The key to culture-based recruitment

As employers continue to look for culture fit over skills and capability, here are five tips in creating a recruitment process that specifically targets the sought-after aspect.

As employers continue to look for culture fit over skills and capability, one HR professional has offered her advice on creating a recruitment process that specifically targets the sought-after aspect.

Krisha Buehler is the HR manager and culture cultivator at virtual assistant provider eaHELP – she says there are five things employers should consider when hiring for character over capability.

Interview questions
“Assess your interview questions, and determine if they are culture-driven or performance-driven – you need both!” stresses Buehler, who says she focuses on getting to know candidates as individuals while also understanding their skills and experiences.

“I am interested in learning how a candidate has dealt with failure and opportunities, or what goals she set for herself and accomplished recently,” Buehler told HRM. “I want to know what’s important to them, how they are motivated and how they like to be recognized by others.”

Company culture
“Share the personality of your company,” urges Buehler. “We include a short video clip on our careers page that gives insight to who we are as an organization,” she reveals. “It's a great way to allow a candidate a small peek into our reality.”

Structure 
“Participating in a panel interview or having lunch with a potential colleague can be informative,” says Buehler. “Whether we do this may depend on the seniority and level of the position. However, we’ve discovered it’s a great ice breaker for both parties to get to know each other and determine culture fit.”

Give and take
“This is a mutual process,” says Buehler. “We stress that not only does the candidate need to be a fit for us, but we must also be a fit for the candidate. Every interview is an opportunity for the job seeker to assess us and ask questions to determine if we are a match.”

Profile personality
“Some organizations feel it's helpful to use a personality test to gain additional insight on the candidate. Examples of commonly used ones are DiSC, Myers-Briggs and Strengths Finder.”

This article is from HRM Online Canada by Nicola Middlemiss.