Appendix 4

Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) Guideline

Developing Competency Catalogue
O!ective"
BEI technique is used to identify critical behaviors of competency to be analyzed. These identified
behaviors will be used as a basis for developing competency catalogue.
#articipant$"
The holder of position to be analyzed
Duration :
4!"# minutes
#roce$$"
Introduction and Explanation
The real purpose of this step in BEI is to establish a sense of mutual trust and good will
between yourself and the interviewee so he or he is rela$ed% open and ready to tal& to you.
Introduce yourself in a low &ey% friendly way and then e$plain the purpose and format of the
interview. E$plain the interviewee that the purpose of this interview is to identify the critical
incidents that the interviewee encountered on her'his (obs ) what the situations were and
what he'she actually did. These incidents will e$plore distinctive behaviors that distinguish a
superior performer and an average one.
Interview Process
The central ob(ective of the BEI is getting the interviewee to describe in detail complete
stories of critical incidents. This section should ta&e up the bul& of the interview time and
should provide specific details.
The list below could be used as a guide in conducting behavior interview:
*hat are critical behaviors to effectively perform the competencies listed+ *hy are these
behaviors critical+
,ow are these behaviors demonstrated on a day!day basis+ -ive specific e$amples.
Thin& of e$ample of superior performance for the competencies listed. and then drill
down and describe the behaviors and personal attribute associated with this level of
performance /as& the discussion participants to be specific during this part. 0or e$ample
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if they state that an employee must be e$cellent team players% as& them to give an
e$ample of someone /they don3t need to use names4 who has demonstrated e$cellent
team s&ills. *or& with them to understand why this person3s team s&ills are considered
e$cellent. 5lso% as& them to describe how this person3s behavior is different from
someone who is considered an average team player.
#ointer$ on %echni&ue
To effectively e$plore meaningful answers from BEI process% we might consider the following
pointers:
-et the story /incident story4 in proper time sequence. Try to get the interviewee to begin
at the beginning and ta&e you trough the story as it unfolded. 6therwise you may get
confused about what happened and who did what. Thin& of a time line running form a
starting point to a conclusion point.
0ocus the interviewees on real past occurrences rather than on hypothetical responses%
philosophizing% abstractions% and espoused behaviors. In this regard% we should always
probe for specifics by continually probing for facts: 7*ho said that+ *here did this
happen+ ,ow did you convince her+ *hat happened then+ 7
5void using leading questions or (ump to conclusion. 8on3t assume you &now what is
happening% or how the situations was resolved% unless the interviewee specifically states
it. *hen in doubt% probe.
1einforce the interviewee for useful response. Be appreciative of good incidents% detailed
descriptions of behavior and so on. 9ome people need a lot of encouragement and
stimulation to really get into the process of telling a good story. Be sure that you are
continually giving the interviewee plenty of reinforcement for what he and she is telling
you.
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