Defining A Hiring Process (part 3)
Over time corporations, like people, develop personalities that define them. They can be inflexible or flexible, unfriendly or supportive, supportive of innovation or conservative in regards to change. This personality is also known as the culture of the company.
If you take the time to research corporate culture you will frequently run into the phrase “it’s the way we do things around here.” This is another of way of saying that corporate culture is the sum of all explicit and implicit factors that govern how employees act or react to each other and to customers. Explicit cultural factors are easy to identify. These are generally defined in your written policies and guidelines and employee handbook and may include dress code, traditions, employee comportment, etc. Implicit factors to corporate culture are harder to define and even may be at odds with you written policies and guidelines. For example consider dress policy. Your company policy may be business casual yet, due to how your executives dress, the unspoken rule may be “wear a suit if you wish to get ahead.”
The acceptable modes of conduct are largely self-evident to experienced employees. New employees on the other hand may suffer embarrassing faux pas due to not knowing or understanding what is required of them. It is beneficial, as well as less stressful if new employees can be briefed on all portions of your corporate culture, implicit and explicit, increasing the likelihood of a smooth integration into your corporate family.
In addition to smooth integration of new employees, knowing all facets of your corporate culture allow you to better select new employees whose personalities will best fit in your corporate culture. Doing so will save your staff and new hires much aggravation. To lessen the possibility of hiring a person with a less than compatible personality, prepare a questionnaire to be used during the interview process that can be used to determine culture compatibility. This questionnaire should help determine the modes of conduct / employment expectations that are most acceptable to a new candidate by offering a series of opposites and allowing the candidate to indicate his / her comfort zones. For example:
- 1. Team Projects ———- Individual Projects
- 2. Spontaneity ———- Well defined guidelines
- 3. Casual Dress ———- Business Suit
- 4. Competition ———- Collaboration
And so on. The candidate ranks themselves somewhere in between each extreme. These answers can then be compared to your known corporate culture and then used to guide questioning during the interview.
Most importantly be truthful about your corporate culture. Is your company a strict or well organized organization? Let candidates know. Is your corporation somewhat chaotic in day to day operations? Let candidates know. Different people thrive in different conditions. Finding those that thrive in your corporate culture increases the chances that they will integrate and work well with others in your organization.
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