Corridor Business Journal Does your company crave finding employees to fit your Company Culture

How often have you heard Managers complain that they cannot find New Employees who fit their culture? When I conduct a Talent Attraction Consulting Survey with a new client, this is a topic that often appears among the management priorities.
As we discuss the culture, we review how the client markets its Culture. Does the Company Culture match its marketing? Too often, we find the problem right in marketing. The marketing does not match reality. The culture may have been changed by a new management team – and no one thought to check the description on the candidate attraction website.
When managers are hired who do not fit your organization’s culture, they change your culture for their team. The root problem may be in one of three areas –
- There is no company culture.
- The people interviewing candidates were never formally trained on how to interview effectively.
- A poorly written job description that does not list current expectations.
Finally, many companies skip the key step to determine if a candidate is a cultural fit – The Reference Check by a Manager – Not HR! Consider the psychology involved in a reference check. If the person conducting the reference check with an Executive or Manager is in HR or is a Recruiter, the conversation tends to be an Adult (executive/manager) to Child (HR/Recruiter) conversation. This is especially true if the questions are lame. However, if the executive contacts another executive to conduct a reference check, the reference tends to be an Adult to an Adult conversation – and tends to be spot on. The new company is hearing the true stories.
During my 40+ Talent Attraction recruiting experience, several times the reference burst out laughing when I told them who used their name as a reference! This is the link to my Corridor Business Journal guest column – Does your organization crave finding employees to fit your culture? (corridorbusiness.com)