Prioritizing Company Culture in the Hiring Process

By Jori Hamilton

Image Source: Pixabay

April 18 2022 - According to a recent survey weighing the importance of company culture, "More than three-quarters (77 percent) of adults would consider a company’s culture before applying for a job, suggesting that a negative perception around culture could significantly impact ability and efficiency to fill open jobs."

If you haven’t put your finger on exactly what’s stifling your hiring process, look no further than your company culture. The above statistic is an excellent reminder of how workplace culture influences the quality of candidates that apply to your open positions.

HR professionals must prioritize company culture when recruiting and hiring candidates if they want to attract and retain top talent. Here’s how to do just that.

Lean into How Your Current Employees Feel

One of the best things you can do to make company culture a more significant part of your hiring process is to connect with current employees first.

Ask them how they feel about working for your company, their roles, and their responsibilities. Encourage them to share what they remember about their hiring process and whether or not company culture was a part of it. And invite them to convey their ideas about prioritizing company culture in the hiring process more.

Also, chat with workers about how you can improve company culture to serve them better. Understand your employee needs to help cultivate a healthy company culture you can communicate to potential employees.

Create a Company Culture Worth Standing Behind

When you learn about your company culture and how to improve it through your current employees, implement their suggestions and keep what’s working. Create a company culture that you and your employees are proud to stand behind.

First, consider various factors that influence work culture, like the age range of your employees, education levels, differing cultural values, and where your business is located. Think about how you can support a diverse workforce and make each individual in it feel valued.

Then, start improving your company culture from the top down. If your leaders aren’t practicing everything you’ve told potential candidates about your company culture, they’ll realize that once you hire them, and they won’t stay. So, be sure company leaders practice your company’s core values, back the mission, and positively influence the workplace.

Finally, be sure the rest of your workforce supports the company culture. They should also align with your company’s core values, be enthusiastic about making its mission come alive, and be committed to building genuine connections with coworkers and managers that result in a healthy workplace environment.

Create and Share Content Around Your Company Culture

When you’re confident in your company culture, it’s time to create and share content around it in the recruiting and hiring processes.

Every job posting should communicate something about your company’s core values and what your company culture can offer potential employees. Some of the blog posts on your company's website should be about what it’s like to work for your company. Create social media content that celebrates exemplary employees, new workers, and company milestones.

It’s also a good idea to create videos and other visual content that attracts top-quality candidates, like:

• Short videos of employees sharing their work experience at the company
• Live streams that show the behind-the-scenes of different departments
• Screenshots of how your team communicates with each other
• Slide decks that introduce company leaders
• Infographics explaining industry information or details about your company’s mission
• Snippets of resources your company is working on to help employees grow personally and professionally

Furthermore, be sure all of your application, interview, and onboarding materials reflect your company culture, brand voice, tone, and messaging. Everything should be personable, professional, and polished.

Once you’ve created unique content to showcase your company culture, share it on all of your platforms, including your social media pages, job boards, company website, email list, and professional network.

Prioritize People in Your Processes

It’s also crucial you prioritize people in your processes to further embed company culture in all that you do regarding recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding. For example, you could make candidates aware of all benefits and resources your company offers its employees. You could also converse with them about culture fit rather than strictly skillset and work experience.

Also, although it’d be nice not to ever have to deal with uncomfortable situations in your processes, you can count on having a few.

For instance, a candidate may respond to an interview question with defensive behavior, like showing aggression. However, even though it may be challenging to communicate with this candidate at that point, it’s still crucial you put people first by respecting the candidate's emotions and validating their feelings.

Ultimately, if your company culture is rooted in respect for all people, prioritize that in your processes.

Conclusion

Prioritizing company culture in the hiring process is much easier when your company culture is one you and your employees can stand behind. In addition, creating content that highlights your company culture, sharing it wherever your potential candidates are, and putting people first in your hiring process will better your chances of attracting potential employees perfect for your company culture.

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