You can nip turnover in the bud by evaluating job candidates’ motivational fit during the hiring process. Interviewing for motivational fit is a quick and easy way to determine whether what a person likes matches how the job will keep the candidate satisfied, engaged, and committed.

Interview Questions to Discover Motivation

Here’s an overview of how to create a motivational fit interview:

1. Gather the interview team to compile a motivational fit profile. This document will be defined by job experts who agree on the job, organization, and location specifics that are most important for employee job satisfaction and retention.

2. Ask the candidate questions targeted at those same specifics.

3. Compare the candidate’s likes and dislikes to the job’s motivational fit profile to determine their overlap and discrepancies.

Similarly, talent management experts agree that behavioral interviews focusing on a candidate’s past experiences give us the best candidate information to predict future performance and retention. You can easily add motivational fit questions to a behavioral interview, but it often gets short shrift when trying to cover knowledge, experience, and competencies.

So, DDI structures its interview guide and trains interviewers to ask motivational fit questions to quickly gather information to make accurate evaluations. This method works whether the interview is conducted in person or virtually.

Motivational fit questions to ask:

• When the candidate has been satisfied or dissatisfied with a past job-related task or characteristic

• What the candidate liked or disliked about that characteristic

• Why the situation was satisfying or dissatisfying

Interview Questions to Determine Commitment

Take advantage of these other opportunities to predict a candidate’s long-term commitment:

• Look at their resume and work history for trends in their tenure and job moves.

• Ask clarifying questions about their past decisions to leave.

• Look for gaps in their work history and, without making assumptions, ask about the details.

Past career decisions offer great information about the person’s priorities and preferences that you might not uncover elsewhere. As you gather information about the candidate’s likes and dislikes, share information about the position to help the candidate determine their own motivational fit. Make sure you share enough job, organization, and location information to give the prospect a realistic view of the position to make an objective decision. You can greatly reduce the risk of turnover caused when a new hire’s unrealistic expectations aren’t met.

Motivational Fit Interviews for the Win

Hiring decisions are a two-way street. Ensuring a strong fit between a new hire’s preferences and the work facets benefits the candidate and the employer. Both parties are making an important long-term decision with significant risks and rewards. It’s got to be mutually beneficial for it to last.

It’s in the employer’s best interests to select the candidate whose preferences align best with the job opportunities. This helps to ensure longevity and results. At the same time, it’s in the candidate’s best interests to get a realistic view of the job to make an informed decision.

The motivational fit interview accomplishes these goals. It’s also a great time to sell job features that may not be obvious to a prospect. Your unique motivators could differentiate your job offer from your competitor’s. In a competitive labor market, motivational fit becomes even more important to both the job prospect and the hiring organization.

Read DDI’s blog to learn more.