Mix socially-expected questions with unexpected ones, as well as try to avoid head-on approaches (find workaround phrasing). Your efforts will be rewarded with details: they’ll provide you with more information because you may manage to discover unrehearsed answers. They’ll better show you what kind of a person you’re dealing with.
If you want to learn more about such revealing interrogation techniques, check out this
article. It features specific questions that will help you suss out the potential for toxic behavior and show what answers to expect from a good candidate and a bad one.
Already in the Team: Dealing with the ProblemWhat if the destructive element is already inside? Firing is the last resort. But if you want to keep the talent and avoid recruitment costs, you can try to figure out what’s wrong. See into the problem and find out if:
- The person was toxic from the beginning and started affecting colleagues, clients, and management right away
- The person seemed alright at first and started radiating negativity only after a while
There is not much hope if it’s the first scenario. The second one is more promising. Whatever it is, it’s worth trying to root out the cause and try to eliminate it. And the only way you do it is by communicating and encouraging reciprocal feedback.