Online and face to face training, coaching and events across the UK and Europe

Recruitment & Interviewing for Leaders

Make confident, evidence-led hiring decisions through clear role criteria, structured interviews and a thoughtful candidate experience.

Leadership asks you to make decisions, support people and deliver results — sometimes all in the same conversation. You may be the person everyone looks to while still working out your own next step. Having developed hundreds of leaders across the UK, US and EMEA, we understand those competing demands. The Lab is space to think clearly, practise honestly and grow the confidence to lead in your own way.

Managers collaborating in a leadership workshop
Thrive Training Lab

Explore. Practise. Make it yours.

Duration

1 day · 9:30am–5pm

Group size

6–8 delegates

Format

Online or face to face

Price — Face to face

From £1,999

+ VAT

Price — Online

Price on request

+ VAT

where understanding becomes useful —

Why this course matters

A strong hire begins with knowing what your team needs and recognising evidence of the ability to deliver it.

What you’ll explore in the Lab

Recruiting well is a leadership responsibility: understanding what your team needs, recognising relevant capability and making a fair decision you can explain. This one-day workshop helps hiring managers, team leaders and heads of department turn business needs into clear role requirements and a consistent selection approach.

Leaders explore how to define essential skills, prepare purposeful questions, probe for evidence and assess candidates against agreed criteria rather than first impressions. The focus is on practical hiring judgement, inclusive interviewing and a positive candidate experience, working alongside your organisation's HR policies and recruitment process. Delegates leave with a draft interview plan, an evidence-based scorecard and clear actions for their next hire.

a real challenge. a purposeful response.

The challenges this addresses

  • First impressions outweighing relevant evidence in hiring decisions
  • Interviewers assessing candidates against different standards
  • Interview questions inviting polished claims rather than concrete examples
  • Hiring needs left vague before interview plans are prepared

What this can change at work

A strong hiring conversation starts before the candidate enters the room. Leaders turn the role requirement into clear criteria, build structured interviews and probe for evidence without leading the answer. Candidates can be assessed more consistently, interviewers have a shared basis for discussion, and the business can make hiring decisions grounded in relevant examples rather than confidence, familiarity or first impressions alone.

Criteria before interviews

Hiring managers agree relevant selection criteria and build a scorecard before choosing the questions they will ask candidates.

Evidence through probing

Interviewers ask follow-up questions about concrete examples without suggesting the preferred answer or accepting a broad claim at face value.

Consistent candidate comparisons

Interview discussions compare recorded evidence against the agreed criteria, making differences in assessment visible before a hiring decision is made.

Inside the workshop

Delivered live online or face to face for 6–8 delegates. Leaders bring a suitable role brief or work with a realistic scenario, then develop selection criteria and behavioural interview questions. Facilitator demonstrations lead into interviewer, candidate and observer practice, with feedback on questioning, listening and note-taking. Small-group exercises compare candidate evidence and rehearse a structured panel debrief. We discuss accessible interview arrangements and how to involve HR in adjustments and policy questions; the workshop develops hiring skills rather than providing legal advice.

Make Recruitment & Interviewing for Leaders relevant to your business

Tell us where you want to make progress with defining the role around team needs and business outcomes. We can discuss suitable workplace examples, priorities and access needs before agreeing the scope. Choose live online or face-to-face training for your UK or European team, with delivery arrangements agreed before booking.

Discuss this course

What the training covers

The scope below sets out the subjects covered. Workplace examples and practice are shaped around your team within the booked format.

  • Defining the role around team needs and business outcomes
  • Essential criteria, transferable skills and evidence-based scorecards
  • Behavioural and situational interview questions
  • Probing answers, active listening and useful interview notes
  • Recognising bias and supporting inclusive candidate participation
  • Panel calibration, fair comparison and documented decisions
  • Candidate communication and the handover into onboarding

What’s included in your booking

Your booked time and format
1 day · Live online or face to face, agreed before booking · 6–8 delegates.
Included in every course
  • Interactive, facilitator-led learningLive, hands-on sessions built around practice and participation.
  • Group discussionsShared conversations about real situations, so people learn from each other as well as the facilitator.
  • Breakout exercisesSmall-group practice, role-play and problem-solving, online or in the room.
  • Take-away materialsCourse materials, tools and templates to use back at work.
Facilitated learning and practical application
The subject coverage, exercises and facilitator feedback described above, with space to connect the learning to relevant workplace situations. The workshop description sets out the specific plans, prompts or tools developed in this course.

Follow-up coaching, refresher sessions and additional delivery days are not automatic inclusions; any additions are agreed in your proposal. Travel, venue arrangements and any software licences are confirmed separately where relevant. Prices exclude VAT.

Outcomes

The capabilities delegates work towards through the training and practice:

  • Translate a hiring need into clear, relevant selection criteria
  • Prepare and run a structured interview
  • Probe for concrete evidence without leading the candidate
  • Compare candidates consistently against agreed criteria
  • Create an interview plan and scorecard for an upcoming hire

the next conversation is where it counts —

Take it back to work.

Choose a real situation where you want to apply the learning. Use it to turn an outcome into a manageable first step, then reflect on what changes.

Choose

Start with one priority: Translate a hiring need into clear, relevant selection criteria.

Apply

Try the approach in a relevant task or conversation. Note what felt useful and what you would adapt.

Review

Reflect on what happened, seek feedback where appropriate and choose your next step. Follow-up support can be discussed separately.

Bring this topic to your next event

We can discuss adapting Recruitment & Interviewing for Leaders into a keynote or large-group session, focusing on the themes most relevant to your audience. Depth, activities, timings and any follow-up depend on the format and package you choose; an event session is not a substitute for the full course.

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your next step starts here —

Ready to step into the lab?

Your business. Our training. Together, we thrive.

Bring the challenge your people want to work on. We'll shape a practical training workshop or coaching experience around it — with room to explore, practise and take a useful next step.

Start a conversation