When were you able to resolve a problem within work?
Problem-solving and dispute resolution are fundamental skills to possess. Display to the interviewer that you are capable of problem-solving within the workplace.
"In my most recent position we had a consistent problem with employees showing up late for their shifts or calling in sick at the very last moment. Rather than the typical documenting and reprimanding style that management usually takes, I decided to track the results of an accountability reward system. For 180 days, my employees received a reward for coming to work 10 minutes early. Also, for every month with zero sick days, a bonus was added. In the end, we awarded those with perfect attendance a 600 bonus. The bonus' cost us less money, in the end than the cost of lowered productivity due to absent employees. The program was a success, and upper management chose to keep it implemented for another six months. We will re-assess in December, but it seems to be working very well."
"We have a problem with being short on labor hands quite often, due to the high employee turnover in our industry. I solved this issue by engaging a placement agency that specializes in temporary labor staffing. Whenever we are short on labor hands, they have a roster of individuals we can hire last minute and for the short term. Surprisingly, before I started with this company, they had never utilized this resource. Everyone is quite pleased with how this has worked out so far."
