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Hiring for Cultural FitA Guide to Getting the Right Candidates

Hiring for Cultural Fit: A Guide to Getting the Right Candidates // 1

Introduction ....................................................................... 2

Chapter 1: What Is Corporate Culture & Why Does It Matter to Recruiters? ....................... 4

Elements of Corporate Culture..........................................5

Culture & Recruiters ..........................................................6

Types of Corporate Culture ...............................................7

Chapter 2: Employer Branding ................................... 9

How to Attract the Right Candidates - Embrace Your Company’s Culture .................................10

Presenting Your Company ..............................................10

Seeing Is Believing ..........................................................11

Chapter 3: Assessing Candidates for Fit .............. 12

Exogenous & Endogenous Motivations ...........................13

Questioning for Cultural Fit .............................................14

Chapter 4: Closing with Culture ............................... 15

Talking about Culture as Part of Your Company’s Value Proposition ................................16

Conclusion - Your Bottom Line ................................ 18

Appendix - Understanding Your Corporate Culture .............................................. 20

About Gild ........................................................................ 22

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Introduction


In any business, having a strong team is key to success. Traditionally, recruiters look for the “right people” based on education, experience and potential. Every company wants talented, focused people on staff. But to build a productive team, it takes more than hiring for skills. It takes hiring for fit.

A successful company not only has a defined culture, but also hires people who reflect that specific culture. Employees who enjoy a company’s culture are more likely to be happy and less likely to leave. Low turnover means a more efficient staff. Similarly, having a defined set of protocols—whatever those may be—makes communication across and within departments easier. A strong company culture can be a market differentiator, a way to stand out from the competition and attract the right kind of candidates.

This ebook goes beyond the jargon to give you practical insights into your culture and the type of candidates that will thrive there.

What You’ll Find in This Ebook

The next four chapters of this ebook will explain the value of corporate culture, how to understand and identify your company culture, and how to recruit candidates who will succeed in your environment.

Chapter 1: What Is Corporate Culture & Why Does It Matter to Recruiters?

Chapter 2: Employer Branding

Chapter 3: Assessing Candidates for Fit

Chapter 4: Closing with Culture

The purpose of this ebook is to give you a greater understanding of corporate culture and show you how to make your company’s culture a market differentiator.

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What Is Corporate Culture & Why Does It Matter to Recruiters?Chapter 1


Corporate culture: we all hear this phrase, but what does it really mean? In its simplest terms, corporate culture is a set of values that guide the behaviors and actions of a company’s employees—everything from dress code to business hours to communication style. Every company operates on a set of shared assumptions, which make up its corporate culture. 1

Corporate culture affects performance. People who do well at a company succeed in part because the organizing principles of that company align with their work habits. For instance, if late nights are common at a business, night owls have a higher chance of success. When someone meshes with a company’s culture, he or she has a higher likelihood of being happy and productive at the company, and ultimately stay there longer. As a recruiter, you’re looking for individuals who not only have the skills to perform a given job, but also candidates whose values align with your company’s.

So what goes into corporate culture?

Elements of Corporate Culture

Culture is made up of many components. Edgar Schein, Professor Emeritus at MIT Sloan School of Management, is considered to be the father of organizational culture and development theory. He divides corporate culture into three categories:

1. Artifacts and behaviors. These are the tangible elements of a company (e.g. dress code, office jokes, and furniture style). Artifacts are the way a company looks and sounds. It is easy for outsiders to recognize this part of a company’s culture.

2. Espoused values. Essentially, these are the organization’s stated values and rules of behavior. It’s how the company talks about itself. Espoused values may include rules of behavior or what the company hopes to become.

1 Edgar Schein, Ph.D

People who do well at a company succeed in part because the organizing principles of that company align with their work habits.


3. Assumptions. While artifacts and espoused values are visual or articulated parts of a company’s culture, assumptions are often unconscious. The company culture exists within these underlying ideas. These values are so integrated into the professional environment that they can be hard to recognize from within.

Of course, no culture can exist in a vacuum. Corporate culture continually evolves with the people who join the company. The recruiter’s job is not only to find the best candidates, but to also maintain, or in some cases navigate, the environment of the company.

Office design, reward systems and value statements are tangible and malleable, while assumptions are deeply rooted and abstract. Assumptions include how employees view trust and support within the organization and its unspoken rules. Some cultural assumptions play a big role in how people view their jobs and careers, such as how to collaborate, office friendships and the authority of management. The right cultural fit leads to higher job satisfaction, more company loyalty and superior job performance.

Culture & Recruiters

A recruiter’s main responsibility is to find qualified candidates for open positions. In this job market, finding people who are skilled and fit into a given organization may seem like a Herculean task. However, the right cultural fit can help you get the most out of your next hire. It’s important to note that all candidates do not need to be cookie-cutter images of current employees, or possess superficial signs of being similar to existing employees. Rather, it means searching for individuals whose values and goals align with those of the company.

Office environments can limit the output of some and unleash the potential of others. That’s why it’s important for recruiters to understand their corporate culture and find candidates who will thrive in it. For instance, in an office environment where intergroup rivalries are encouraged, a competitive person may flourish, and a collaborative one may flounder. An individual who fits into your corporate culture will be more loyal and happy, and ultimately will do better work.

When someone meshes with a company’s culture, he or she has a higher likelihood of being happy and productive at the company, and ultimately stay there longer.


Similarly, failing to mention your corporate culture to a prospective employee is a turn off. Candidates know how critical it is to find the right corporate culture and office atmosphere. The right environment is often a deciding factor for many candidates.

“Money is always a strong factor, but it’s not the only factor,” says Jade Dominguez, a web applications developer at Gild. Dominguez has an independent spirit, and only wanted to work for a company that would trust him to create solutions on his own. Gild made him feel like he would have a chance to grow with the company. “They told me, ‘We’re hiring you to give us the answers,’” Dominguez says. Since trust was crucial for Jade, he decided to join Gild.

Types of Corporate Culture

There are infinite types of corporate culture and just as many names for them. The four cultures described below—Clan, Adhocracy, Market, and Hierarchy—are prevalent in modern work environments. You may find that your company has elements of a few of these cultures. Still, the differences among these types provide a good framework for understanding culture at large.

Clan: “Do It together”

Clan-oriented cultures focus on collaboration. There’s a family-like atmosphere that emphasizes nurturing talent, communication and doing things as a team. Work-life balance is important, schedules allow for flexibility and feelings matter. Success in a clan culture is measured in employee happiness.

Adhocracy: “Do It first”

The focus of adhocracy-oriented cultures is creation. These companies value risk-taking and creation over procedure. With little centralized oversight, companies expect and give developers the freedom to innovate. Independence takes precedence over coherence. Success in an adhocracy culture is measured in innovation.


Market: “Do It fast”

Market cultures care about results. Leadership sets clear objectives for the company and expects a high level of performance from the staff. Team members hold one another to exacting standards, and compete against one another. Management uses past successes to motivate employees to continue creating high-quality products. Market cultures can share the intensity of adhocracy organizations, but there’s a stronger chain of command. Success in a market culture is defined by high market share and penetration.

Hierarchy: “Do It Right”

Hierarchy cultures are highly structured. Efficiency, stability and procedure are important. Companies with a hierarchy culture have a certain way of doing things with predictable rules and direction. Team members are not expected to make independent decisions, and management does most of the talking at meetings. Success in a hierarchy culture is measured by dependability.

See the Appendix for questions to help you define your company culture.

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Employer Branding Chapter 2


How to Attract the Right Candidates — Embrace Your Company’s Culture

When you hear or read about companies that offer free meals, onsite massages, hold hackathons and have a decades-old legacies, you might feel like your culture is somehow lacking. But every organization has a culture, even if yours doesn’t make a show of what it offers employees in terms of benefits and perks. Regardless of what your company culture is like, it’s important you always discuss it with potential hires.

In the seminal book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, James Collins and Jerry Porras note only one common characteristic among all American companies that have maintained a high market share: hiring for cultural fit. Success can come in a variety of cultures. It’s about articulating your values and hiring with cultural fit in mind.

Presenting Your Company

Your brand is the gateway to your company culture. What you offer and the story of how you create it is a big part of how external candidates view you. External touch points like your website and social pages should reflect what’s special about your company. It’s not necessarily a recruiter’s job to find a compelling way to tell the official narrative of a company. However, as a recruiter, you can control the relationship you create with a candidate. The candidate is going to take every interaction—from an email to an interview—as a sign of how things are done at your company. Make sure that the tone of your emails and how you act during interviews reflects the culture of your business.

Not only should you reflect your company culture, it’s important that you sell it. What’s unique about working for your company? In this hiring market, recruiters need to be able to articulate the employee value proposition, a reason why your company is worth working for. You should be able to simply and clearly explain what separates your company from the others.


When Samantha Wang, a technical recruiter at Medallia, emails candidates, she includes recent articles and links to the company’s social media pages. There’s nothing wrong with showing off your company culture. Go out of your way to tell candidates who you are and what you stand for.

Seeing Is Believing

Of course, no candidate can get the full experience of your culture online or over the phone. If the candidate is local, invite him or her into the office to show off your culture. Décor and behaviors are the most tangible elements of corporate culture. While you may take things for granted, a candidate will gain insight into the pace and structure of your business.

Wang says onsite visits are crucial to her recruiting process. Medallia’s office, an open space with ping-pong tables, a ballroom and an ever-stocked kitchen, is the epitome of its culture. The company has flown candidates in from as far as Australia to get a feel for the company and office.

“Our culture lives in everything we do,” Wang says. “You can try to explain it, but once you’re onsite and feeling it, it’s a whole different thing.”

Onsite interviews and even happy hours give candidates valuable insight into your company culture. A trial day at the office will give your recruits a deeper understanding of the workflow, communications and atmosphere.

Bringing a candidate into your office also gives the recruit a chance to meet employees, each of whom are a reflection of your corporate culture. For Jade Dominguez, web application developer at Gild, lunch with his potential coworkers was part of what sold him on the company. “Everyone took time out to meet with me,” he says. “It gave me an immediate feeling that everyone was onboard, and a sense that this [company] was a family. That warm welcome really helped.”

“Our culture lives in everything we do [at Medallia]. You can try to explain it, but once you’re onsite and feeling it, it’s a whole different thing.”

~ Samantha Wang, Recruiter, Medallia

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Assessing Candidates for Fit Chapter 3


So now that we understand the role culture plays in recruitment, how do you know who will thrive in your company’s environment? Eager for a chance to work on a project with your company, some candidates may overstate their ability to fit into your culture.

A candidate isn’t necessarily lying. Every culture has its own appeal. After all, working at a company that places importance on employee happiness is attractive, but so is working at a company where employees have the freedom to work on their own projects. These two traits come from clan and adhocracy cultures respectively, and the environment at each is quite different.

It can take some work to really understand a candidate and what inspires him or her. Resumes and LinkedIn profiles offer a few clues. “Sometimes there are hints in their experience or what they’ve written. But I don’t think there’s anything you can put your finger on. It’s more of an overall feel,” says Samantha Wang of Medallia. “To gain a deeper understanding of a candidate, I meet the applicant and ask about motivations.”

When interviewing, Wang tries to get to the bottom of what truly inspires candidates. “Of course, we want to be sure that a candidate will be successful in the role, but we also like to have a conversation to understand someone’s motivations,” she says. Questions about passions, drivers and learning moments are a good way into a candidate’s psyche and work ethic.

Exogenous & Endogenous Motivations

Another hiring consideration is understanding how a candidate is motivated. There are two main types of motivations: exogenous and endogenous. Those motivated by exogenous factors are motivated by external elements, like reaching a specific goal or having a certain title. These individuals may have a high Gild Demand score, for example, and excel where tasks are clear and success is definable.

http://www.gild.com/score-candidates/


Endogenous learners are self-motivated and curious. If you come across someone with a high Gild Expertise score and a relatively low Demand score, you may have found an endogenous learner. This candidate wants to learn, regardless of the rewards. They may do better at a clan culture, which encourages community and asking questions, and an adhocracy, which rewards their drive.

Questioning for Cultural Fit

Asking the right questions encourages an applicant to talk about more than just past work experience. This list of culture questions will give you better insight into how a candidate will fit in with your culture:

• What is your ideal work environment?

• What would your ideal work day include?

• What keeps you from doing your best work?

• What are you looking for in an organization?

• What did you like about past office cultures?

• What have you not liked?

• What piece of work are you most proud of?

• Do you like working alone?

• How do you view this company’s culture?

Answers to these questions should give you insight into your candidates. Be honest with yourself: Will this person, regardless of credentials, do his or her best work in your environment? Don’t be afraid to turn down a qualified applicant who won’t thrive in your culture. Your company’s long-term success depends on hiring people who reflect your company values.

http://www.gild.com/score-candidates/

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Closing with CultureChapter 4


In this ebook, we analyzed the value of hiring for cultural fit. A company with a strong culture is set up for success. Employees who fit in with that culture are more likely to do their best work and remain loyal to the company. A strong culture fosters clear responsibilities and communications, and promotes harmony between coworkers.

Recruiting for cultural fit has obvious benefits. But in closing a job offer, a good recruiter must think of the candidate and what will motivate him or her to sign. There’s a limit to the package you can offer. You can’t change the salary range for the position you’re recruiting for.

But money isn’t the only motivator. For many candidates, the money will be good—or good enough—anywhere. Salary is only a part of how people see their job. You can frame the offer in a way that connects to your company culture and makes your job offer stand out.

Talking about Culture as Part of Your Company’s Value Proposition

Like the product your business sells, working for your company has a specific value proposition. You should be able to clearly explain to a candidate why he or she would want to work for your company instead of your competitor’s, and culture should be part of the sale. Below are potential closing lines when making a job offer for each type of culture:

• Clan: You’ll be part of a team.

• Adhocracy: You’ll do what you want.

• Market: You’ll be working with the best.

• Hierarchy: You’ll know what you’re doing.

Like the product your business sells, working for your company has a specific value proposition. You should be able to clearly explain to a candidate why he or she would want to work for your company instead of your competitor’s, and culture should be part of the sale.


Each sentence means different things to different people. Some people hate structure while others hate independence. A pitch this simple only works on someone who will connect with your culture. The good news is that if the pitch fails, the candidate wouldn’t do well at your company anyway.

As a recruiter, you’re not just filling an opening or finding someone who will do well at the job. You need someone who will love both the job and the company.

That’s how Samantha Wang of Medallia recruits: “We hire candidates who will love to come to work every day,” she says. “If a candidate doesn’t enjoy our culture, chances are they won’t fit in with our team or enjoy the work.”

“We hire candidates who will love to come to work every day. If a candidate doesn’t enjoy our culture, chances are they won’t fit in with our team or enjoy the work.”

~ Samantha Wang, Recruiter, Medallia

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Conclusion


Your Bottom Line

Traditional recruiting focuses on finding the best candidates. But there’s a limit to the number of elite, A-players out there with standout pedigrees. No matter what field you’re in, there are only so many candidates who are “the best.” There’s also the reality of how much these candidates cost and how much they cost to recruit.

How can recruiters get the most out of the available talent? Simple: recruit for culture, as well as skill. If you hire for potential, a candidate who might not seem impressive on paper could produce incredible work in the right environment. Not only can these candidates be more cost effective to recruit than “perfect on paper” individuals, they can also do the same quality of work in the right culture.

Developing a distinct corporate culture and recruiting candidates who will thrive in that environment is a competitive advantage. Employee satisfaction and retention will increase, and the company as a whole will communicate better since the staff has the same social expectations. Recruiting for culture fit can save money, both in turnover and payroll.

Whatever type of culture you have—whether it’s a hierarchy or adhocracy—show it off. The right candidate will be attracted to the right company culture for him or her. Ultimately, creating a team of people who can thrive in your corporate culture will lead to better efficiencies in hiring, retention and workplace communication. Most importantly, the people who make up your company will be happier and do better work.

“People are assets,” says Jade Dominguez of Gild. “If you treat them right, they’re going to pay off dividends.”

Visit Gild’s website for more free ebooks and whitepapers on tech hiring best practices.

http://www.gild.com/resources/

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Appendix


Understanding Your Corporate Culture

Not sure exactly what kind of culture your company has?

Here are some questions to get you thinking:

• What is the atmosphere like at your company?

• How do colleagues interact with one another?

• What does your company value?

• What is the most interesting thing about your company?

• How are conflicts handled?

• Are jokes told and retold?

• Who does most of the talking at meetings?

• How would you describe your office layout and design?

• Are processes and procedures important?

• What is the value of creativity and risk taking?

After answering these questions and thinking at large about your company culture, you should be able to place your company into a clan, adhocracy, market, or hierarchy culture.

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To Learn Moreemail [email protected] call (800) 664-2366 visit www.gild.com

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