Will Your Candidate Complement Your Corporate Culture?
A positive company culture is one of the most often overlooked aspects of success in today’s competitive business landscape. Companies that focus on working through the prism of a consistent set of values, objectives and missions consistently exceed expectations. Meanwhile, organizations that fail to consider the importance of culture tend to get left behind.
The most successful corporations try to build from within to establish and preserve a positive company culture. What’s often overlooked is the importance of evaluating whether an employee will contribute to that culture.
What Are the Elements of a Positive Company Culture?
The Culture 500, an interactive online tool, scientifically ranks and compares the corporate cultures of the 500 largest companies in the world. Using employee reviews on Glassdoor, the tool has identified nine important company cultural values. These are present in companies whose employees identify their employers as having a good company culture. In alphabetical order, they are:
- Agility: Employees respond quickly to changes.
- Collaboration: Employees work well together, both within their teams and across other departments.
- Customer-centric: Employees put customers at the center of everything they do.
- Diversity: The company promotes a diverse and inclusive workplace.
- Execution: Employees are empowered to act, have the resources they need, adhere to process discipline and are held accountable for results.
- Innovation: The company pioneers novel products, services, technologies or ways of working.
- Integrity: Employees consistently act in an honest and ethical manner.
- Performance: The company rewards positive results through compensation, informal recognition and promotions. It also deals effectively with underperforming employees.
- Respect: Employees demonstrate consideration and courtesy for others and treat each other with dignity.
How Can You Tell a Candidate Will Be a Good Culture Fit?
It’s easy enough to tab the qualities listed above that you want to see in your candidate: adaptability, customer service, creative thinking, integrity, and respect. The trick is figuring out how to measure prospective employees for those qualities.
Cheryl Hyatt, co-founder of Hyatt-Fennell Executive Search, suggests including thoughtful questions that speak to a candidate’s intentions and motivations.
“When evaluating a candidate, looking at their experience and accomplishments is helpful, but the most important thing is to ask intentional interview questions and listen to their answers,” she says. “The purpose of an interview is for a candidate and a company to get to know one another, which is why it’s the perfect place to evaluate cultural fit from both sides. Interviewers should ask questions about a candidate’s values, approaches and career aim. A candidate should learn more about a company’s legacy, mission and strategy.”
ICR Can Help You Find Culturally Compatible Candidates
We are staffing, recruiting and HR specialists. You know where your organization excels and what it takes to make your business successful. At ICR, we know how to identify talent, create a flexible workforce and deliver customizable Human Resources solutions. Contact us today to learn more about what we offer.
