One of the great challenges in the routine of recruiters is to find candidates who adhere to the vacancy, that is, who have technical knowledge and experience enough to fill the open positions. For this selection process to be even more assertive it is necessary to also analyze its cultural fit, in order to identify if there is synergy between the candidate's and organization's beliefs and values. But, after all, what is fit cultural? What is its importance within a recruitment and selection process.
If the organizational culture is aligned with the candidate's goals and culture he will be more engaged with the company goals what if will integrate with the team more easily, fitting perfectly into the work environment.
In this post, you will learn:
- What is fit cultural;
- concept of organizational culture;
- what is the importance of assessing the candidates' cultural fit;
- how you can make these assessments to have more assertiveness in hiring.
Follow us!
What is organizational culture?
Organizational culture is the complex set of:
- beliefs;
- ethical and moral values;
- habits;
- standards;
- languages;
- internal and external policies of a company.
She is also responsible for define the way the organization conducts its business and how it relates to its employees and partners.
With the popularization of this concept, companies have become aware of the importance of strengthening and disseminating their culture, so that employees feel part of a larger objective.
In this context, we can say that the types of organizational culture are the essence of the company.
Having this well-defined culture is fundamental for what is cultural fit test, of the candidates.
What is cultural fit and why is it so important in analyzing candidates?
Analyze the fit cultural of candidates is an extremely important practice for:
- guarantee assertiveness in hiring;
- keep candidates motivated in the workplace;
- retaining talent.
Candidates not aligned with the organizational culture will often find it difficult to integrate into the work environment, which increases the likelihood of turnover.
THE high employee turnover can generate huge losses. After all, every time the company needs to carry out a termination process, it generates a high cost for the company, as it will be necessary to hire a new professional to fill the open position, investing more time and money.
>> HR Consultant UK created a digital book that covers everything about turnover and what are the main actions to reduce it! Just click here and you will access it right now ????
For this reason, many companies have given so much focus to the assessment of what is a candidate's cultural fit test.
What is cultural fit and how to make this type of identification in the selection process
1. Definition of the cultural fit sought
The first step is to outline the profile of the candidate that your company will seek. It is important to note that within the same organization there may be subcultures according to departments.
Have you ever imagined hiring a bold employee for a bureaucratic and plastered position? Certainly he would not adapt easily
So, when it comes to defining what is the cultural fit that your company is looking for, consider:
- behavioral skills;
- values;
- career goals.
2. Analysis of the behavioral profile
Each individual has characteristics, weaknesses and strengths that will determine their actions in different situations in the work environment.
These characteristics can be identified through behavioral tests applied during the recruitment and selection process.
One of the methodologies used to analyze the behavioral profile is the DISC methodology (acronym in English that means dominance, influence, stability and conformity).
This methodology was developed by Willian Moulton Marston, at Harvard University, in the United States.
It is known that each person has a dominant behavioral profile and this test is able to identify whether the candidate is one:
- communicator;
- executor;
- planner;
- analyst.
To arrive at the result, the candidate answers a series of questions, which allow to identify his dominant profile.
The result of this analysis will be valuable to detect if the candidate has what is the cultural fit sought by the company.
>> In this post we explain everything about the DISC Methodology – including its applicability. Click here and check it out!
3. Group Dynamics
The group dynamics can be very powerful to apply what is the candidates' cultural fit test in the selection process.
Through games and group activities that simulate routine situations in the workplace, it is possible to discover:
- the personality characteristics of the candidates;
- how they behave in situations of adversity;
- how they interact in teamwork.
These characteristics are often more difficult to perceive in an interview, so it is a very effective strategy.
4. Behavioral interviews
At behavioral interviews are applied in such a way that short answers or “clichés” are avoided.
In this type of interview the objective is to ask situational questions in order to identify how the candidate has dealt with adverse situations in previous jobs.
Examples of situational questions:
- What motivates you to wake up every day to go to work?
- When was the last time you made a big mistake at work? What did you do to fix it?
- How do you deal with tight deadlines?
- How do you manage conflicts in the workplace?
- Do you prefer to work alone or with a team?
- If I asked your co-workers from previous jobs about you, what would they answer?
Realize that through situational questions, it is possible to deepen the candidates' behavior in different situations, thus enriching the analysis of what is cultural fit.
5. Investigate the candidate's professional background
When investigating the professional background of the candidate, it will be possible to find out a little about the profile of the companies where he has worked and, from there, to detect if there is any similarity with the culture of his company.
If a candidate only had experience in very large companies, it may be that he finds it difficult to adapt to a startup, for example.
It is worth remembering that this data will often not be eliminatory, but relevant when associated with other information.
There are a number of ways to identify what is a cultural fit between employees and the company, but each organization will choose the most appropriate one, according to their processes and the specifics of each vacancy.
This content was produced by Compleo, a supplier of recruitment and selection software that helps to manage the stages of the selection processes, from the opening of the vacancy, disclosure, screening, tests, interviews and organization of all stages so that you can hire the best candidate in the shortest possible time.
To read more content with people management tips, visit our blog!