This Unusual Hiring Tactic Will Make You Rethink How You Interview

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Looking for the secret to hiring a great team? Find out why companies like EY and Roche are using team building activities to help them interview new hires and put together more successful, cohesive teams.

Hiring a new employee often means trying to find the balance between filling the position as soon as possible, and waiting for the candidate with the right skillset, education level, and experience.

But there’s something very important missing from that list – the right personality.

According to the Harvard Business Review, individual personalities on a team play a significant part in how well a group performs.

For this reason, it’s not surprising that companies, such as EY and Roche, are adding tactics like team building to their interview process to help them better assess the personalities of their candidates.

How Companies Are Finding Their Next A-Players with Team Building

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Company: EY

Number of Candidates: Around 60 per event

Activity: Wild Goose Chase

Background: Twice a year, EY evaluates a large group of top-performing college recruits. The hiring team at EY was looking for a way to show their candidates a fun time, while observing how they collaborated with each other and current employees.

Results: With Wild Goose Chase, EY employees are placed on teams with the recruits, giving them the opportunity to interact with candidates and get to know them. As a result, the team can move forward with recruits that work well with current employees and find candidates that are a good fit with their company culture.

Feedback: “The Wild Goose Chase activity was great. Our candidates loved it!” — EY

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Company: Roche

Number of Candidates: Around 75 per event

Activity: Team Pursuit

Background: An HR Manager from Roche knew what she was looking for when interviewing candidates – problem was, so did the candidates. As a result, she wanted a way to assess how individuals would perform and interact in a more natural environment.

Results: Team Pursuit provides Roche’s hiring team with the opportunity to see if candidates’ actions match their profiles on paper. This can help them successfully hire employees that are a good fit for each position and their company.

Feedback: “I would recommend Team Pursuit for its ease of use. This team building activity is a dynamic and fun product.” — Roche

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Company: Outback Team Building & Training

Number of Candidates: Around 10 per event

Activity: Escape Room: Jewel Heist

Background: The hiring team at Outback Team Building & Training wanted to see how candidates worked together in a group, and profile their different personality types. The team also wanted to be able to assess whether individuals’ actions aligned with our company’s core values.

Results: Escape Room: Jewel Heist helps our team find employees who align with the core values, and have the skills, experience, and personality types necessary to find success in their roles.

Feedback: “Observing candidates participate in Escape Room: Jewel Heist gives our hiring team the opportunity to get a sense of what people are like off-paper. It’s a great way to evaluate how well we think they will fit in with our culture, and succeed in their roles.— Outback Team Building & Training

Can Team Building Really Help You Hire a Better Team?

In a formal interview, it can be difficult to assess someone’s personality and know if they will be a good fit with their prospective team members. But with group activities, you can watch to see if your candidates:

Work well with other recruits, or existing employees
Take action and show leadership skills
Show innovation and creative problem solving
Perform well under pressure, especially in a group setting

Our events team often sees different personality types emerge during team building activities.

Here’s what one of our event coordinators, Sarah Liu, had to say about how an activity can help you learn more about your candidates…

“A lot of events have different elements that play well into different strengths and personality traits. There’s the obvious differences you can see in an activity, like Team Pursuit, where each challenge focuses on mental skills, physical feats, skill-based trivia, or getting to know one another. Here, you’ll be able to watch for how well individuals collaborate, take action, and show their strengths, which can help you better understand how they would fit in with your existing team.”

What Should You Be Looking for During an Activity?

Two important traits to keep an eye out for, according to research done by Google’s People Analytics team, are high levels of:

Emotional Intelligence – Look for individuals who are self-aware, motivated, empathetic, and sociable.
Communication – Watch for candidates who aren’t afraid to delegate, listen to others, and collaborate.

Learn more about the different activities that can help you hire a great team.

EXPLORE THE TOP TEAM BUILDING ACTIVITIES