Have you ever hired that remarkably experienced, impressively skilled employee who just doesn’t seem to fit in with your company culture? You thought the new hire shared your values and would adjust well to your workplace, but for some reason the employee blends in not better than a tiger inside of a house.
What can you do to reduce the chances of a bad hire? Hire for your culture. Look for candidates with the most applicable skills and most relevant experience, but more importantly, look for the candidates who want to put their knowledge and talents at the service of your mission. Skills and experience only matter if the person who has them contributes to the excellence of your organization.
Here are three strategies you may use to hire for your culture:
- Explain your company values and expectations. The interview process is not just about the applicants; it is also about you and your organization. When you are discussing the job requirements, be sure to tell the applicants about your organization. Where have you been and where are you going? Make sure you are up front and concrete about what your company values are, how your company follows them, and how you expect every employee to adhere to those values. Be sure to mention the behaviors and habits you want to see in an employee. Ask applicants why they may want to work in your specific culture, and then press them for specifics.
- Bring employees from various departments into the interview sessions. Your organization is comprised of people with various backgrounds, expertise, and perspectives. Your employees have their own ways of participating in and contributing to the company culture. Take advantage of these differences by inviting employees from various departments to participate in the interviews. The more diverse your interviewers are, the more likely you will be able to spot a red flag before extending a job offer.
- Ask about specific behaviors. When questioning candidates and their references, ask about their preferred way of doing things. Not just what they do, but also how they do it. Have applicants name the values that matter the most to them and what they did in their previous jobs to live up to those values. Ask about large long-term projects and small day to day operations. You can often tell a lot about an applicant’s character by their disposition toward the necessary tasks of an organization.
You can no longer afford to make any kind of assumptions about an applicant’s fit with your culture than you can about their skills, expertise, and experience. You can expect evidence of an applicant’s qualities and accomplishments ; require evidence of a cultural fit as well. Make your hiring decisions as evidence-based as possible.
Interviewing is clearly one of the most important steps in the recruiting process, but it also creates a situation in which employers may be swayed by factors that aren’t relevant to whether someone will be a great employee. For instance, the candidate that is the most fun to talk with, happens to share the same hobbies as you, or appears to have the nicest wardrobe, may not be the best fit for your culture or the position. Keep your company’s core values (ann your questions) at the forefront of your mind while interviewing, and remember that diversity in the workplace is good for the bottom line.
One of the services CyQuest offers is employee recruiting tailored to your needs. We will post your openings, review resumes, perform interviews, verify experience, perform reference checks, background investigations, and more! This process saves you time while also ensuring a process without bias or discrimination. We will present only the top candidates for in person interviews. Contact us today for your recruiting needs!