates. Teams that play in sync and keep fine-tuning with each other win more!

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