How to Scan for a Cultural Fit

Who you would rather work with: the person you avoid eye contact with during morning coffee break, or the person you’d like to grab a beer with after work? Most people would probably choose the latter. Think about how much time you spend at work – roughly 40 hours a week, oftentimes even more. So it makes sense to prefer being around people you feel comfortable with. Being surrounded by these people encourages you to be more productive, provide better feedback and feel more engaged. Scanning for a culture fit At Glassdoor, scanning for a culture fit is a huge part of our interview process. In fact, every candidate will generally go through a few rounds of interviews and meet various members of the team before given the green light to join our team. We do this not to be über picky or draw the process out – we do it to ensure every person will not only be able to handle tasks thrown their way, but also ensure he or she will be a great addition to our collaborative culture. What do we mean by “culture fit”? At Glassdoor it’s how any individual would fit into the way our team communicates, makes decisions, collaborates, performs daily tasks and supports each other outside of work. Here are a few suggestions to scan for a culture fit in your interview process: Incorporate a group interview loop At Glassdoor, we not only request that the Hiring Manager meet the respective candidate, we encourage additional members of the team to get involved. By giving many people a chance to get to know someone, you benefit from multiple viewpoints. An easy way to implement this at your organization is to first determine who the candidate will likely spend the majority of their time with. Having these key people involved will give you some really valuable feedback. Then, assign each interviewer a focus for their interview. If you ask your Director of Marketing to interview a Marketing Coordinator, you might request that the Director ask questions around how the candidate presents data, solves critical problems and upward manages. By making these interviews more focused and deliberate, you avoid getting stuck in a rut where each interviewer asks the same questions over and over again. This also allows the Hiring Manager to get a well-rounded view of the candidate. Include a presentation round One step Glassdoor implements for various Sales, Marketing and other client-facing roles is request all interview finalists to prepare and deliver a 15-minute presentation about him or herself. We usually invite the same interviewers plus other members of the team who may not have had a chance to meet one-on-one with the candidate. We ask that the candidate tell us about themselves both personally and professionally. This is their time to explain what they would accomplish in their first 90 days and why they’re a good fit. Then, we all gather for questions. While this might sound like an intimidating task for candidates, it’s intended to provide the candidate a way to introduce themselves outside of the one-on-one interview. Plus, if candidates applying to client-facing roles can’t handle a presentation to eight people, are they really the best person for the job? Asking candidates to prepare a presentation is an easy (and hands off) way to scan for a cultural fit. Do they make the audience laugh? Do they encourage insightful questions? Would their professional experiences add value to the team? Do they fill a void on the team? How do all of the team members feel after listening to their presentation? At Glassdoor, we include the entire team in voting. Each person gets a yes or no vote and explains why they do or do not think the candidate would be a good fit. This makes hiring a team effort as well as establishes a checks and balances system. Understand the culture of your current team While you’re going through this process, it’s important to ask yourself some key questions. Where is your team weak? What skills would complement your teams’ abilities? What behaviors or tendencies would be counterproductive to your team? How does your team encourage you to deliver feedback, make decisions, escalate and resolve issues, form solid coworker relationships? Sometimes being successful at scanning for a cultural fit starts by understanding your current culture. One way to easily understand how each of your team mates “ticks” is to request that every member complete a personality test such as the Myers Briggs. You can even do team building exercises to understand how each person likes to be communicated with. Doing these exercises will not only help you understand your current team, but will also help you know what types of candidates to hire to compliment your existing teammates. Where to start Want to understand your current company culture? If you haven’t already, register for a Free Employer Account to see what your employees love about working at your company. Got an open spot on your team? If you’re ready to hire the next great fit for your team, post your job on Glassdoor to recruit the best.