Hiring a top candidate is already a difficult process and after going through the whole process, you find out that the hire doesn’t fit into your company culture.  

So, hiring for a good cultural fit is one of the difficult tasks for any Talent Acquisition Team. How to know that someone will be laid back or excellent at work? The main question is how to know the difference between a candidate’s interview persona & how they are in real at work?

Why is cultural fit necessary for your company?

Let’s see the meaning of hiring of cultural fit. It means choosing the best candidate not on the basis of the job description but also for the company culture. You need to look beyond just a job fit, a person that fits inside your company culture.

When you are hiring keeping cultural fit as the main parameter, you’ll find the right employees. A research done by Forbes has found that 48% of the new hiring fails in the first 18 months because of bad cultural fit.

This is an alarming fact for employers when you consider the high cost of turnover. Another alarming statistic that shows that cultural fit is important, 73% of professionals have left their job because of the poor cultural fit.  

Hire Cultural Fit Employee For Your Company

Know your company culture inside out

The first thing is to know about your company’s culture. You might be aware of the way your team and colleagues work together. It’s another thing to explain it to interested candidates who will eventually fit into the dynamic culture. Observe and note down what your company culture is.

Company culture will be defined by how employees interact with a certain extent. And it’s different for each employee. For some, it could be expected to work late to meet a certain deadline or having a monthly birthday celebration. Here are some questions to know about the company culture:

Is the boss a friendly part of the team or authoritative and distant?
Is the office on the professional front or has a startup vibe?

Things like this will matter, the more you know about the company culture, the easier it’ll be to find a good fit.

A culture page is for your company’s website

You know about the culture of your company, the next part is to share it for employees to see. The best place would be your own company’s culture page. Describe the culture as clearly as possible.  You might leave out certain parts, instead, try to present them in a light manner.

Do remember not everyone has the same priorities in the company culture. So, when building the career section of your company’s website, you need to provide a detailed description of the company culture. This is great for candidates who want to confirm whether a company is fine for them or not. By sharing the company culture online, you’ll only attract candidates who are a good fit for the company.

Mention “Why to work with us’ in the job description

Now, since you know all about the company’s culture and include it in every job listing. Explain it in the description and mention a paragraph about what it’s like to work in the company. If there is an online listing, link them to the company’s culture page.

Now comes the tough part i.e. writing the description, including the expected working hours and the style of the manager. This helps you even with the careers page because candidates begin their searches at job listings.  

Try to be as detailed as possible, if you are one of the hiring managers, make some effort to include information about the job role and also expectations for the new hire. This helps the candidates to know whether they can work under you. If you are a team member, then take the needed information before posting the job listing.  

Be clear about the expectations & company culture during interviews

The interview provides an opportunity to hire according to the company culture. You can’t rely on resumes to see if someone is a good cultural fit for your company. You need to optimize the interview and ensure that it’s a two-way process. Let the candidate know that you are interested in his doubts.

The job of a recruiter is to determine if the candidate is able to perform the job tasks and can work in the environment. The role also includes keeping the employees happy and they looking to stay in the company for years to come. You can make it easier for the candidate by staying upfront about your company culture. You can be candid during the interview and be ready for some tough questions that matter a lot to candidates.

Ask the right questions for a cultural fit

There is a possibility that candidates don’t know the way to seek the cultural fit. They might not ask the relevant questions to narrow down the workplaces. Even after explaining your company culture and hoping that they are on the same wavelength.

Ask them questions, after all, it’s an interview process. Keep a set of interview questions, that helps the candidate to find out what they are looking for and if they’ll be a good fit in your office. The questions can act as conversation starters. This is how best recruitment companies convey the values of the company to the candidate.

Example questions to ask the candidate

How do you describe the work culture in your previous organizations?
What does your perfect workday is like? Can you explain it?
How do you maintain the work-life balance?
Tell me about the best boss you had? And what do you least like in a boss?
Do you work better solo or work as a team?
Do you enjoy socializing with your co-workers or do you prefer staying in a restricted boundary?

Check their references

Don’t miss this step, many hiring managers skip the reference check, once the offer is already given. This can be a big mistake as you can learn a lot about your potential candidates by simple reference checks.

When doing the reference check, ask the previous managers what the candidate seemed to like most about the company culture. You will get to know about the valuable insights on how a candidate works under certain conditions. You’ll also learn if the candidate liked their previous work.  

Make ‘finalized’ candidates meet the team

When the hiring is done for the company culture, this is another thing which is usually overlooked.  A candidate might have all the skills but you also want the new hires to get along with their existing teammates and with the whole company.

Schedule some activities that allow the candidates to meet their team. You could allow them to have a tour of the office and the place where they might be working. If teamwork is the only concern, then you can consider a test-project where the team and candidates work together to work upon something. You can also conduct a team interview and allow the team to ask the questions and encourage a somewhat casual atmosphere where you can get to know the candidate.

Make new hires feel connected

You need to make sure that new hires are in the perfect loop. A cultural fit can go awry when new hires feel isolated. They might not have a fixed working place or they are not able to log into the system or they don’t know the usual norms.

The best way to solve this issue is by making sure that new candidates feel connected to the business. Connect new hires to several internal resources and encourage them to reach out to mentors. Internal communication is important to make them feel like they fit into the team. Each employee can adapt your company’s culture when you explain them in advance.

Share company culture to employees via internal communication

Keeping everyone in your company connected to the company culture via internal communication. There are various reasons why people slip out of good cultural fit. It can be because of a new manager or some change in life can make them feel disconnected in the workplace.

Keeping the communication part open and sharing information is the right way to maintain the company culture. It can also help to continue to hire for a good cultural fit via internal hires. The main thing is to ensure that each employee is connected to the company culture via the internal network.

Conclusion

Hiring candidates based on good cultural fit is a hectic challenge but if done properly it can reap rewards. Through rigorous interviews and proper internal communication, you can improve the chances that a new candidate will be a good fit for the company culture.