Seven Tips to Hiring Resilient Employees

Do you need highly resilient employees? People who can adapt quickly to new developments, hold up under pressure and work effectively without a current job description? If you want to hire someone with resiliency strengths, here are some key areas to explore during the interview process.

Flexible (can adapt quickly to change). Ask: “What kind of workplace is the most challenging and interesting for you?” and “What are several examples of your being flexible and quickly adaptable to change in a previous job?”

Self-motivated (can work without close supervision.) Ask: “Tell me about several of the best bosses you’ve worked for. How do you like to be managed?” Self-motivated people know from experience that they work best when they are given challenging goals and are left alone to reach them.

Good at solving problems. Ask: “How do you react when you run into a problem at work?” Ask for several examples of problems they solved in their previous work that they feel proud about. Another approach is to describe to them the kind of problem that can occur in your business and ask how they might handle it. Be receptive to hearing that the person may solve problems in a way that is different from your preferred style.

Healthy self-appreciation and self confidence. Can the applicant describe his or her strengths and skills without false modesty? Ask: “What are your best job skills? I’ve seen the list of jobs you’ve held, but I want you to tell me what you know you can do well.” People with healthy self-appreciation can describe what they do well and are most open to performance feedback about ways to improve.

Curious (asks intelligent questions.) Resiliency depends on accurately reading new realities rapidly. Be pleased when the applicant asks you questions during the interview. People who know they will do valuable work will be looking for an optimal working environment for themselves. If you feel afterward that you were interviewed as much as you were interviewing the applicant, that is a positive sign.

Good listener who understands others well. Sincere curiosity about people and appreciative, non-judgmental inquiry leads to excellent empathy skills. Ask the applicant about his ways of developing good customer relationships in previous jobs. High-level resiliency also includes trusting one’s intuition and defending well against manipulations and emotional attacks. Ask the applicant to talk about times when he sensed something wrong about a client or a work situation and what he did about that.

Learns useful lessons from difficult experiences. Resiliency develops from learning valuable lessons in the school of life. Ask: “What was one of the roughest experiences you’ve had working someplace, and how did it turn out?” And: “What are some important lessons you learned from your experience in a previous job about how to do your work better?” Be cautious about a person who talks about a rough experience at work and portrays himself as a victim of despicable bosses and co-workers.

Inquiries into these seven areas will give you a good basis for determining how resilient an applicant is. Be aware, however, that if you find a very resilient person, you must be able to answer this question: Why would such a gem of an employee want to work for you?