Employers who look for strong cultural alignment between potential hires and their own organizations tend to have the best recruitment results and ultimately, the most successful business outcomes. The most effective employees understand how to complete tasks within the context and culture of their companies, so by assessing the core values of job candidates, you help to ensure this critically important fit.
- When new hires fit a company culture, they quickly feel at ease, come up to speed, and mesh with their coworkers. Shared ideals cement these relationships.
- There’s a positive domino effect. Shared values lead to higher morale and engagement, which in turn leads to enhanced productivity. And, engaged employees are less likely to leave your company; rather, they choose to further their careers within your organization.
Ask the Right Questions
You should showcase your company core values throughout your hiring process, from your website and job descriptions through candidate screenings and interviews. Based on your organization and its unique culture, design interview questions that best reflect the attributes you’re looking for. Here are four examples:
“Tell me about something you’re learned during the past six months.”
A lifelong commitment to learning is a highly desirable trait in virtually any industry or role. This question not only addresses that quality, but also assesses a candidate’s curiosity, perseverance, humility, and willingness to collaborate with others and be open to new ideas and direction when necessary.
- Ask about something a person has recently learned and/or give them a pre-interview task to complete. Then, have them walk you through the process.
“Outside of your educational and work experience, describe something that has helped shape you into the person you are today.”
To respond to this question, a candidate must reach beyond their education and professional roles at life experiences that have influenced them and accurately reflect their personality.
“Describe your most noteworthy technical achievement.”
This question helps determine if a candidate has both the skills and values to succeed at your company. How they speak about their previous technical accomplishments and related work experience can reveal a great deal about how they would perform, as well as mesh with colleagues, at your workplace.
“Describe a situation where you’ve worked successfully as part of a team.”
Be on the lookout for a candidate to respond to this question by elaborating not so much on their own personal contribution, but on how they collaborated, shared credit, and achieved desired results while working in tandem with others. Be sure they can back it up with a solid, real-life example and ideally, the numbers to make it impressive.
PrideStaff Modesto can help you design the right hiring blueprint for your company, and then source, hire and retain talent around it. Whether your needs call for temporary, contract, temp-to-hire or direct hire recruitment, we’ll ensure that you see only candidates who meet or exceed your requirements and qualifications. Reach out to us today to learn more.
