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Behavioral Interviews for a Sustainable Workforce

State: FL Type: Neither Year: 2016

Broward County is located in the southeastern portion of the State of Florida with Miami-Dade County to the south and Palm Beach County to the north.  Broward County’s 2014 population estimate of 1,869,235, represents 9% of the State’s population, and is the second most populous county of the 67 counties in the State of Florida and eighteenth most populous county in the United States (US Census).  Its diverse population includes residents representing more than 200 different countries and speaking more than 130 different languages.  31.5% of the residents are foreign-born.   Broward County is a minority/majority county demonstrated by its 2014 population by race (Black 28.8%, Asian 3.6%, Hispanic 27.4%, other races .5%, for a total of 60.3% and White 39.7%). The Florida Department of Health in Broward County (DOH-Broward) is the official Public Health Agency in Broward County and has been operational since 1936. DOH-Broward’s mission is “to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts”.  DOH-Broward is the lead agency providing core public health functions and essential services in the county as part of a complex public health system that includes hospitals, clinics, planning agencies, community-based organizations and others.  DOH-Broward provides population/community-based services to the county’s 1.8 million residents and over 10 million annual visitors, and is responsible for assessing, maintaining and improving health and safety within the county. DOH-Broward strives to recruit, retain, and develop a competent workforce that embody and model its Mission, Vision and Values. After concluding that the existing Knowledge Skills and Abilities (KSA)-based system of recruitment was not yielding employees that exhibit the behavioral competencies that translate to long term success in the agency, DOH-Broward began to research alternative methodologies to assess candidates for employment. Behavioral assessments as an additional component of the applicant screening process were explored.  DOH-Broward adopted an existing behavioral competency dictionary that was based on one developed for the Florida Department of Health. Ultimately, DOH-Broward adopted a behavioral event interview (BEI) model, which combined aspects of two other models (Flanagan’s critical incident method with the Thematic Apperception Test) to screen candidates for specific behavioral competencies that were identified in DOH-Broward’s behavioral competency dictionary. Implementation activities included hiring a consultant to provide three BEI training workshops to selected DOH-Broward staff. The behavioral interview process was then deployed to potential candidates in three phases: 1) supervisory staff, 2) salaried staff, and 3) all staff. Members of the Organizational Development Team became accredited in a series of leadership instruments and now provide the behavioral interview training in-house. The goals of the practice were to: 1) Reduce involuntary turnover by identifying negative behaviors from the outset; 2) Maintain or improvement retention in an increasingly competitive job market; and 3) Hire candidates for superior proficiency, and 4) developing a pipeline of future talent for future leadership opportunities (“bench strength”). In the three years from implementation, all of the objectives were met.  Results include reductions in involuntary separations, which dropped in half, from 25.60% to 12.80% of all separations.  Increases in voluntary separations were offset by reduced involuntary separations, keeping total separations constant. Finally, DOH-Broward steadily improved internal mobility, from 57.8% of salaried positions being filled internally in the 2012-2013 fiscal year to 70.09% in the 2014-2015 fiscal year. This success would not have been possible without the support of leadership and integration of this practice into the hiring process, as well as the initial and subsequent training on the interview technique.                                 The public health impact of the practices, as a result of conducting BEI’s and selecting candidates that have these competencies, is that DOH-Broward has improved customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and overall organizational performance. The selection and retention of qualified talent in an increasingly competitive job market allows for continuity of care to clients, shorter wait times in clinics, and saved tax dollars by avoiding the need to hire and train replacement staff, as well as the loss of institutional knowledge. Finally, the early identification of behaviors indicative of success allows DOH-Broward to prepare and develop employees for future leadership opportunities.  Website: http://broward.floridahealth.gov/
Statement of the public health issue:  In order to effectively provide services to the millions of Broward County residents and visitors, it is critical that DOH-Broward recruit, retain, and develop a competent workforce that embodies and models the agency’s Mission, Vision and Values. DOH-Broward employees must exhibit certain behavioral competencies, as a result.  The identification, selection, and retention of quality public health professionals has become increasingly difficult over the past 4 years, beginning with the economic downturn. Specifically, there were approximately 200 applicants per job opening advertised at the time.  However, this quantity of applicants did not translate into an increased quality of applicants. Although the number of applicants had increased dramatically from the average of 50 applicants per job advertisement prior to the downturn, less than 5% of those applicants met the minimum technical and educational requirements on any given posting.  These requirements help to narrow down candidates to those who are technically proficient, but say nothing about how they would interact with others in the organization, if hired. Whereas the process for vetting candidates based on technical proficiency was well- established, it did not effectively predict performance when used exclusively- as evidenced by the organization’s high proportion of involuntary to voluntary turnover of employees with demonstrated technical proficiency.  The target population affected by this problem is all of Broward County’s population which in 2014 is estimated to be 1,869,235.  All are touched in some way by public health, through the programs and services provided by DOH-Broward.  Historically, applicants would be evaluated on technical proficiency – knowledge, skills, ability – and the top-scoring applicant would proceed to the final stages of the selection process (background screening, employment references, etc.).  In many cases, applicants demonstrating exceptional technical proficiency were hired, only to exhibit problematic behaviors after commencing their employment at DOH-Broward. The agency would devote time and resources to developing the employees and attempting to correct these behaviors.  However, these behaviors inevitably would not change, and the employees were dismissed (often during a probationary period).  The agency would then re-advertise the position, evaluate a new group of candidates for the position, and once again proceed with the most technically proficient applicant.  As before, hiring decisions were made with no regard to workplace behavior.  Sometimes, the second advertisement and hiring cycle would result in a better hire that would have long term success at the agency.  Other times, the repeated effort yielded the same results as beforehand. DOH-Broward had examples of positions that were recruited, filled, and – soon thereafter – vacated, repeated several times in succession. The agency was trying to hire for a set of knowledge and skills, but continued to dismiss employees as a consequence of their behaviors (but not because the employees didn’t know how to do their jobs). A review of all involuntary dismissals was conducted and it was quickly determined that nearly all of the dismissals were due to behavioral factors, and not a lack of technical proficiency. This confirmed what DOH-Broward leadership suspected: behaviors were the best predictor of success (or, at least, a prediction of those who would not succeed). Understanding that behaviors – not technical skill – are what drive performance in an organization, DOH-Broward sought to identify behaviors from the outset would result in “better” hires.  If correct, then identifying these behaviors from the outset would result in lower involuntary separations (employees who didn’t work out) relative to the agency’s total separations.  The goals were threefold: 1) Reduce involuntary turnover by identifying negative behaviors from the outset; 2) Maintain or improvement retention in an increasingly competitive job market; and 3) Hire candidates for superior proficiency, developing a pipeline of future talent for future leadership opportunities (“bench strength”). In light of this, DOH-Broward began researching a methodology to help identify key behaviors that were predictive of long-term success and superior proficiency. Ultimately, DOH-Broward adopted a behavioral event interview technique that was developed in 1972 by Dr. David McClelland and C. Dailey, which combined the Flanagan’s critical incident method with the Thematic Apperception Test. The result was a highly refined interviewing technique that reveals a person’s behavioral competencies (knowledge, skills, values, self-concept, traits, and motives).  The idea of using a behavioral assessment is not a novel one, but it is relatively new to the field of public health. References: -          Boyatzis, Richard E., The Competent Manager (1982) -          Boyatzis, Richard E., Transforming Qualitative Information (1998) -          Flanagan, J.C. "The Critical Incident Method", Psychological Bulletin. 51 (4) -          Goleman, Daniel; Boyatzis, Richard E.; and McKee, Annie; Primal Leadership (2002) -          Goleman, Daniel. Working With Emotional Intelligence (1998) -          Goleman, Daniel. “What Makes a Leader?” (1998) -          Hunter, J.E. and Hunter, R.F. "Validity and Utility of alternative predictors of job performance" (1984) -          McClelland, David, “Testing for Competence Rather Than for ‘Intelligence’” (1973) -          Spencer, Lyle M., McClelland, David C., and Spencer, Signe M., Competency Assessment Methods: History and State of the Art. (1990) -          Spencer, Lyle M., and Spencer, Signe M., Competence at Work: Models for Superior Performance (1993) In 2012, DOH-Broward hired an outside consultant to provide an on-site workshop to train several key members of the DOH-Broward management team on the interview technique. After the initial on-site training, the behavioral interview process was deployed in three phases. DOH-Broward first implemented the process in 2012, as an additional stage in the interview process for all supervisory positions. Then, during the 2012-2013 fiscal year, the agency expanded the process to all salaried positions. Finally, just before the start of 2013-2014 fiscal year, it was fully deployed and utilized for all positions in the agency, including temporary and hourly positions.  During that period of time, two additional behavioral event interview workshops were conducted, to train key members of the management team on the technique. Since the behavioral event interview process has been fully integrated into the DOH-Broward hiring process, top selected applicants for positions in any of the agency’s programs must assessed with the technique.  As a result, the process supports all of DOH-Broward’s individual program areas, which in turn directly address several CDC Winnable Battles in the course of their daily work. 
Food Safety|Global Immunization|Heathcare-associated Infections|HIV in the U.S.|Lymphatic Filariasis in the Americas|Motor Vehicle Injuries|Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity|Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Syphilis|Teen Pregnancy|Tobacco
Understanding that behaviors – not technical skill – are what drive performance in an organization, DOH-Broward sought to identify behaviors from the outset would result in “better” hires.  If assessed accurately, this would result in lower involuntary turnover (employees who didn’t work out) relative to the agency’s overall turnover.  The goals were threefold: 1) Reduce involuntary turnover by identifying negative behaviors from the outset; 2) Maintain or improvement retention in an increasingly competitive job market; and 3) Hire candidates for superior proficiency, and 4) developing a pipeline of future talent for future leadership opportunities (“bench strength”). The behavioral event interview is not merely a separate set of questions within the technical interview, but rather a separate interview process altogether.  Candidates demonstrating superior technical ability proceed to a follow-up behavioral interview, conducted by trained members of the behavioral interviewing team.  Whereas technical proficiency previously was the determinant for a top selected candidate, it now became a threshold criterion for proceeding to the next stage of the interview and selection process.  Technical proficiency was no longer enough.  DOH-Broward utilizes a competency model which is a set of competencies that interact in complex ways to differentiate performance in a specific role, job, job family, organization or culture. This model is not a single pattern of behavior, but a composite set of behavior patterns that may vary from individual within specific boundaries. An effective model is depicted in a manner that reflects the culture of the organization. Competency models consist of a list of characteristics (competencies) that are found in superior performers in the job. Competencies in the model are grouped into competency clusters. Each competency in the model has associated with it a list of behavioral indicators that identify the specific behaviors required by the job. Different competencies and behavioral indicators will be more or less important in predicting effective performance for different organizational levels. Some competencies distinguish superior from average performance better than others. These competencies are referred to as "distinguishing" or "differentiating" competencies versus "threshold" competencies needed for average performance. Competencies related to superior performance are not generic.  However, threshold competencies are generic. Competencies do not work in isolation and are organized into competency clusters. A competency cluster is a group of competencies that work together. Not all competencies in the cluster may be required for superior performance. Typically a majority of the competencies in the cluster assure that the tipping point for superior performance is reached. Competencies within a competency model are grouped together to form the competency cluster. For instance, attaining goals happens when people set targets (achievement orientation), think ahead (initiative), see things in a new light (conceptual thinking), and figure out how to achieve these goals (analytical thinking, information seeking, problem solving). The models cut across the organization, as a result very few models are required. Three organizational levels, Program Managers/Senior Leaders, Unit Managers/Supervisors, Front Line Staff are integrated into the competency model. While not all competencies are included at each level, the competencies themselves are nested, this means that the each rating level shifts downward as the organizational level rises. For example a superior competency level for a front line employee is a minimum expectation for a senior leader/program manager.   Distinguishing competencies for each occupational group were identified, but were as specific as a singular job.  For example, management and supervisory positions called for evidence of behavioral competency in “Developing Others” (a critical role for anyone hired into a position with direct reports).  However, an applicant to a non-supervisory position need not demonstrate this competency to be successful in that position.  Certain competencies cut across all occupations (e.g., customer service, emotional presence, dependability, teamwork & cooperation).  The DOH-Broward senior management team determined these four competencies to be threshold competencies for all levels of the organization, and required that they be demonstrated at a particular level (based on the level of the position to which the applicant has applied) for the applicant to proceed. While the technical interview process is primarily focused on evaluating knowledge, skills and abilities, the behavioral event interview is designed to obtain detailed descriptions of critical events in an applicant’s work history. The interview technique is based on the principles that 1) past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior, and 2) the more often a behavior is exhibited the more likely that it is done naturally and consistently. The behavioral interview team asks the applicant to tell two stories about situations in which the applicant was a lead participant in the past: 1) one in which he or she was extremely proud of the outcome, and 2) one when things could have gone better.  Before recounting these stories, the applicant is asked to outline each. Specifically, the applicant must provide specific details, as such a title for the story, the role being played, who the applicant reported to at the time, other major players in the story, key milestones (expressed as book chapters), the goal throughout the story, and the ultimate outcome. To ensure a sufficient level of detail, and to accurately ascertain the applicants’ recent behavior, the stories must have occurred within the preceding 18 months. Interviewers gauge what the applicant thought, felt, said, and did in the situations covered by the two stories, probing specifically for the information where it is not provided organically.  If done properly, the entire interview is conversational in nature, and typically lasts about two hours.  However, the portion of the interview in which the applicant is present and story-telling is merely data collection.  The actual interview takes place once the applicant has left and the interviewers begin to review their notes and score them for evidence of behavioral competencies. The interviewers evaluate the stories and identify codable statements the applicant made.  These statements are characterized primarily by the use of the pronoun “I” representing an action taken directly by the applicant representing a feeling, thought, activity or speech.  Statements of a theoretical nature (“what I usually do is…typically I”) or ones that the primary actor cannot be determined (statements that begin with “we”) are considered uncodable statements and are rejected during scoring. The identified statements are then evaluated for 1) the competency being exhibited, 2) the level of the competency being exhibited.  The scaling properties for competencies have a clear progression from lower to higher levels on four dimensions: Intensity of the intention or actions taken to make something happen.Complexity: taking more things, people, data, concepts or causes into account.Time horizon: seeing, planning, acting, or anticipating further into the future (e.g., acting now to head off problems or create future opportunities).Size of impact: the number and position of people impacted (e.g., on a scale from a subordinate or a peer to the CEO, the size of the problem addressed, or level of the organization impacted). For example, if a statement has been identified as codable, and the competency described by the applicant is identified as Impact and Influence, the statement is scored at either a lower level for “Takes a single action to persuade” a higher level for “Takes multiple actions to persuade” or at a still higher level for “Uses complex influence strategies and forms behind the scenes coalitions”.  Once all the statements have been identified, coded, and scored; the frequency of the occurrence is tallied for each competency from the highest level scored to the lowest. A minimum frequency of three occurrences is necessary to determine if a competency is being demonstrated naturally and consistently.  The ability to identify, code and score a BEI is dependent on the existence of an established competency dictionary or at the very least a defined competency with discretely scaled levels.  Without this, it is impossible to objectively determine whether a candidate has exhibited any competencies. This behavioral interview packet and score then become part of the entire interview package and, ultimately, the hiring package for the position in question. The Criteria for who was selected to receive a BEI has evolved over time.  The behavioral interview process was deployed in three phases.  Initially, DOH-Broward implemented the behavioral interview process in 2012, as an additional stage in the interview process for supervisory positions.  In 2013 (during the 2012-2013 fiscal year), the agency expanded the process to all salaried positions.  Finally, in the summer of 2013, the behavioral interview process was fully deployed to all positions in the agency, including temporary and hourly positions.  During that period time, two additional behavioral event interview workshops were conducted, to train key members of the management team on the technique. The start-up costs associated with implementing this practice include the costs associated with holding the initial workshop which was $7,400. Maintaining a competent workforce has enabled DOH-Broward to provide quality public health services to the residents and visitors to Broward County and maintain mutually beneficial relationships and collaborations with our partners which include healthcare providers, community and faith-based institutions, elected officials, the business  community and the residents and visitors of Broward County.  The stakeholders for this practice are the residents and visitors to Broward County.  
At the close of the 2012-2013 fiscal year (during which the process was initially implemented), the agency had a total of 125 separations, 32 of which were involuntary (25.60%).  The following fiscal year, 2013-2014, the agency expanded the process from supervisory positions to all salaried positions.  At the conclusion of the 2013-2014 fiscal year, the agency had a total of 130 separations, 26 of which were involuntary (20.00%).  This reflected a 5.60% drop in the proportion of involuntary to voluntary turnover. By the end of the 2013-2014 fiscal year, the process was fully deployed to all positions in the agency, including OPS hourly positions. This third evolution in the process resulted in further improvement to the proportion of involuntary to voluntary turnover throughout the 2014-2015 fiscal year. At the conclusion of the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the agency had a total of 125 separations, 16 of which were involuntary (12.80%).  This continued the positive trend, dropping the proportion of involuntary to voluntary turnover from 25.60% to 12.80%.  Therefore, the implementation of a behavioral interview process cut DOH-Broward involuntary separations in half. Furthermore, as economic conditions improved, and state government faced ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining top talent, DOH-Broward anticipated a rise in its voluntary turnover.  The decline in involuntary turnover offset this attrition, however, as evidenced by a constant number of total separations (of all types) each year, from the 2012-2103 fiscal year to the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Most impressive, however, is the increase in internal promotional opportunities resulting from hiring employees with demonstrated behaviors indicative of superior performance and success. Specifically, the proportion of salaried positions filled by internal candidates has steadily increased over the past three fiscal years.  In the 2012-2013 fiscal year, when the behavioral interview system was initially implemented, internal candidates accounted for 57.87% of employees hired into salaried positions. This number increased to 61.16% in the 2013-2014 fiscal year, and exceeded 70% in the 2014-2015 fiscal year (70.09%). By taking steps to avoid hiring candidates that ultimately would not be a good fit in the organization, DOH-Broward has reduced its exposure to liability, by minimizing opportunities for poor quality of care and poor customer service. The retention of existing talent, notwithstanding increased external pressure from an increasingly competitive job market, allows for a continuity of care and services to clients, keeping shorter wait times in the DOH-Broward clinics, and saving tax dollars by avoiding the need to recruit replacement staff and incur training and onboarding costs (as well as the opportunity cost of the value of the institutional knowledge that is lost as employees leave). Finally, the identification of behaviors that are indicative of success employees in the organization means that DOH-Broward can commence early leadership training opportunities well before employees are thrust into leadership responsibility, allowing for a strategic and thorough development of future leaders and a supply of valuable “bench strength.” The public health impact of the practices, as a result of conducting BEI’s and selecting candidates that have these competencies, is that DOH-Broward has improved customer satisfaction(64% in 2008 to 98.6% in 2015), employee satisfaction(62% in 2008 to 74% in 2015), and overall organizational performance  (metrics meeting target - 78.8% 2014 to 89% 2015). The selection and retention of qualified talent in an increasingly competitive job market allows for continuity of care to clients, shorter wait times in clinics, and saved tax dollars by avoiding the need to hire and train replacement staff, as well as the loss of institutional knowledge. Finally, the early identification of behaviors indicative of success allows DOH-Broward to prepare and develop employees for future leadership opportunities.    
Average time / costs associated with new hire, onboarding, training, etc. -          Expensive to get hires wrong -          Spend the additional time in the beginning to save time and money in the long run -          Any organization can implement this process -          Costs of initial training of interviewers + coaching / consulting According to the Society of Human Resource Management, “Employee departures cost a company time, money, and other resources. Research suggests that direct replacement costs can reach as high as 50%-60% of an employee’s annual salary, with total costs associated with turnover ranging from 90% to 200% of annual salary” (SHRM practice guideline, “Retaining Talent, A Guide to Analyzing and Managing Employee Turnover”). Furthermore, “A growing body of research links high turnover rates to shortfalls in organizational performance. For example, one nationwide study of nurses at 333 hospitals showed that turnover among registered nurses accounted for 68% of the variability in per-bed operating costs.  Likewise, reducing turnover rates has been shown to improve sales growth and workforce morale. In addition, high-performance HR practices (including reduction of dysfunctional turnover rates) increase firm profitability and market value.” In order to effectively provide services the millions of Broward County residents and visitors, it is critical that DOH-Broward recruit, develop and retain a competent workforce that embodies and models the agency’s Mission, Vision and Values. The identification, selection, and retention of quality public health professionals has become increasingly difficult over the past 4 years, beginning with the economic downturn. Specifically, there were approximately 200 applicants per job opening advertised at the time.  Although this was a dramatic increase over the average of 50 applicants per job advertisement prior to the downturn less than 5% of those applicants met the minimum technical and educational requirements on any given posting.  This helped us to narrow down candidates to those who were technically proficient, but told us nothing about how they would interact with others in the organization. Whereas the process for vetting candidates based on technical proficiency was a well- established process, it did not predict performance - as evidenced by the organization’s high proportion of involuntary to voluntary turnover of employees with demonstrated technical proficiency.  A review of all involuntary dismissals was conducted and it was quickly determined that all of the dismissals were due to behavioral factors, and not a lack of technical proficiency.  In light of this, DOH-Broward began researching a methodology to help identify key behaviors that were predictive of long-term success and superior proficiency. Ultimately, DOH-Broward adopted a behavioral event interview technique that was developed in 1972 by Dr. David McClelland and C. Dailey, which combined the Flanagan’s critical incident method with the Thematic Apperception Test. The result was a highly refined interviewing technique that reveals a person’s behavioral competencies (knowledge, skills, values, self-concept, traits, and motives).  In 2012, DOH-Broward hired an outside consultant to provide an on-site workshop to train several key members of the DOH-Broward management team on the interview technique. Understanding that behaviors – not technical skill – are what drive performance in an organization, DOH-Broward sought to identify behaviors from the outset would result in “better” hires.  If assessed accurately, this would result in lower involuntary turnover (employees who didn’t work out) relative to the agency’s overall turnover.  The goals were threefold: 1) Reduce involuntary turnover by identifying negative behaviors from the outset; 2) Maintain or improvement retention in an increasingly competitive job market; and 3) Hire candidates for superior proficiency, developing a pipeline of future talent for future leadership opportunities (“bench strength”). The behavioral event interview is not merely a separate set of questions within the technical interview, but rather a separate interview process altogether.  Candidates demonstrating superior technical ability proceed to a follow-up behavioral interview, conducted by trained members of the behavioral interviewing team.  Whereas technical proficiency previously was the determinant for a top selected candidate, it now became a threshold criterion for proceeding to the next stage of the interview and selection process.  Technical proficiency was no longer enough.  Distinguishing competencies for each occupational group were identified, but were as specific as a singular job.  For example, management and supervisory positions called for evidence of behavioral competency in developing (a critical role for anyone hired into a position with direct reports).  However, an applicant to a non-supervisory position need not demonstrate this competency to be successful in that position.  Certain competencies cut across all occupations (e.g., customer service, emotional presence, dependability, teamwork & cooperation).  The DOH-Broward senior management team determined these four competencies to be critical for all levels of the organization, and required that they be demonstrated at a particular level (based on the level of the position to which the applicant has applied) for the applicant to proceed. While the technical interview process is primarily focused on evaluating knowledge, skills and abilities, the behavioral event interview is designed to obtain detailed descriptions of critical events in an applicant’s work history. The interview technique is based on the principles that 1) past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior, and 2) the more often a behavior is exhibited the more likely that it is done naturally and consistently. The behavioral interview team asks the applicant to tell two stories about situations in which the applicant was a lead participant in the past: 1) one in which he or she was extremely proud of the outcome, and 2) one when things could have gone better.  Before recounting these stories, the applicant is asked to outline each. Specifically, the applicant must provide specific details, as such a title for the story, the role being played, who the applicant reported to at the time, other major players in the story, key milestones (expressed as book chapters), the goal throughout the story, and the ultimate outcome. To ensure a sufficient level of detail, and to accurately ascertain the applicants’ recent behavior, the stories must have occurred within the preceding 18 months. Interviewers gauge what the applicant thought, felt, said, and did in the situations covered by the two stories, probing specifically for the information where it is not provided organically.  If done properly, the entire interview is conversational in nature, and typically lasts about two hours.  However, the portion of the interview in which the applicant is present and story-telling is merely data collection.  The actual interview takes place once the applicant has left and the interviewers begin to review their notes and score them for evidence of behavioral competencies. This behavioral interview packet and score then become part of the entire interview package and, ultimately, the hiring package for the position in question. The behavioral interview process was deployed in three phases.  Initially, DOH-Broward implemented the behavioral interview process in 2012, as an additional stage in the interview process for supervisory positions.  In 2013 (during the 2012-2013 fiscal year), the agency expanded the process to all salaried positions.  Finally, in the summer of 2013, the behavioral interview process was fully deployed to all positions in the agency, including temporary and hourly positions.  During that period time, two additional behavioral event interview workshops were conducted, to train key members of the management team on the technique. The success of this process would not have been possible without the support of senior leadership and its formal integration into the DOH-Broward recruitment and selection practices. The workshops conducted by an outside consultant were instrumental in in the initial training of staff. By training management and supervisory staff to conduct the interviews, large segments of the leadership team bought into the process. By taking steps to avoid hiring candidates that ultimately would not be a good fit in the organization, DOH-Broward has reduced its exposure to liability, by minimizing opportunities for poor quality of care and poor customer service. The retention of existing talent, notwithstanding increased external pressure from an increasingly competitive job market, allows for a continuity of care and services to clients, keeping shorter wait times in the DOH-Broward clinics, and saving taxpayer money by avoiding the need to recruit replacement staff and incur training and onboarding costs (as well as the opportunity cost of the value of the institutional knowledge that is lost as employees leave). Finally, the identification of behaviors that are indicative of success employees in the organization means that DOH-Broward can commence early leadership training opportunities well before employees are thrust into leadership responsibility, allowing for a strategic and thorough development of future leaders and a supply of valuable “bench strength.” To ensure sustainability of this innovative practice, DOH-Broward has offered BEI training to community partners who have chosen to incorporate these types of interviews as part of the hiring process and plan to continue offering this service based on requests.  
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