Maximizing Selection for Culture Fit: Part II

Dr. Marisa Seeds, Senior Consultant at Shaker Consulting Group

In my previous entry on Maximizing Selection for Culture Fit (Part I), I shared three tips that focused on using pre-employment testing to maximize your learning about candidates’ culture fit early in the hiring process. The remaining two tips shared below focus on using culture fit data to attract and engage candidates – that is, beyond measuring candidates’ fit and learning about where they stand, how can we use this information to further engage them in the hiring process and beyond?

4. Engage Candidates in Dialogue

Measuring culture fit in a fun, interactive way can create a positive candidate experience, but actually having a conversation with the candidate about it further shows that you value his/her needs. Therefore, one of the keys to maximizing the use of information on culture fit is to engage candidates in a dialogue around it. Conversations should be focused around both what is appealing to the candidate and a perceived match, as well as potential mismatches or areas of concern you or the candidate may have.

5. Make Learnings Meaningful

Finally, look for ways to make what you learn about a candidate’s key areas of culture fit even more meaningful for your organization. For example, if a particular cultural theme offered by the organization is especially important to a candidate, look for ways to leverage this in the hiring process through your conversations with the candidate. A dialogue focused on issues of culture fit can increase the attractiveness of the job and the company. In addition, look beyond the hiring decision and incorporate your knowledge about culture fit into the on-boarding and development of newly hired candidates.

Our Experience with Culture Fit

In collaboration with our clients, we have developed company-specific culture fit exercises. As part of the Virtual Job Tryout, candidates work through interactive prioritizing and ranking processes that ask them to think about and identify elements of culture which are most important to them.  This information can be used to provide immediate feedback to the candidate.  It can also be provided to the recruiter in a customized recruiting plan report.  As a result, recruiters are well-prepared to engage the candidate in dialogue about highly focused career change motivators and individual factors regarding culture fit.

Part One

This article provided by permission from Joseph P. Murphy of Shaker Consulting Group. Deliver an exceptional candidate experience with Shaker Consulting Group’s Virtual Job Tryout^®.  Obtain a work sample that predicts on-the-job performance. Identify best-fit candidates at the click of mouse. Click here for a 3 minute overview.