Counting the Pros and Cons of Letting Charity Staff Members Interview Their Potential Future Bosses

JOB MARKET

By Marilyn Dickey

Steve Johnson has definite ideas about what kind of boss works best in his department. So last fall, when he was asked to be among several staff members to interview the top three candidates to become his supervisor, he knew exactly what to do.

As director of new media at the Minnesota Medical Foundation, in Minneapolis, Mr. Johnson is responsible for the design of the organization’s Web site and for its visual communications, such as videos used to raise money. He was hoping for a boss who was knowledgeable but would not micromanage the team’s creative work. By asking direct questions, he got a clear sense of which candidate would best fit those criteria. When his new boss started the job soon thereafter, he says, she was able to work smoothly with the staff right away.

The interview process not only gave Mr. Johnson a chance to meet his potential supervisor and offer his thoughts on an important hire, he says, but it also eliminated the anxiety he would otherwise have felt as his new boss’s first day approached. “The adjustment period was dramatically shortened,” he says.

Giving staff members a chance to interview their prospective supervisors is a practice that’s become increasingly common, says Robert Sellery, an executive-search consultant in Washington who works with nonprofit clients. When staff members have a voice in the selection of a nonprofit group’s leaders, it can not only ease the transition once the newcomer is hired but also make employees feel that their opinions count, say nonprofit executives and consultants. Many charity workers who have been through the process say that this early meeting not only eliminates the fear of the unknown that can accompany a change in management, but also makes them feel respected and secure in their jobs.

Despite the enthusiasm many people feel for this process, though, interviewing a prospective boss can be awkward, say nonprofit workers and recruiters, and interviewers sometimes have a hard time discerning appropriate questions.

Trying Out for the Team

Employees are often afraid of asking the wrong things of job candidates, says Steven Ast, president of Philanthropy Executive Search, a Stamford, Conn., recruiter that specializes in filling fund-raising positions. “They don’t want to appear to be too pushy or challenging,” he says. But if subordinates don’t ask good, direct questions, he adds, they may come across as weak or unimportant.

But allowing employees to interview their prospective bosses is well worth it, says Liz Safirstein Leshin, who was interviewed by staff members before taking the job as director of annual giving and special gifts at the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association. It only makes sense, she says, to be sure a new boss will be comfortable with the staff members, and vice versa.

“It’s important in a large department to have cohesion and be sure each person would fit into the team,” she says. “A lot of what we do is team-oriented. If something becomes a priority, everybody drops everything and works on it. It’s a very collaborative approach, so it’s crucial to have a team of people who work together and like each other.”

Making sure a newcomer will be compatible with the rest of the staff is an important part of nonprofit culture, says Kathleen Cullen, executive director for human resources at the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, in Washington, whose organization asks workers to interview their future bosses. Unlike many for-profit organizations, she notes, the overriding purpose of a charity is its mission, not making money. “Nonprofits need someone who will inspire and motivate,” she says, “and often the people who can help determine that are the people who are already there.”

In addition, workers who interview their prospective supervisors may pick up on problems that those doing the hiring miss, says Nancy Rawles, division vice president for human resources and organization development at the American College of Cardiology, in Bethesda, Md.

She remembers one instance in which the top candidate for a director-level job had made a good impression on the people who were doing the hiring and on those who would be peers, but employees lower in the group’s hierarchy shared the sense that the applicant would hover over them.

Because the person who got the job would be supervising 20 people, it was important to get the right fit, Ms. Rawles says. “They picked up on cues of management style,” she says. “They got more of a message about this person being a micromanager than we did as peers. That’s important, and that person did not get hired — not totally for that reason, but it gave us a wake-up call.”

This is not to say that subordinates should be in charge of hiring their boss, says Richard Page Allen, a recruiter in Williamsport, Pa., who helps charities fill fund-raising jobs. The staff members involved in the interviews should not be handing a conclusion to the person who is ultimately responsible for hiring, he says. “But,” he adds, “they also don’t want to hire someone who is going to be unacceptable.”

Watching for Agendas

At times, though, it can be counterproductive for employees to take part in interviews of future bosses, says Gary Kaplan, a recruiter in Pasadena, Calif., who works with nonprofit clients. Take, for example, the case of a manager who is being hired to clean house. If some employees are likely to lose their jobs, employers should choose carefully which — if any — of those workers should be involved in interviewing. “It makes no sense if there are significant problems and you need not only new leaders but you need to build bench strength beneath them,” says Mr. Kaplan.

Even a new boss who won’t be expected to overhaul the office may introduce fresh ideas that may be good for the charity but unpopular with staff members, says Kaidi Jones, vice president of human resources at Crystal Stairs, a nonprofit child-development organization in Los Angeles. In those cases, she notes, employers may want to take that into account when scheduling a job candidate’s interviews.

Furthermore, staff members may have their own agendas if they aspire to the job themselves, says Mr. Kaplan. “We have on numerous occasions done searches where the process has gotten bogged down because someone who was going to report to the position was less than comfortable with the person — and often not based on objective factors, but on jealousy and anger at being passed over for the position,” he says.

Seeking Answers

An early meeting, says Mr. Ast, can be a golden opportunity to learn about a future boss’s management style and what he or she would bring to the job — and to the staff.

He suggests that subordinates who are interviewing a potential supervisor cover issues both broad and specific. Broad inquiries might include: Why do you want this position? More focused questions might include: Have you worked with someone who had a job like mine? What was your experience working with this person? What do you expect from me? How can I gain your trust? If I called my counterpart at your current employer, what would he or she say about you?

Ask candidates how they evaluate staff members, Mr. Ast suggests. Don’t be afraid, he says, to ask potential bosses if they have ever fired people in previous jobs, and if so, why. “I’d pose it in a positive way — ‘What’s happened when the wheels have fallen off? What have you done about it?’” he says.

Discuss issues of personal style, says Paul Falcone, author of 96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire, (Amacom, $17.95, 1997). Does the candidate work at a fast or moderate pace? Is he or she a 9-to-5 worker or someone who puts in a lot of overtime?

Try to find out, in a respectful way, if the candidate has any quirks, he adds. “I would say, ‘Are there any particular hot buttons or key issues that people who work with you should know?’ Most people will laugh and say, ‘I’m actually Joe Normal, not too much above or below the line.’” But a few, Mr. Falcone adds, may drop hints such as, “I’m a real stickler for everybody getting here on time,” or “Never call in sick on a Monday.”

Asking direct questions such as these can help prevent a judgment based on personality alone, he says: “You have to look at more than likability, but also compatibility — hours, pace, and general supervisory communication styles.” (For more guidance on forming interview questions, see this previous Philanthropy Careers article.)

Getting Acquainted

Because so much is riding on who is hired to run a department or organization, the thought of meeting a potential boss can be daunting, says Mr. Johnson of the Minnesota Medical Foundation. “At first, I thought, How it is this going to work — and how will this affect our relationship later?” he says. But once it got started, he says — when everyone laughed about something and realized they shared a similar sense of humor — it went smoothly.

When Suzanne Condren, associate development director at the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, was assigned to interview the job candidate who later became her boss, she tried to break the ice by conducting the inquiry during a stroll through the zoo. Taking a walk, she says, set a casual tone and made the entire conversation more comfortable.

These interviews are not set up solely for the benefit of the employees, notes Ted Grossnickle, a fund-raising consultant in Franklin, Ind. They are also meant to give the job candidates an opportunity to meet the people they might be managing — and to give those doing the hiring the chance to hear the candidates’ impressions of the staff.

“If they’re expected to lead and motivate this team,” he says, “it makes sense for the president who’s hiring a vice president to say, ‘How would you make the most out of this team? I want you to give me your take on them because I want to see how good you’re going to be.’”

That means that, as staff members frame their questions, they should remember that the prospective boss will be sizing them up, too, Mr. Grossnickle says.

This process offers advantages and disadvantages to staff members, says Mr. Sellery. “This is an opportunity for you to really impress them — ‘This is what I’ve been doing’ or ‘This is my what I’m interested in. How would that fit in with your agenda?’” he says. “It gives you a chance to show how perceptive you are, how much confidence you have, how gutsy you are. But you’ve got to be prepared.”

The downside can come when the employees’ opinions clash with those of the people doing the hiring, he says. “If three or four prospective bosses come through and the HR people say, ‘Well, what did you think?’ you have to be careful because they might have already made up their mind — and they may wonder if you’re going to be a happy camper.”

When Ms. Jones was a candidate for her current job at Crystal Stairs, she was interviewed by a panel of nine of her would-be staff members — people representing all levels of the organization.

The experience was positive, she says, and proved helpful to her in getting to know the people who would eventually become her subordinates. “It’s a chance for them to kick the tires,” she says, “and it gave me a bird’s-eye view of where they were.”

However, staff members should bear in mind that these interviews are a two-way street, she says: “Sometimes you can tell a lot about people not by the answers they give but by the questions they ask.” More in-depth questions, she says, indicated to her a more sophisticated grasp of a subject.

Because of her experience, Ms. Jones suggests that charity workers who are asked to interview their possible future bosses prepare carefully for that first meeting. ” Make sure that the questions are very well researched and you’re asking the highest level of question you can ask,” she says. “Just bear in mind that the other person is assessing you in the same way you’re assessing them.”

Does your organization allow employees to interview prospective bosses? Tell how that works at your charity in the Job Market online forum.