The culture imperative

Culture has become THE buzz word in today’s workplace – from small businesses to large corporate environments.  During the hiring process, culture is often a big topic of discussion, and very well should be, in an effort to make certain that new employees will fit well within an organization. Companies that have developed strong, unique cultures are using them as key differentiators when hiring people and are winning the war on talent.

In a word, culture is critical to the workplace.  It defines winning companies, is the cornerstone of retention and recruitment and plays a leading role in defining a company’s brand. 

A company’s corporate culture is truly one of those things that’s hard to describe or breakdown and exists as really much more of a “feel.”  It’s a very powerful element that ultimately helps shape a workplace – providing a loose set of rules for collaboration and a focus on shared values, attitudes, behaviors.    Office culture is often initiated by the founder or top executives, but is actually defined by the make-up of its employees and carried through by the experiences they bring to the workplace and their contributions.

One of my favorite quotes, which embodies this exact sentiment, comes from Simon Sinek, author of the book Start with Why, and someone who has influenced the way we approach culture in our own office.  “If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.”

As more and more companies continue adding jobs this year, maintaining and/or shifting corporate culture will be a high priority and will absolutely define the industry leaders as they compete for the elite.  Candidates who seem the most compatible with a company’s culture are likely to be the best fit and will make strides to ensure the ongoing success of the company.  

“In a key role, such as a sales position, it was very important to us to be able to hire someone who not only ‘fit in’ with our other employees, but a person who would be able to articulate our culture and vision to potential clients,” says Sandra Osborn, VP of Sales, Discovery Outsourcing.

Whether you handle recruiting internally or outsource to a talent acquisition or Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) firm, a deep understanding of your corporate culture is a must to capture the best candidates and allow them the move the culture forward.   It is also the responsibility of all those involved in the hiring process to help express the culture of the organization and select the best candidates based on this and other critical factors.  Good outside recruiting firms will take the time to immerse themselves in a company’s corporate culture in an effort to help identify those most appropriate for the position.

The interview process is the ideal time to assess a candidates cultural fit.  As companies strive to lower their cost per hire, reduce turnover and increase productivity, the screening and selection process needs to include cultural fit as an important element.  While nothing will replace the intense focus on a candidates’ qualifications and professional expertise, those who stand out an ideal cultural fit will likely get the nod — helping the entire organization work more comfortably, effectively and efficiently.

The interview process helps both job seekers and hiring managers get a feel for how potential employees will fit based on their personality, values and past experience.  Adding potential team members and/or direct supervisors to the interview process will build consensus on the best candidate for the job – as it relates to both experience and cultural fit.  While there are certainly questions that do not belong in an interview process, asking pointed questions to engage the job seeker and create dialogue will provide a forum for assessing a candidate’s fit.   The following are a few suggestions.

• What are you most proud of during the time you spent at company X?
• What were the reasons you left your previous job?
• What did you like and dislike about the team dynamics with your previous employers?
• Describe the corporate culture at your last company and what you liked and disliked about it?
• What would you do if management made a decision you didn’t agree with?
• When you evaluate a potential company to work for, what are some of the important values that you look for?
• What will make you love coming to work here every day?

As companies engage in hiring new employees and continue to shape their brands, it is the crucial to bring cultural fit to the forefront of the recruiting process. Those who embrace the role culture plays in high performance organizations will be one step closer to recruiting and retaining top talent.