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How to Find Out Whether a Job Candidate Will Fit Your Company Culture

You may know a candidate has the right skill set to fill your open position, but what about the right personality?

Hiring someone who fails to fit your company culture can be a very costly mistake. You rely on your employees to uphold your culture, and you rely on your culture to uphold your employees. Even the most qualified professional on the market won’t stick around long if this critical balance is not maintained.

Follow these tips to put yourself in the best position to make the right hiring choice:

Define your culture.

This is Step One. Your culture should be clearly defined and communicated to everyone within your organization.

  • Employees in every area should know exactly what you stand for as a company. Periodically reexamine your culture to be sure your organization is headed in the right direction. Solicit employee input throughout this process.
  • Your mission or vision statement is a good place to start. It doesn’t completely define your culture, but it should identify the core values that drive you and your employees to succeed.

Integrate cultural fit into every aspect of recruitment.

Start with your job ads. They should reflect both your brand and your culture. For example, if your work environment is family oriented, with perks like onsite child care or a pet-friendly policy, include this information.

  • Include culture questions in interviews. Phone interviews and other preliminary screenings should help gauge cultural fit. But that’s just the beginning. In face-to-face interviews, include behavioral, culture-oriented questions.
  • Let candidates do most of the talking. By incorporating open-ended questions into the conversation, you encourage people to speak more freely. Listen and observe, with minimal interruption. Create hypothetical scenarios and ask candidate to navigate them. How they respond will shed light on how they will fit into your culture.
  • Train employees to help make cultural matches. See how a candidate interacts with others. Select four to six employees from around your company to talk informally with them. They should ask about the person’s hobbies and interests in a way that helps you make the right hiring choice. Have these employees complete an assessment afterwards that scores candidates on a numerical scale. Ask for written comments, as well. Have a final debriefing session with the entire interview team.

Compare candidates to your current top performers.

Look for similarities. The more alike they are in terms of interests, motivations and overall personalities, the more likely you will make a good hiring match.

The talent management pros at PrideStaff Modesto can help ensure that every hire you make is the right one for your business and its future. We can help screen candidates, design interview questions and related hiring steps, and match you with applicants best suited to your unique needs. Contact us today to learn more.

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