At the heart of everything we do here at Transputec is our commitment to putting our customers first and having a yes attitude. Our aspiration is that every one of our people, from executive management down to our interns, reflect these core values. Key to achieving this ambition is to recruit the right people in the first place.
Having sat on countless interview panels over the decades, I’ve concluded that these values are not easily demonstrated through traditional interview techniques. Competency based questions may well demonstrate a candidate’s ability and experience. For me, the real question is how we gain insight into a candidate’s mindset and their emotional intelligence which are key to building lasting connections with our clients. Particularly given that the traditional interview is geared towards recruiting organised, problem-solving ‘left brainers.’
According to the theory of left and right brain dominance, the two spheres of our brain govern different types of thinking. There’s our left brain logic versus our right brain empathy. Left-brain dominant people tend to be efficient and rational while right-brainers are more creative and instinctive.
A left-brainer will deliver an excellent service but the right brainer will develop an excellent rapport and is a born relationship builder. They have excellent emotional intelligence, which is something that can’t be taught.
But how do we spot which way a candidate instinctively thinks? True, interview techniques are changing in the corporate world. Take the legendary Google interview question: ‘How do you weigh an elephant without using a weighing machine?’ to their more recent and behaviourally insightful question: ‘If you could be remembered in one sentence what would it be?’
One CEO routinely asks candidates which companies they most like being a customer of. Left brainers tend to talk about highly efficient companies like Google or Uber or Amazon that strive to make customer’s lives easier through smooth processes. The right brainers, however, will talk about companies that appeal to the emotional needs of their customers, like John Lewis or Nike – companies that want them to feel part of something.
Ultimately, it’s about striking the right balance between the left and right brainers. As well as driving efficiencies for the customer and creating processes and structures, we must never forget the heart and soul of the company, no matter how much a company grows or how big the balance sheet becomes.
Sonny Sehgal
CEO
Learn more about Transputec’s values.
