Taking the necessary steps to assess a candidate before, during, and after the interview is essential in saving your company time and money. The person you’ve got your eyes on for your opening may possess all of the skills needed to excel in the position, but their compatibility with the culture of your workplace should be just as high on your list of things to consider. Here are some ways in which you can make sure that your next hire will take your company to new heights and enjoy their environment.
Assess your company’s culture.
To determine if a candidate will be compatible with your organization’s culture, you’ll have to have a clear idea of what your culture is. A company’s culture is defined as the shared values, attitudes, behaviors, and standards that make up a work environment. One of the ways you can get an idea of what that means for your company is to conduct a survey of your current employees to receive feedback on how they would describe the office atmosphere and, additionally, what they may like and dislike about working there. Here are some key attributes that define the culture of a workplace that you can use to assess your current work environment.
Find out the candidates’ ideal work environment.
It may be tempting to sell your company to the right candidate, but before you go on about why you think your office would be a great place to work, start by giving the candidate the space to share what kind of environment they’d like to experience. You can begin this conversation by asking them what they valued or found unpleasant about their previous workplaces.
Involve other team members in the process.
Involving team members in the hiring process is a great way to gauge how well a candidate will fit in the office because the candidate will get a chance to interact with the people they’ll spend the majority of their time with. Involving multiple people also creates a sense of unity and bonding among existing and new employees. You’ll also have diversified inputs that may contribute to your final hiring decision.
Assess how the candidate measures up to successful employees.
If your company doesn’t already have a baseline for potential candidates, using employee assessments of your most successful employees is a great way to start building a shortlist of requirements that your candidate should possess.
Find out their goals and passions.
The goals and passions of a candidate are essential to know because this will tell you many things about what they value and how they get along with others. Knowing where the candidate’s passion lies will also help you find out if they will be happy there long term and if they can be committed to your company. The last thing you want is someone who sees your company as simply a means to make a living. Asking questions that reveal your candidate’s goals will increase your likelihood of hiring someone who will contribute to your organization’s mission.
Give them a relevant task to complete.
Giving the interviewee a task to complete gives you a chance to put the information on their resume to the test. Give the candidate something they would likely have to do regularly at your company with a program they have experience with.
Take the candidate out of the office.
Just as involving your current employees in the interview process is a great way to give your potential new hire a chance to interact with their potential coworkers, giving them a chance to get out of the office takes the experience up a notch. Particularly if your company values after-work outings, getting a preview of how a candidate gets along is a fantastic idea.
Give a behavioral assessment.
Lastly, behavioral assessments can be to your advantage because they’ll aid in identifying particular traits that you desire in your workplace; they can help predict the future success of your potential new employee and determine how they will fit in culturally.
We hope that these tips will help you in your next round of interviews; here is a quick recap of how to determine how someone will fit into your work environment:
- Assess your company’s culture.
- Involve other team members in the process.
- Assess how the candidate measures up to successful employees.
- Find out their goals and passions.
- Give them a relevant task to complete.
- Take the candidate out of the office.
- Give a behavioral assessment.
Keep in touch with us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook for similar content and career opportunities.