5 Recruitment Strategies to Build a Team That Supports Your Company Culture
The culture of your company sets the tone for how your business operates. Therefore, when you are hiring new employees, you want to ensure that you incorporate recruitment strategies to build a team that supports your company culture.
What Is Company Culture?
Your company culture is defined as the “beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions” according to Investopedia.com.
Your goals, community, office setup, employee benefits, dress code, etc. are grounded in the culture that develops over time within your organization. While many businesses have a company culture that grows organically and is never explicitly referred to, it’s sometimes essential to strategically create a company culture or to improve the culture of your business.
Whether your company culture is discussed in depth or not, at a minimum, a business should identify what the general culture is so recruitment strategies can be appropriately aimed at hiring those to support the current culture.
Company Culture and The Hiring Process
When you identify the company culture of your business and employ recruitment strategies to build a team that supports your culture, you are impacting the attraction, selection, and retention portions of your human resources process.
Attraction
Points 2 and 3 listed below (website and advertisement incorporation) will help you to attract the right employees for your business who are a good cultural fit. Drawing the right people is the first step. If you’re going through the hiring process and none of the candidates fit your company’s needs culturally, it will be difficult to move to the next step which is selection.
Selection
Point 4 listed below (ask questions related to values) will help you to select the right employee. A mixture of their ability to complete the duties required for the position and their responses to your culture based questions will aid you in picking the best person for the job.
Retention
Keeping employees with your company can be difficult if they don’t fit within the culture. For example, if you are a very laid back, casual, teamwork-based business yet you hire someone who is rigid and professional to a fault who operates as an island, they likely won’t feel satisfied being with your company for an extended period.
#1 Develop Your Values
The first step in ensuring your recruitment strategies support your company culture is developing a set of values. This is done by first defining how you want your company culture to look. Next, review what your company culture looks like now and the changes that need to be made, if any. Finally, consider the resources you need to have in place to support improving the culture if necessary.
#2 Incorporate Culture on Your Website
Components of your company culture that are most important should be incorporated into your website.
The overall tone of your site can display your company culture. Your copy and images should be used to communicate your cultural message.
What does your “about us” page say about your business?
Consider incorporating employee profiles showcasing those within your business and speak specifically to the cultural competence they display that you’d want to see in others who join your team.
#3 Add Culture to Your Advertisement
When you advertise the position you’re hiring for, incorporate your cultural requirements or expectations into the copy.
Examples of ways to incorporate your culture are…
“Do you like working in a casual environment? Are you a team player? Are you looking for a job that feels more like fun than work? If so, you just might be the right fit!”
“We are seeking a goal-oriented, self-starter to join our busy medical practice. We pride ourselves on providing the best service to every patient regardless of ability to pay. As a pillar of our community, we are here to serve those in need. If you have a heart of service, please give us a call.”
“2 weeks paid time off, monthly team luncheons, 401K match, and casual dress code are just some of the benefits of working with Red Leaf Management.”
When you include information about the culture of your company within the advertisement, you are letting your potential interviewees know ahead of time the type of environment your business has. This is likely to provide you with a better candidate selection than you’d receive when making typical statements such as, “I’m seeking a highly qualified family law attorney to join our busy firm.”
Discuss Culture During The Interview
During the interview, consider discussing the culture of the company. Include things such as whether you are a proponent of teamwork, if you are a very technological savvy business, if the office offers a family-like atmosphere, or if there’s less open communication and collaboration.
Letting your potential candidate know this information upfront allows them to make a more educated decision regarding if they would even be interested in joining your company based on the culture.
It’s true that if an employee doesn’t fit within the culture of a company they might struggle to engage as well as those who do feel comfortable with the company culture.
(For more on improving employee engagement, download a free copy of my book, 5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement)
Ask questions related to value
Instead of sticking solely to questions about the requirements of the position, ask questions that would allow you to gauge whether the potential candidate would fit within the company culture.
Examples include
What values are more important to you?
How does an organization with effective communication look?
What is your ideal work environment?
How do you bounce back from failure?
Questions like the ones listed above don’t speak directly to their ability to get the job done. Instead, they speak to the candidate’s character. Their character is what will impact their ability to fit within the culture of the organization.
Choosing the best recruitment strategies to build a team that supports your company culture is vital if you want to attract, select, and retain top-notch employees. Incorporating the strategies outlined above should provide you with a solid plan of action to do just that.
About the Author Cindy Constable
Culture must be created, grown, and sustained by design over the long term. Cindy is a Culture Transformation Specialist for corporations. She uses a restorative process called A.I.R.R. to elevate your company culture and bring integration between your leadership, vision, culture, and team members to enhance overall performance.
