The recruitment process for any business can be a stressful procedure. Recruitment teams and hiring managers have to find those with necessary qualifications, sort through high numbers of applications, and prepare for interviews in order to find the best fit for the role.
It can be easy during this process to lose sight of one of the most important aspects of a new hire: how well they fit with the workplace culture.
Culture-fit, especially in a post-COVID environment, is immensely important within the recruitment process, but how to find it can be a struggle within itself.
“When you find employees who help your culture evolve into something that pushes your company forward, you create sustainability for not only your employees, but your product, your consumers, and your business’s future.” – Chris Gadek, Head of Growth, AdQuick
Post Contents
Why Should You Look For Culture-Fit During The Recruitment Process?
One of the biggest mistakes that a company can make during the hiring process is to look strictly at qualifications, but not at personality.
A person can be incredibly talented in a specific field, but if they lack the ability to participate in a workplace culture, they may not be able to succeed to their full ability.
Finding someone who is able to click in a workplace, who shares the same passions as the rest of the team, and who can grow and improve alongside your team can lead to long term successes for the company.
“At its core, cultural fit means that employees’ beliefs and behaviors are in alignment with their employer’s core values and company culture.
Finding employees that add to your company culture is important; as such, cultural fit should play a key role in your recruiting and hiring process” (Schooley, Skye. “Hiring for cultural fit? here’s what to look for.” Business News Daily, 2022).
In order to successfully begin to look for culture-fit while recruiting, it is important to identify what your workplace culture is.
Engage with your employees and discuss how your business functions, analyze leadership styles, personality types, workflow, and even how rigorous the work environment is.
Simply knowing these things allows you to include them throughout the job postings and recruitment process, drawing in primarily those who already have an interest in that specific type of workplace culture.
How Can You Find Culture-Fit Early On?
A great pitfall that you can avoid in searching for culture-fit in the early stages of hiring, is not to wait for the application to start looking for those who work well within your culture.
“As you create a job description and put out a call for resumes, create a description that talks about the workplace culture and encourages those who already have the right disposition to apply.” – Karden Rabin, Co-Founder, Chronic Fatigue School
Within your application itself, consider adding a number of questions, or asking for samples that demonstrate a person’s ability, and proficiency level within your unique workplace culture.
Doing so will allow you to effectively delineate between the best people for an interview, or second stage application and those who likely won’t fit within your company atmosphere.
“Culture fit is the glue that holds an organization together. That’s why it’s a key trait to look for when recruiting. The result of poor culture fit due to turnover can cost an organization between 50-60% of the person’s annual salary, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
But before the hiring team starts measuring candidates’ culture fit, they need to be able to define and articulate the organization’s culture – its values, goals, and practices — and then weave this understanding into the hiring process” (Bouton, Katie. “Recruiting for Cultural Fit.” Harvard Business Review, 2015).
Take Advantage Of The Interview
The interview has the potential to be far more than merely a series of questions or ability tests. When it comes to searching for good culture-fit in your company, an interview can be utilized to see how well a person functions and behaves within your company culture.
Don’t isolate your interviewees. Introduce them to other employees, see how they act. Give them a real, or hypothetical problem to solve within their interview, and allow them to interact with others during it.
This allows you to see how well a potential hire is able to function within your company’s culture and atmosphere.
Corporate Success And Turnaround
Most businesses do not want to be in a constant state of hiring, firing, resignation, and all around employee turnaround. The ideal business is hiring occasionally, while supporting a strong, medium-to-long-term team that is in a constant state of growth.
It is better to promote than to rehire. This type of environment is something that only comes as a result of employees who can step into, develop, and regulate company culture.
“When employees are happy with where they work, they are far more likely to invest deeply within your company, and produce a product or work that stands out within the workplace.
When you seek out employees who will not only be able to function well within your culture, but can help push it forward and grow it, you will be able to build a sustainable team.” – Fred Gerantabee, Chief Experience Officer, Readers.com
This practice also allows your business to create a strong community that supports itself. Both in personal, and workplace life, you want your employee community to be in a constant state of supporting one another, to be the catalyst of your business’s growth.
Cultures Change
“Company culture’s change, but there is almost always a firm foundational piece of who a business is.” -Jorge Usatorres, VP, Universal Diagnostic Laboratories. This may be a moral belief, a corporate direction, or even a common interest.
Understanding your core and looking for employees who won’t budge on this, but will help your company culture grow, or even heal, will set your business up for a long-term success, and prosperous culture that not only helps your business thrive, but attracts employees looking for a healthy and exciting workplace.
