4 fast track ways to hire a good cultural fit

Great on paper but didn’t last long in the actual job; hires like this happen in all businesses. Whilst this might be because of the strains of the role or a re-consideration of career path, it is often down to a misjudgement of cultural fit. Hiring the right people for the business is a two-fold process and one that requires a close look at the way things are operating in-house before you look at whether your candidates are going to fit in well.

These are the some of the areas we look at to ensure great hires:

• Longevity - Look to those who have stayed within your business for a long time and find out why they have stayed and what they like most about working there. These people are key to exploring your workplace culture because as much as they are experts by experience, they have also been major players in creating it.
• Environment - Consider the characteristics of those who appear happiest working within your organisation and examine the ways in which the environment suits these people best. For instance, you may feel that your large open-plan office fosters a great social, energetic and lively work style and atmosphere. Those who are team-players and keen to get involved might thrive best here, whilst those who are easily overwhelmed and enjoy a small company feel might be better placed elsewhere.
• Values – What do people value most about what the company offers? It is a good idea to examine your EVP (Employee Value Proposition) and gage, potentially via an employee survey, which of the offerings employees feel are most important and most valued. Hiring successfully is as much about what the candidate can give you as it is ensuring you can give them what they need to stick around. If you understand your offering fully you can consider at interview whether the candidate will be satisfied.
• Work Patterns – All businesses have inherent work patterns which are more apparent to outsiders than they are for those who are part of the routine. It is worth taking a step back to consider how the working day takes place - the norms in your office might not suit everyone. For example, your roles may demand a longer working day than average which is compensated for with higher than average salaries. On face value your high salaries may attract new recruits who then discover the long working hours and don’t stick around. By identifying these elements you can present them at interview and deter those who would have been put off by it anyway at a later stage.

For more on better hiring, try our blogs, top tips on developing EVP and ways to improve the candidate experience or give us a call if you are considering resourcing consultancy.

About Resource Management: we provide a comprehensive range of services throughout the UK and Europe and specialise in the provision of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Manager Service Provider (MSP) programmes. We have been trading for almost 20 years, providing resourcing solutions to a range of blue chip clients from SME to FTSE 100 constituents.