Pigeonholing people and roles can often have more of a negative effect than many realise. My favourite questions for job candidates have a more holistic view of their potential contribution to the team:
1. What skills would you need team members to bring to the table that you don’t have?
Pooling strengths across businesses means moving away from the expectation that a candidate must be perfect and have no weaknesses and moves away from the wrong people focusing on the wrong work.
2. If you could create a role for the business that best utilises your skills and experience, what would it involve?
Labelling roles and prescriptive job descriptions often curtails the potential contribution a candidate can make to the business. Job titles mean different things to different people, leading to misperceptions and the risk of expectations not being met. This broader way of thinking would decrease the risk of an employee focusing on what they believe they should be doing rather than what needs doing, encourages collaborative working and makes every role more interesting and varied.
