4 Great Questions to Ask HR Leader Candidates, and the Answers to Look For

By Linda Brenner | March 01, 2024

HR, Talent and TA professionals are generally very good at being interviewed. But that ability doesn’t correlate with true talent management, recruiting or leadership skills. *Your* skills as an interviewer are key to getting beyond showmanship and personality in order to assess true business acumen, talent knowledge and the ability to make data-based decisions. Here are some tough but fair questions to ask your finalists and, more importantly, the right answers to look for.

Here are some challenging but fair questions to ask candidates for senior HR roles - such as Director or Vice President of Talent Acquisition or Talent Management, or those who lead teams of HR Business Partners. And, since none of us needs yet another bank of interviewing questions for HR leader candidates, we've described the responses to look for that will indicate a higher likelihood of success in the role. Evaluating the quality of the answers, in a defined and consistent fashion as shown below, will improve the quality of the selection decision. The responses described will reveal underlying competencies key to success in HR leadership roles – beyond the ability to engage effectively in an interview setting or respond in general terms to sweeping questions.

Question: How do you leverage data and analytics to inform talent-related decisions?

Follow Ups: Describe a time when you created a successful HR outcome based on data-driven insights. What was the problem? What specific data did you use to inform the problem and/or the solution? What actions did you take? What was the result? What was your role specifically? Looking back, what would you do differently?

Responses to Look For: A familiarity with and comfort using a data-driven approach. Specific examples of using data – and references to specific data sources (e.g., candidate throughput via the ATS, internal mobility via payroll, etc.) to identify trends, make informed talent decisions, and measure the impact of HR programs. The ideal candidate will demonstrate an interest in data and a proficiency in HR analytics and an ability to link data insights to strategic HR objectives in concrete ways. They will also be able to describe consistently achieving data-based results.

Who to avoid: someone who says they hate math, or they've never been good with numbers.

Question: What management routines do you use to foster accountability, recognition, and collaboration within your HR team?

Follow Ups: How do these routines tie to performance and talent management within your team? Describe a time where a key member of your team was struggling to perform. What was the situation, what actions did you take, and what was the outcome? What goals do you have for your team? How do you ensure they achieve those key results?

Responses to Look For: The use of structured, data-based and predictable leadership routines for the purpose of driving results, motivating and managing HR (or any) teams. A description of priority goals for the team, a focus on team and individual performance metrics, regular check-ins, and methods for recognizing outstanding performance. Look for a one who emphasizes a balance between accountability and inspiration, creating a positive and goal-oriented work environment. The ideal candidate will be able to describe how their team leadership approach results in achieving objective goals.

Who to avoid: one who struggles to describe a consistent approach to team and individual goal setting and performance accountability routines - for both the team and individuals.

Question: How do you align talent initiatives with the organization's long-term strategic goals?

Follow Ups: Describe a talent program that you implemented and its impact on organizational outcomes. What was the problem you were trying to solve, what actions did you take, and what was the outcome?

Responses to Look For: The ability to articulate a strategic approach to talent acquisition or talent management in a way which connects to organizational goals. The connecting of such efforts in a way that improves hiring and retention results, which impact any organization's ability to achieve organizational goals and (where appropriate) build enterprise value. The answer should include details on how talent initiatives - such as build-borrow-buy approaches, passive candidate recruiting, the development of internal candidate talent pipelines, improving quality of hire or employer branding outcomes - drive concrete outcomes.

Who to avoid: the candidate who doesn't seem to understand the work and/or primarily goals of the business, or one who can't connect HR work with the most essential business outcomes.

Question: In a rapidly changing workforce landscape, how do you ensure the HR (or Talent or TA) function remains agile and adaptive?

Follow Ups: Can you provide an example of a time when your team successfully navigated a significant change or challenge? What was the challenge, what actions did you personally take, and what was the outcome?

Responses to Look For: An understanding of the need for HR agility and methods for leading their team through change. Examples would be reskilling or upskilling initiatives, redefining organizational priorities, position descriptions or measurements of success, organizational restructuring, or flexible talent acquisition or management practices such as gig hiring, skills based learning, driving process improvements through the use of technology or AI, etc. The candidate should be able to describe in detail a time when they led or participated in an HR effort that addressed a key challenge, navigated through a change, demonstrating flexibility and resilience, and resulted in a concrete outcome.

Who to avoid: one who seems uncomfortable with change, much less taking the initiative and forming strategies to proactively manage impending change.

These questions zero in on the unique challenges and responsibilities of senior HR leaders, emphasizing their ability to leverage data, drive talent development, manage change, and foster a culture of continuous improvement within the HR function. They also present candidates with a "realistic job preview" of the nature of the work and expectations required in the role.