A management title and a confident interview do not establish how someone will lead your team. Assess the decisions, coaching and communication the role needs—especially when the manager must work effectively across French and English.
Define the management problem you need solved
Is the team growing, missing targets, struggling with quality or adjusting to a new process? Specify the manager’s authority, team size, operating constraints and expected results. Avoid combining several different leadership jobs into a vague request for a “strong people leader.”
Distinguish what the manager can control from the conditions they must influence. A candidate’s proposal should reflect the budget, staffing and decision rights you actually provide.
Use a prioritisation scenario with a coaching element
A bilingual service team has a growing queue. One experienced employee is fast but leaves incomplete notes; a newer employee is accurate but slow. A colleague is absent and a key client needs an update today. Give the candidate a simple workload summary and ask for the first three actions, then a short French coaching conversation with the experienced employee.
The aim is not to find one perfect sequence. Look for a reasoned plan that protects urgent work, considers team capacity and addresses the quality problem without humiliating the employee.
Score decisions and behaviour
- Prioritisation: identifies customer impact and immediate risks.
- Resource judgment: makes a plan that fits available capacity.
- Coaching: describes the observed behaviour, asks questions and agrees an action.
- Accountability: sets a follow-up and a useful measure of improvement.
- Bilingual leadership: preserves clarity and respect across languages.
- Escalation: identifies decisions that need additional authority.
Watch for an approach that sounds decisive but shifts every difficult choice to someone else. Also examine whether the candidate listens to new information and adjusts the plan without abandoning the priorities.
Investigate past leadership results
When a candidate describes improved performance, ask about the starting point, actions, time period and other changes happening at the same time. What did they personally decide? What did the team contribute? Which part of the improvement continued after the initial intervention?
Ask for a decision that did not work and what changed afterwards. A useful answer includes responsibility and learning, not a story in which every failure belonged to the previous team.
Use consistent evidence without expecting identical styles
Provide the same core scenario and rating criteria. Have assessors record observations before the panel discussion. Different leadership styles can be effective; the score should reflect the role’s requirements, not how closely a candidate resembles the current leadership team.
OPM’s structured-interview guidance describes using common questions and rating standards. Read the structured-interview overview. Your scenario and scoring still need to be tailored and reviewed for the actual position.
For a senior or specialised appointment, a practical exercise is one input alongside relevant experience, references and other appropriate checks. It cannot establish every aspect of leadership in a single session.
Hire for the leadership your team needs
MS2’s management specialization focuses on coaching, prioritisation and decision-making through role-specific scenarios. Its published management recruitment option is $9,799 CAD per role, including the $799 non-refundable starting fee. Confirm the scope and terms for your search.
Published · 3 min read
