Not so long ago, the head of one of the large companies in Obninsk asked me a question. How to determine at an interview whether an employee is responsible or not? At that time, I gave some kind of recommendation, but the question itself made me think. Firstly, because my manager and I will not come to a common definition and understanding of the very concept of responsibility. Secondly, it is not entirely clear with what questions it is possible to identify responsibility in an interview. I want to reflect on these questions in this article. Before we move on to discussing methods for determining responsibility during an interview, I propose to understand the concept of responsibility itself. By googling the word responsibility, I found a lot of definitions. I will not list them all, since there are many definitions. I will highlight several key criteria of responsibility. What distinguishes a responsible person from an Irresponsible person? 1. A responsible person must be READY and ABLE to take responsibility for something or someone. We include physiological and psychological readiness as CAN. Physiological readiness is formed from 14 to 19 years. By the age of 19, the brain structures that are responsible for a person’s will are formed. Therefore, it is not entirely fair to tell a teenager who is not ready to make a decision that he is not a responsible person. And that is why many employers seek to hire people over 20-24 years old. Psychological readiness can take much longer to develop. 2. Responsibility is a quality that a person gives himself. A person must WANT to take responsibility. Responsibility cannot be given, it can only be taken independently. That is, if a person fulfills some obligations (in due time and with the required quality) that someone has imposed on him, then this relates to a greater extent to such a quality as diligence than to responsibility. By the way, employers most often confuse responsibility with diligence. Many managers need employees who must FOLLOW the boss’s instructions efficiently and on time. Those. The manager set a task for his subordinate, he completed it (with quality and on time), but if he didn’t set it, it means the person is sitting without work, waiting for the next order. 3. A responsible person knows how to make decisions for himself and for the people who depend on him, and also actively act to achieve the desired result. At the same time, a person is able to predict the consequences of decisions made and choose the best ways to achieve a goal. Responsibility is more related to the RESULT, and not to the PROCESS of the work performed. For example, the head of the sales department organizes the work of the department, but he is responsible for the implementation of the sales plan. The manager can fulfill the sales plan himself, while living at work, or he can build a sales system so that employees cope with their responsibilities independently. Actually, HOW a leader achieves a result is not so important, whether he achieved the result or not. It is by this criterion that the level of his responsibility will be assessed.4. Responsibility is associated with a person’s ability to realize that the results of decisions made depend only on him. In other words, responsibility is the ability to realize that the quality of life, the level of success and self-realization of a person depend only on himself. A bad family, a stupid boss, low wages - all this is MY DECISION and only I am responsible for it. Thus, responsibility is a person’s readiness and desire to choose and make decisions, to actively act to obtain the desired result, and also to be fully aware that the results of decisions made depend only on him. Responsibility often coexists with such personal qualities as discipline, determination, initiative and diligence. Therefore, it is possible to determine how responsible a person is by checking the presence of thesequalities. Identifying responsibility at an interview is not an easy task. However, if we know the key components of responsibility, it is quite easy to come up with interview questions. What questions should you ask during an interview to determine the degree of responsibility of the candidate? First, before you start asking the applicant questions, observe how on time the future employee came to the interview? How prepared is he for the interview (did he bring his resume, documents, cover letters)? Does the person know anything about your company? How consciously does he make his choice in favor of getting a job with you? During the interview process, you can ask the applicant a question about whether the person considers himself responsible, and what is responsibility in his understanding? With this question you will understand WHAT responsibility is for a person and HOW he will act responsibly. In my practice, there were the following definitions of responsibility: - this is the ability to be responsible for one’s words; (Most often, such employees are only responsible for their words, but do little. Although this statement needs to be verified with additional leading questions). - this is when a person comes to work on time; (Most often, a person is quite executive and will wait for instructions from the manager in everything. For such an employee, the formal attributes of responsibility are very important. Well, I did everything... but how and what result was obtained is not so important anymore). - do everything on time and efficiently; (Same as in the previous case). - stay at work if asked; etc. (The same as in the previous case). You can also ask how, after graduating from school, did the applicant decide to choose a profession? Is he happy with his choice? If no/yes, why? With this question you can also check how independent a person is, how he feels about the decision made (blames someone for the wrong choice or, on the contrary, believes that he made the right decision). Do you believe in luck/failure? Give examples when you were lucky. Give an example from work practice when you were unlucky. Thanks to this question, you can understand how capable a person is of responsibility for decisions made. How aware is he that the results of the decisions made depend only on himself. How true is the statement that only a demanding leader can make the team work well and harmoniously? With this question you will check how READY, CAN and WANTS a person is to take responsibility. What kind of job do you want to get? Here you can analyze your choices and decision criteria. The next question you might ask is: Under what circumstances do people stay to work overtime? You can hear how much a person thinks for himself and makes his own decisions. Usually people answer that they will stay if the manager asks (and then the responsibility falls on the manager), or if the employee has not completed something, and tomorrow is an important event, then he will stay overtime (then the person is responsible for his obligations). It may be a situational issue. Your wife (husband) is away, you have planned to buy furniture. You and your spouse haven’t decided on price and design. Will you buy, say, expensive furniture? Analyze how a person usually makes a decision, whether he receives advice or not, how easily a person makes independent decisions. What is the limit of making an independent decision and doing something on your own? You can ask a person to solve a puzzle. Along with the development of thinking, you will check how much a person is used to getting things done and is focused on results. If an employee immediately refuses to answer your question, it means that in the process of work such an employee will avoid difficult tasks, and perhaps not complete the task. If, nevertheless, the applicant tries to find a solution, then, most likely, he exhibits such personal qualities as perseverance, determination and responsibility. And also just!