Hiring for Culture Fit
“Culture Fit” is
something we hear a lot about these days in HR strategy discussions. But what
exactly does culture fit mean? Organizational culture refers to the
beliefs, ideologies, principles and values that the individuals of an
organization share. And In short – culture
fit simply means hiring someone
who fits within the organizational
culture of company.
The Importance
of Organizational Culture:
While on the surface cultural fit may not
seem like a critical factor in the hiring process it is arguably one of the
most important selection criterion. Employees who do not fit-in with your
culture negatively affect those around them. They can stifle the enthusiasm,motivation and
dynamics of your team. And poor employee
motivation diminishes the productivity and
profitability of your organization.
In contrast, hiring for culture fit increases employee
engagement. And an employee who embraces your company’s
values, and finds purpose in the work that he
or she does for your organization, is much more likely to add value as an
individual team player. They’ll also energize those around them resulting in
increased employee
motivation and employee
productivity.
That’s why culture fit has become
ultra-important today for companies hiring new
employees. For some culture fit is even
more important than skills. Read about what Richard Branson has to say
about hiring for cultural fit.
While the right skills are always
preferred, they can also be taught. But it's very difficult to “teach” someone
to fit into your corporate
culture. That’s why companies like Zappos are
going to great lengths to ensure that their new hires are a good culture fit.
The Zappos Hiring Philosophy
Zappos.com is a billion dollar, online shoe
and clothing shop currently based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s also one of Fortune’s Top 100 Best Companies to Work For.
But if you want to get hired at Zappos you
need more than just the right skills. For Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh maintaining
their corporate culture is
an important part of their hiring plan. If job candidates are not a
good fit with the Zappos Family Core Values then
they just don’t make the cut.
“We’ve actually passed on a lot of really
smart, talented people that we know can make an immediate impact on our top or
bottom line, but if they’re not good for the company culture, we won’t hire them
for that reason alone,” says Tony Hsieh.
The Value of Values
Why are company values important? Tony Hsieh highlights
a very important aspect of hiring for culture fit in the above excerpt. It all
hinges on finding job candidates who are a good fit with your company values. WHY?
Because when you hire someone who is not right for the corporate culture they
will not fit in with the team. They will not fit in with the way that people do
things in the company. And worse case may end up negatively changing the
culture or having to leave the company.
Even if your company already has a list of
core company values your
team will have different values. This is because the company values are
aspirational but teams are made up of different individuals. To understand the
actual values of
the team you can do a values assessment of
your team. To understand how a prospective hire would fit in with the team,
compare their values assessment to the team. (Free Download:
Values Assessment Link)
Now let’s take a look at the interview techniques Zappos uses to evaluate job candidates for culture fit.
The Weird, The Wonderful and The
Bizarre…
That Zappos places such high value on culture fit is completely understandable. It’s how they go about hiring for the perfect culture fit that has raised eyebrows.
Interview Technique #1: The
Social Test
According to Rebecca Henry, the former Director of Human Resources for
Zappos, the recruitment process at Zappos is more like a
courtship than a traditional recruitment.
Ms. Henry, for example, interacted with Zappos' employees in a variety
of social settings for four months before they hired her.
While the social test may not be as demanding for every job, before making
a hiring decision, job candidates will meet with multiple
Zappos employees. This usually involves attending some type of department or
company event enabling the employees who are not interviewing to meet the
prospective employee informally.
Now this may sound like a really fun and creative way to evaluate job
candidates but it’s also one interview technique that’s
come under a lot of scrutiny.
One jaw-dropping comment comes from the now-head of human resources at
Zappos, Rebecca Ratner. ‘‘I had three vodka shots with Tony (Hsieh) during my
interview.’’
If this interview technique appeals to you
then the lesson to be learned from Zappos is quite simple. Social testing is a
great interview technique and a good way for employees and
team members to evaluate job candidates. It’s also a great test for culture
fit. But it’s also an interview technique that you can
implement sensibly.
We definitely recommend that job candidates be interviewed by a broader
audience – especially those that they will have a close working relationship
with. In lieu of a formal interview, consider arranging for candidates to meet
with other employees over coffee.
What we like about the technique is that Zappos acknowledges that how a
person fits in with the rest of the team and the organization is important.
Being liked by the boss doesn’t automatically mean the candidate will get on
well with their peers and other important stakeholders. Too often bosses make
autocratic hiring decisions that impact other people.
We also like the fact that Zappos takes so much care and attention to
evaluate new hires. Making a bad hire has serious consequences. Zappos has
their unconventional methods but there are other ways to achieve the same
objectives.
Interview Technique #2: The “Nice Guy” Test
In a recent video interview with The Wall Street Journal, Zappos
CEO Tony Hsieh revealed a clever technique the company uses to make sure their
new hires aren't only a good culture fit but also good people. The
deciding factor - even if you make an amazing impression in the interview, if
you're rude to your ride from the airport, you aren't getting the job.
"A lot of our job candidates are from
out of town, and we'll pick them up from the airport in a Zappos shuttle, give
them a tour, and then they'll spend the rest of the day
interviewing," Hsieh
says. "At the end of the day of interviews, the recruiter will circle
back to the shuttle driver and ask how he or she was treated. It doesn't matter
how well the day of interviews went, if our shuttle driver wasn't treated well,
then we won't hire that person."
Such a clever yet simple interview technique and
it gives you real-life insight to job candidates before you make any hiring decisions.
Your job candidates won’t always arrive by company shuttle but they will always
be greeted by a receptionist or personal assistant.
Interview Technique #3: The
Service Test
A core value at Zappos is creating WOW
customer service experiences. So if you are hired by Zappos, you can expect to
spend the first 4 weeks in your new job manning phones in their call centre
learning how to respond to customer needs.
In an interview with Christa Foley, recruiting
manager at Zappos, the process “really immerses new hires into our culture,
what our core values mean, how we live them, what our expectations are of each
employee to help maintain and grow our culture.”
Now I really like this test. People make an
organization but customers keep them afloat. What better way to get your new
hires to buy into the philosophy of service excellence than by making them walk
the talk. If customer service is key to your corporate culture then this is an
excellent culture fit test.
Four weeks may be a bit lengthy but a few days in customer service is a good
way for new hires to learn about your products and services.
Interview Technique #4: The
Ultimate Test
About one week into their call centre
training, Zappos offers employees $3,000.00 to leave the company. No – we’re
not making this up. $3,000.00 to leave – and this is around 4 weeks of pay for
the employees.
If candidates haven't become Zappos
insiders, committed to the values and culture, then the company really prefers
that they leave. There is however one stipulation - take the money and you can
never come back.
While this may sound like a very attractive
offer, according to Tony Hsieh only 2% to 3% of people take the
offer. The other 97% say no deal—they choose the job over the instant cash.
Ingenious to say the least.
If you’re willing to take the company up on
The Offer, you obviously don’t have the sense of commitment they are looking
for. That’s why this tactic ensures that Zappos ends up with new hires who are
committed, engaged employees who
are a good culture fit. It’s
also clearly and indication of how Zappos have earned their spot on Fortune’s
Top 100 Best Companies to Work For.
Not every organization is in a financial
position to reward uncommitted new hires to leave. But Considering the cost of having a bad hire,
this program makes a lot of financial sense:
Zappos is able to quickly identify bad hires by
their willingness to accept the $3,000 offer;
Bad hires then voluntarily leave at a relatively low cost and;
By removing an employee who doesn’t
want to be a part of their organization, Zappos saves on future hassles,
headaches and termination costs that far exceed the money paid to the employee.
Conclusion:
What Zappos has
showed us is how important hiring for cultural fit is.
Zappos uses many “unconventional” interview techniques but
you as an everyday manager can achieve the same objectives. If you're looking
for an easier way to test job candidates for culture fit why not use specific interview
questions designed to test for culture fit.
- But Zappos isn't the only company that going to extreme measures to hire the best employees:
- This is how Richard Branson looks at the person behind the resume and,
- This is how Steve Jobs built his team of A+ players by personally interviewing applicants and only hiring the best and,
- This is why Google has opted for behavioral interview questions over brainteasers.
What's the take home value here for the
everyday manager? Often employee performance problems stem from bad hires. But
hiring is a skill that managers don't get to practice very often. That's
why I've made the free www.boss.camp program. It
shows you how to improve employee performance in just an hour a week, including
how to hire the best employees for the job.
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