What is in this article?:
- How To Implement a Peer Review Process
- What happens in the interview
What happens in the interview
All participants receive training, including role playing, before participating.
Interviews are scheduled at times when participants can forward calls, turn off pagers and devote time to the job at hand.
Interviews take place in a neutral, orderly location, with a table and comfortable chairs arranged in a circle. The room should be clean and orderly, to leave a good impression.
The process is thoroughly explained to the applicant in advance, with an emphasis on its benefits to both the organization and the candidate.
When the applicant enters the room, participants stand to greet her and shake her hand.
A leader again summarizes the process before it begins. The explanation goes something like this:
“Here at St. John, we strive to carefully match applicants to available jobs. We feel the peer interview process not only helps us to get to know you, but helps you get to know us and determine if you want to work here. Employee retention is as important to us as selection, and we find this process helps with both.”
Participants introduce themselves, noting their tenure at SJMC and, briefly, why they choose to stay here.
Participants take turns asking pre-selected questions.
Candidates are invited to ask their own questions.
When the interview concludes, candidates are thanked for considering St. John as their employer of choice. Each participant stands and again offers a handshake. The leader’s business card is provided and the candidate is invited to call should further questions arise.
Optionally, a candidate is invited to tour the potential work area and is introduced to other potential co-workers.
After all interviews are completed, participants meet to select the employee with a goal of consensus. Each interviewer scores each candidate privately. Scores are then compared and combined.
Score sheets are tallied and kept by the manager. Participants are encouraged to discuss how they arrived at scores, and why the applicant would or would not be an excellent candidate for the job.
If the group has any hesitation about whether the candidates will be a good fit, we encourage them to tell us to keep looking for additional candidates.
If there are several excellent candidates, those to whom the job was not offered are considered for other openings within the department (if qualified), or are referred back to human resources or to other department directors.
Once a manager sends candidates to the peer interview committee, the process is in the hands of the committee. The manager has a vote, but the committee selects from the candidates in its pool.
Janet Potts, RD, LD, is the director of food and nutrition services at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
