Working with our clients here at Korn Ferry often involves some initial conflict with our clients. How would you rate your ability to handle conflict or disagreements in the workplace?
When a consultant comes into an organization to help better an aspect of their business, they'll initially face inevitable conflict with the inflated egos fearful of change. Your interviewer is trying to assess your experience level and ability to handle such conflict on the job.
"In my role as a project manager with a large private organization, one of my first steps on any new project is setting a budget. Last year, I was leading the effort on a project focused on waste reduction in our manufacturing facilities. In the initial meetings for new projects, our CFO is always involved so she has a high-level overview of what the project will entail. In the meeting, she immediately berated me for the initial budget that I was proposing and vehemently insisted that the amount just wasn't correct or feasible. Rather than taking offense to her thoughts, I wanted to make sure that she, and the rest of the group, had a solid understanding of all that was taken into consideration for setting the budget. After I explained and showed line by line what the proposed budget broke down to, she was very thankful and didn't realize that team member labor was part of that equation. I think that my ability to understand why she was conflicted and my ability to keep a calm, cool head in that situation were vital and a perfect reason for me rating myself high on my conflict resolution skills."
"From my call center days, I think I developed great conflict resolution skills where I would rate myself an 8 out of 10. Handling customers who were upset about a product or service they received required a calm tone, an educational approach, and the ability to not take things too personally. If hired for this position, I would be able to bring this same approach to the clients of Korn Ferry."
Detail your conflict resolution skills and how you cope with stress. Offer examples where you handled such challenges on the job with confidence and ease.
Steer clear of trying to commiserate with your interviewer on the more negative aspects of the job. It may be tempting to talk the talk in the ways which you've commiserated with your peers. They are evaluating how effective you'll be in reflecting the culture of their brand. Negativity and trash-talking their clients are not among their core values.
