Anyone who works in the Human Resources (HR) sector and structures recruitment and selection operations knows that finding professionals who meet the technical needs and demands of a vacancy with primacy is a challenge. And when it comes to compatibility of values, the process becomes even more complex.
In order to facilitate the operation and optimize the chances of success in hiring, companies all over the world are adopting the cultural fit.
Roughly speaking, cultural fit is a test applied in selection processes to assess the alignment that the candidate has with the values of the organizational culture and the organization's mission. Issues such as personality, soft skills, ambitions, expectations, among others, are analyzed to ensure more assertive and permanent hiring.
If you want further candidate selection tests, we recommend reading this article here.
To find ways to determine cultural fit, keep following this post. We have separated the main information about the test, in detail, that your company's HR sector needs to know.
What is cultural fit?
We know that all people have characteristic qualities that differentiate and resemble them or separate them and bring them closer, right? Personality, individual values, beliefs, tastes, public attitudes, among others.
In the work environment it is no different, this set of characteristics is considered during the processes of hiring to validate the affinity between the candidate and the company culture. As we said, cultural fit is responsible for this assessment.
Cultural fit is a compatibility test for both profile and objectives. In addition to unraveling character traits, the test also looks at the degree of flexibility of the candidate, his formality, the need for stability, the preference for horizontal or vertical management, his sociability, and so on.
Precisely because it considers the professional's intimate qualities, the test prevents wrong hiring and saves organizational resources, reinforcing its strategic importance in the selection process.
In other words, the cultural fit it allows reflecting if the candidate will be able to adapt to the central beliefs, policies and behaviors that make up his organization, with involvement and motivation that ensure his permanence.
There are several ways to determine cultural fit, later on we will explore the main questions that help in this operation.
What are the advantages of adopting cultural fit?
Some ways of determining cultural fit can bring more results than others, but it is a fact that whichever option is adopted, the advantages are significant. After all, having a team aligned with the main values of the company allows to conduct its development in a more strategic and safe way.
The following are some of the advantages that your business gains when using cultural fit.
More accurate hiring
Apply the cultural fit test optimizes the chances of HR to hire a professional more consistent with the requirements of the vacancy. In addition to contributing with relevant experiences for the development of the company, this candidate will certainly adapt to processes and coworkers more easily.
In other words, with more precise hiring, the team gains maturity and cohesion, favoring a healthy climate and more successful operations.
Some ways of determining cultural fit more richly explore these interpersonal characteristics that influence the quality of the organizational climate; the team HR you should be aware that they directly impact overall performance.
Optimized performance
As we pointed out, some ways of determining cultural fit assess qualities that reflect on the team's performance. When there is compatibility, there is no doubt that this reflection will be for the good.
When a professional identifies with the organizational culture of a company, he is committed to his mission, vision and values, and is proud to be part of this project. The satisfaction of acting in something that you believe stimulates motivation of this professional, so your income and performance are optimized.
Now, imagine having a whole team with this satisfaction. Finding ways to determine cultural fit should be a priority, Is not it?
Retaining talent
Another relevant advantage of cultural fit is the retaining talent. This is because, following a simple logic, who does not work in a place that is compatible with who we are and we aim professionally? So it is!
The greater the affinity of values and interests, the longer the professional will remain in the company and lower are the rates of turnover. The low turnover contributes to the maturity of the teams, since the technical qualities and skills of each member are essential for the development of the organization.
To ensure this connection, the ways of determining cultural fit must be carefully analyzed.
How to structure the cultural fit with quality?
First of all, it is necessary to get to know the organization itself in depth. Much more than knowing the theory, it is necessary to search the characteristics of your culture in practice! Only then will the test questions make a difference in the selection process.
Check out following a basic guide to prepare the company for cultural fit.
1. Examine the attributes of the organization
First of all, analyze general characteristics of the business, such as the type of leadership, the participation of employees in decision making, centralization or distribution of power, openness to new ideas, reaction to changes, culture of learning, quality of Communication internal, and so on.
It is important to know these more practical details because in addition to subjective characteristics, some ways of determining cultural fit may also involve behavioral analysis.
2. Define the real values that the organization shares
Evidently, values are pointed out in all organizational culture. However, are they really shared in everyday life? Often not. Therefore, for the cultural fit to be efficient, it is necessary to redefine, alongside leaders, employees and market references, the values that really reflect their culture.
All ways of determining cultural fit depend on this set of values, so this is one of the most important steps in the process.
3. Identify business gaps
Once this is done, it is necessary to identify the gaps in the business, know why values are not being lived by the workforce. Whether it is due to lack of identification, misunderstanding, lack of knowledge, lack of encouragement from the leaders or even, total contempt for the organization.
This reading will be essential to structure the strategies that will stimulate and reinforce the new values identified in the previous step
4. Create a Culture Code
The next step is to create a Culture Code, that is, a organizational culture code. Prepare official material that summarizes mission and vision statements, new values, rules of conduct, shared traditions and beliefs, tips on how to work and live according to these qualities, etc.
This code will help the different ways to determine the cultural fit to find a candidate compatible.
5. Perform selection by cultural fit
Having this information in hand, it is easier to trace the profiles of the desired candidate and the incompatible, which should be disregarded even if technically it is appropriate.
The test is usually applied in the stages of recruitment and selection, so they can appear on job sites, pre-selections, interviews, among others.
There are several ways to determine cultural fit and with this support material, your company's HR will have no difficulty in applying them.
What are the best ways to determine cultural fit?
Asking is the best way to get to know a candidate, so analyzing your responses can help determine cultural fit. We have separated some to help your HR team structure a smart and efficient test. Check out!
- What is your most positive personality trait, why?
- What is your worst flaw, why?
- Which values are most important to you as a person?
- What would be an unattractive professional environment for you?
- Do you prefer to work alone or as a team?
- How do you deal with different personalities at work?
- Do you believe you have leadership skills?
- How do you prefer to communicate with co-workers?
- Why do you want to work with us?
- How do you feel when someone criticizes your work?
- Do you agree with the phrase “Better done than perfect”? Because?
- Be the first to deliver a task or the one who delivers the best task last?
- Have you delivered any work that exceeded expectations? Can you tell us?
- Can you tell us about a project that has brought you great learning?
These are some of the questions that your company's HR can ask in a Fit Cultural test. But make no mistake, they should not be used all at once or always use the same ones.
According to the objective of the process and the profile of the vacancy advertised and of the direct work team, the test must be prepared. In addition, the ways of determining cultural fit can be adjusted according to the need and the learning gained from previous selection processes.
Therefore, make a careful study of your company's organizational culture, know all the details that actually define the business profile, identify the values that unite workers and the beliefs that govern the environment.
Ways of determining cultural fit can facilitate the search and hiring of a compatible talent, which will add to the institution's purposes. Your company's future depends on the success of that choice!
