Behavioural Job Interview

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Interviewer: Thanks for coming in, Mateo. I'd like to start with a behavioural question. Tell me about a time you had to deal with a conflict in your team. Mateo: Sure. In my last job, I was coordinating a warehouse team of twelve people. Two of our senior staff disagreed about the night-shift schedule. One wanted fixed shifts; the other wanted a rotation so that nobody was stuck on nights permanently. The disagreement got quite personal, and it was starting to affect the rest of the team. Interviewer: What did you do? Mateo: First, I spoke to each of them separately, because I didn't want either of them to feel embarrassed in front of the others. I asked them to explain not just what they wanted, but why. It turned out that the person who wanted fixed shifts had childcare problems, and the other one was worried about fairness. Once I understood that, I suggested a compromise: a rotation, but with the option for people to swap shifts with each other if they had family commitments. We tried it for two months. Interviewer: And how did it work out? Mateo: Pretty well. Nobody complained about fairness anymore, and sick days on the night shift went down by about a third. If I did it again, though, I'd involve the whole team earlier. I made the decision with just the two of them, and a few people felt left out. Interviewer: That's an honest answer. One more question: why are you interested in this role? Mateo: Mainly because I want more responsibility. Your job posting mentions managing three sites, and I'm ready for that. I also like that you invest in training — I'd like to get a supply chain certificate in the next couple of years.