Have you ever led performance reviews or employee coaching sessions?
"I look forward to the opportunity to lead performance reviews and coaching sessions. I believe this is an incredible leadership skill to grow and possess, and I look forward to implementing my knowledge and helping others succeed in the workplace. I recently read 'Leaders Eat Last' by Simon Sinek, which taught me a great deal about overcoming traditional assumptions on how great leaders effectively guide their teams. This book gave me a few excellent ideas on how to approach employee coaching, once presented with the opportunity."
As an HR Consultant with their organization, your interviewer wants to get a feel for your familiarity and experience with managing performance review processes and leading the coaching of employees. If you are newer to your HR career, you may not have exposure to employee coaching and performance review processes. Regardless of your level of exposure to these tasks, the interviewer is looking for further knowledge of your leadership experience. Speak about your experience with coaching and motivating those on your team. If you have recently read a book on performance coaching, you could discuss it and how it has helped you. If you bring experience to these important pieces of performance management, talk in detail about the experience you would bring to this organization.
"In my current role, I have a significant part in performance reviews for our team of 35 individuals. The executive team is also involved in these reviews, so I play an important role, although I am not the lead. I am a strong advocate of a 360-degree feedback process, where colleagues and internal customers have a chance to review staff performance and have implemented this process in the past. I am a good coach as I love to inspire and motivate others to do their best in all aspects of their lives. I would say that I have led about 200 coaching sessions in total throughout my HR career."
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Anonymous Answer
I have led two full-cycle performance reviews. This included the beginning of the process with re-launching SMART goals for KPIs. In my current role, I am completing coaching sessions almost daily. I had a coaching session yesterday with a Zone Leader on the perception of his leadership style not feeling collaborative. We brainstormed together on ways to be more inclusive with his team in conversation.
Rachelle's Feedback
You do a great job showcasing your high-level coaching sessions. Your approach sounds structured and very clear.
Anonymous Answer
I've had some training and performance coaching of new Recruiting interns coming in at my previous job. Additionally, it was part of my role as an HR Specialist for a few months to coach employees on performance issues such as poor attendance, use of PPE and proper protocol, and discussing complaints from clients.
Rachelle's Feedback
It sounds like you have a great deal of experience in these areas, which is great! At the end of your answer, I recommend discussing how your experiences will ensure success in this new position. Take some time to talk about the coaching/mentoring responsibilities in this new role and show that you are confident in meeting these needs.
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