Recruiting for Culture Fit

[KarenM]

My company is investigating methods of recruiting for culture fit. We have a core competency model and have just developed our employee value proposition. We are deciding between adding a new core competency for culture fit, or assessing this throughout the other competencies.

I am interested in how other organisations go about assessing culture fit. Our aim is to be able to assess this objectively and through some fool proof methods.

Karen M

[Moz]

Karen,

I don't think a fool proof method exists, but certainly you should be able to develop something that is objective.

What do you mean by cultural fit? - are you including personal values or do you just mean things like attitudes to customers (internal or external), team player, tolerance for ambiguity (I love that one), and how people react in certain scenarios and environments.

Perhaps if you could give some examples of what you consider a cultural fit we can think about ways in which you can test for those attributes.

Cheers,
Moz

[KarenM]

Moz,

To fit our culture an applicant would demonstrate:

• Respect for other people;
• Ability to work well in a team environment;
• High levels of personal integrity;
• A passion for making a difference to the community;
• A commitment to excellent work; and
• A strong motivational fit with the role and what we offer as an employer.

We have examined using various motivational fit assessments, but none cover exactly what we are seeking.

Any ideas?

Regards, Karen

[Moz]

Karen,

What you are trying to do is quite challenging and there is no ‘silver bullet’ solution, if there were, everyone would be using it. But as you are no doubt aware it is a very worthwhile goal, because while you can teach people technical skills you probably can’t change their personal traits.

Rather than trying to use an 'off the shelf' solution, I would craft a set of your own interview questions which probe for the attributes you seek in a cultural fit.

Basically I'm talking about behavioural interviewing. While some recruitment 'gurus' are now saying this is ineffective because interviewees know how to answer the questions, I don't agree. The key is avoid using ‘standard’ questions that everyone else asks, also break the questions down into parts and don't tell them what you are looking for. You can also probe for the same attribute more than once in an interview to make sure you are getting consistent answers.

Firstly, I would suggest that you quantify what you are looking for. For example, what exactly do you mean by "Respect for other people". Can you think of scenarios where someone might exhibit certain behaviour or react in a certain way if they do respect other people, and what is the opposite that would indicate that they do not respect other people.

Ideally you want to to describe real life scenarios which the person is likely to have experienced. Once you have established that they have had that experience, ask them what they did, how they managed the situation. Then at the end what was the outcome. The situations do not necessarily need to be in the workplace, although it's probably best if they are. You may need several (3-4) possible scenarios just in case the interviewee says, ‘no, I’ve never been in that situation’.

Bear in mind also that there could be some gender bias.

I know of certain companies who produce an interviewing manual for their managerial staff which lists typical skills and attributes which you they might be looking for when hiring staff. Some of these are mandatory/standard requirements across the whole company and others are options and may or may not be required depending on the nature of the position.

However training is usually still required for line managers to do this effectively and consistently. Another option is to have HR people who are trained and practiced at this type of interviewing and they get involved in interviewing every potential hire.

I hope this is helpful

[KarenM]

Moz,

Thanks for your ideas, you have confirmed the conclusion that we have come to so far.

Our cultural fit is strongly linked with our values, and we have core behaviours as well as Branch behaviours, so we already have behavioural indicators. We are already using behavioural interviewing so it would seem that we are well placed to introduce a cultural fit assessment.

My other question was whether to include this as a separate competency.

We currently have five core competencies that we use as selection criteria:

- Communication
- Output management
- Conceptual, analytical and judgement skills
- Leadership and people skills
- Technical/professional skills (as defined by the role)

We are indirectly assessing cultural fit throughout these competencies, through behavioural interviewing and reference checks.

I am wondering whether to separate cultural fit and include this as a separate criterion.

I am keen to hear how others have approached this.

Regards, Karen