Hiring, Firing, and Discipline Interview

Interview with Adam Anderson, Wasatch Office Supply

1. What qualities do you look for in potential employees?

Mostly I try to figure out if they are a good person, honest, nice, and/or friendly.

2. What are red flags in an interview?

Can't communicate well, dishonesty, negative thoughts about themselves or a previous employer

3. What are the three most common interview questions that you ask in an interview?

What are your interests? What kind of work have you done before? Why do you think you would succeed in this position?

4. What does your interview process look like?

I usually do one interview that lasts about 30 minutes per applicant. I only interview people until I find someone I like.

5. What is your plan of action for disciplinary problems?

I give warnings for bad behavior (anything against my policies) and then if they continue to perform poorly then I will fire them.

6. What kinds of problems have you encountered that led to disciplinary action?

Employees being late, not doing their job (being lazy), and one employee leaving work during the day instead of working.

7. How do you deal with morale and gossip after you discipline an employee?

I have never had an issue with this after a disciplinary action. Usually the other employees are aware of the issue before I am and let me know that something is not happening as it should.

8. Frequency of hiring/firing/discipline?

My business is pretty small, I have a low amount of turnover and discipline issues. Maybe 2 or 3 a year (discipline issues) or less and I have only fired one person in the last two years. I have hired four people in that same time.

9. How do you protect yourself legally when you have to fire someone?

I try to keep my paperwork in order to protect myself. One time, I was sued by a former employee for back wages. I won because of the paperwork I had filed.

10. How do you make the decision to fire someone?

I look at what I hired them to do and evaluate how they are performing their job. I also listen to the supervisors and other employees who are working with the employee. Usually these employees are the ones who bring the issue to my attention.

11. How do you deal with threats from former or disgruntled employees?

I walk them to their car after they are fired but other than that I have never had an issue that has led to really disgruntled employees.

I learned about how different hiring/firing/disciplinary actions are in small vs large companies. Since this company is so small and they hire so few people throughout the year, their processes are not very well defined. I think it leaves them open for legal action and they could benefit from revamping some of their policies. However, I did like how the interview questions were focusing on discovering the character of the applicant. It's important in non-skilled positions to be able to learn this about your potential employees.