Culture is extremely importa
nt to any organization. In fact, it’s the glue that holds many organizations together. You hear a lot of companies talk about how important it is to find people that fit in with their culture and potential candidates spend time researching and learning about the company, what they’re about, what’s important to them and what they’re planning for their future success. They also want to learn about what past and present employees are saying.
How do you find the right culture fit you may ask? When talking to potential hires for any organization it is important to dig deep enough to find out what’s important to them. What are they looking for in a workplace? What types of environments do they work best in? What is their ideal workplace? Why are they interested in the company and where do they see themselves in the organization? Do they seem to have the same beliefs that drive the company forward? All of these questions will help you figure out if the potential candidate would be a good culture fit for your company.
If you hire outside of the culture of the organization, you’re more likely to have unhappy employees. You want folks that believe in your mission, vision, goals and objectives. If you don’t have that, you could have employees that disrupt the organization and everything the organization has worked so tirelessly to build. It’s also difficult for the new employee that doesn’t fit well within the cultural framework that already exists. They’re constantly trying to find their place and hope to fit in. This distracts them from their work activities and again can be a distraction to those around them.
Something that would be beneficial after interviews, is to take the candidate on a tour of the facility. Let them see for themselves what it’s like inside the organization and how employees interact with one another. You will find that potential hires will share their thoughts on the company and what they witnessed. This will give you a good idea if you feel that they will enjoy working with the organization. It is also important to make sure they understand the long term goals of the company to ensure they see themselves with the organization making a difference. Consider opening up interviews to team interviews. While groups of co-workers might not always be able to articulate what they like in a candidate, they can generally give you a good idea of whether they feel the candidate would be a good fit for the team – and – will often see things in the candidate that you might not.
Finally, if you hire the right culture fit, know they will more than likely stick by your side through the good times and the bad times. They will understand change and be able to roll with the punches. Hiring the right culture fit will allow these employees to grow professionally and wish to be a part of the organization and share that information with others. This will also drive higher quality referrals, which all companies can use. Hire for culture fit and your chances of retaining awesome talent skyrockets.