Interview Q&A Flashcards
Why you, why this role?
o I am passionate about the capacity job family and understand the importance of the role. When I got the opportunity to be apart of the Leadership Networking Circle, I viewed the capacity role as a starting point and to move forward in my career I’d eventually have to shift to the commercial side. It seemed like all the important people sat on the commercial side of the business not to mention I was the only capacity facing employee out of 28 women in my group. Over the course of that year in combination with the last two years as a leader, I’ve come to realize the capacity team is the backbone of who CHR is. We move product, we listen to the voice of the carrier, and we keep our customers happy from point a to point b with the utmost quality and service. I was completely wrong in my thought process and I’ve always aimed to lead my team with the knowledge and awareness that what they do is so important and makes a difference. The general manager position is that on a larger scale. You’re representing one of the largest capacity offices in the network and I would take so much pride in creating a culture of employees who support each other and support this vision that the work we do is important and makes a difference.
What steps did you take to prep?
o I connected with Brian, Krissy, and Brandon as well as Lynn to understand their day-to-day and how that is different from my own. We discussed challenges, importance of network, and future capacity strategy. Reflected on my time in my current position and made sure the things I liked to do aligned with this new position, so it made sense. After speaking with them and gaining a better understanding, this is what I want and I want to take on more and continue leading this team.
Major differences? why are they attractive?
Not managing people at the desk, you have a different sense of empathy towards employees.
Messages are molded to the larger team and the messages I receive at a GM level are very clear cut – break those down and make them attractive to the broader team.
Commercial engagement – pulled into many commercial conversations that can be customer facing. Be able to articulate CHR’s capacity brand and why we are the best choice.
o Why do those differences make this position attractive to you?
I am excited to take on more and I would with eyes wide open.
I have a great understanding of the team and feel I could handle articulating our broader message to this group knowing their history and how they work/what the appreciate.
I do know commercial engagement and speaking to customers would be a learning curve, but I already have a great understanding of our commercial partners and know them well after these last two years. I think they would trust my thoughts and points of view while also feeling comfortable on giving me feedback of where I can improve in these conversations – I have thick skin so I can handle whatever feedback they throw at me.
Definition of leadership? What traits does a great leader posses?
o Motivates, inspires, and communicates the broader vision in a way that is embraced by the larger team. They persist through challenges, willing to get creative and try new ideas to evolve, and willingness to make mistakes. They empower their teams to take on more and ensure the team is rowing in the same direction. Most importantly they exude passion and communicate that the work the team is doing is essential and important.
o What traits does a great leader possess?
Resilience – ability to bounce back
Lead by example
Active listener
Clear communicator
Inclusive and empathetic
Describe a time you’ve had a positive impact on someone?
o MORELIND (commercial) – remained calm when there was conflict and she emailed me after saying she respects my ability to not get heated and is going to try and lead with that moving forward. o Carrier who ran one load per day, 90% of the do a great job, missed 1 pickup. o Nasty email asking us to remove the carrier all together and the reps communication is terrible. o I met with the rep, explained the nature of the customer and why communication is so important but with that being said, he does a great job and here’s an opportunity to level set with your carrier partner so we get even better service. o Reponses back with a calm email noting the changes we will make in our service and working on a recovery option.
We are always looking to improve the carrier relationship with CHR. What challenges do we still have with our carrier experience? What barriers do we face towards creating a world class experience for our carriers?
o General customer service – we’ve greatly improved, but we can never lose sight of answering the phone and being a fantastic steward of the CHR brand. Our people will always differentiate us from our competition.
o Matching internal and external experience – every customer is treated differently therefore carriers know they have the option to shop around. If we paid a market based (hopefully profitable rate) across the board, I do believe carriers would be more inclined to remain in the CAP program and work with a specific rep which in turn would make this very carrier centric.
o Updated compensation models. We are creating fantastic platforms that are beloved amongst the carrier community. I hear about BIN all the time yet, we get stuck in our own way and some are challenging the evolution as they feel it’s taking away from their personal benefit. We need the right people on the team who sell in favor of these tools that ultimately are shaping CHR for the better.
What is your approach to change? As a manager, how would you support a culture that is open to change?
Change is inevitable and I believe our teams have done a fantastic job of adapting to that change over the past two years. As a leader it comes down to how you communicate the change so the team understands it’s only going to help them, not hurt them.
Where do you see the team in 2 years?
o 90+ reps
o Clearly defined roles and expectations (strategic vs. traditional brokerage – both add immense value)
o This team is unique – BIN group. Clearly defined SOPs and a process that pushes potential leads to a team that can then sell to those carriers strategically.
o What does success look like? Does candidate display vision/or a growth plan?
In simple terms – more efficient per person. How do we get our average from 16.5 loads/person/day to 20.
• Clear expectations – done, just apply them further especially when return to work.
• Commercial / capacity engagement – willingness to work together especially through times of change.
• Willingness to try new creative processes, evolve or fail, fail fast and learn from it with something new in mind.
• Positive culture across the team
Benefits and challenges of virtual team?
o Benefits:
Cost efficient
Larger talent pool if you’re willing to hire into this virtual team
Easily scalable – don’t need to necessarily put in more desks or office space. They take care of this at home.
Job satisfaction / healthy work/life balance – we needed some sort of flexibility. I love coming into the office, but I understand others don’t for a variety of reasons. Over the past year many have said, they are so much happier as they can spend more time with their families and save time on their commute.
o Challenges:
Communication style - Process change comes through much more authentic through leading by example on the floor rather than through email communication.
Lack of structure and distrust – 8/10 employees who opt to work at home have done a great job. But if you have 10% of your workforce who is disengaged in the last two hours of the day, it can break your performance goals.
Slow response times – Much more engaged at the office
Lack of office culture – You don’t get to know your team, peer-to-peer interaction. Manager is handing every issue.
Employees look to their leaders to address and successfully handle tough situations or challenges. Please tell us about the toughest decision you have had to make, and what was at stake.
Furlough covid - new hire vs. 2 year employee who had a 1 performance rating
Provide an example of when you’ve been successful in helping a sales employee advance in their career.
ROOTHEA, SANDJOHN, THOMDYL
What do you think is the most effective way to motivate and reward capacity employees?
Compensation models that align with company goals and individual models.
How to you approach and resolve conflict?
o Always calm, cool, and collected. I’m not afraid of conflict because it’s inevitable in any organization that is creative and progressive we are going to have points of friction when we’re trying to achieve something, but with that being said, I’m never willing to create a fight out of it because that makes us less efficient and creates a poor culture.
o Starts with a high level, objective approach. Gather the facts and aim to come up with a solution that is best for the enterprise and the external customer and carrier. We have a ton of rules in place in the capacity job family, but I’ve always coached my team to handle conflict and rule disputes with common sense. Yes, the rule may say this, but what is best for the organization. I ask them does it align with our values and goals that uphold brand of MPLS capacity? My team knows one of my non-negotiables is to always treat someone with respect and not create a fight out of it.
o When I think of conflict, there is always a solution that can be found through kindness and understanding of a differing perspective, and with those two values in mind, the commercial team has really grown to respect a lot of decisions that both I and the team make on the fly without asking their approval.
Give me an example of a time where you handled conflict and created a positive outcome for all parties?
VASEJOD Carrier alignment
issue that occurred, handled it fairly, outcome
How do you manage performance?
Set clear, concise, and straight forward expectations that align to our enterprise strategy while balancing the strategy of one’s paycheck (ultimately why reps are here).
Utilize our reports to spot check performance on a regular basis.
• Celebrate wins – big or small
• Monthly check ins – not traditional emaps but informal check points to see what is new in their business and ask questions if I see something shift.
Consistent performance management for underperformers. Bi-weekly check ins twice with specific goals, if not hit or progress, move them to a standard PIP with clear goals for the next three months typically avg. volume 2 load increase per month.
