A company’s work environment is comprised of different behaviours, qualifications, beliefs, and ethics shared by employees. These create a culture that’s unique to your organisation. The same applies even when most of your team is working remotely.

If you’re looking to add more to your virtual workforce, you must prioritise candidates who will fit within the existing workplace culture. People who are a mismatch are often quick to leave, which will cost you dearly—up to half of the person’s annual salary.

Neglecting culture fit when recruiting can also result in tensions within the team. A person who prefers to work alone won’t mesh well in a workplace that values collaboration. Someone who requires constant guidance won’t suit a fast-paced startup. Likewise, a controlling leader will have a hard time managing those who are used to having a say.

As teamwork falters, so will productivity and profit – and that’s bad for your bottom line.

Keeping the employee turnover rate low is as simple as assessing culture fit when hiring. Here are the top methods you can do so.

Giving Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs)

These allow you to check the core knowledge and drive of applicants through scenarios and multiple-choice questions.

Essentially, candidates are given a variety of situations related to the job in question. They’ll have to rate the effectiveness of each option so you can test their problem-solving ability. This showcases the person’s understanding of the position and whether they’re a good cultural fit for your organisation.

SJTs are usually given before the interview stage as they enable recruitment staff to determine who demonstrates a suitable attitude and strong judgement. If you offer the job to people who have these qualities, you’ll get workers who are more likely to perform well and make wise decisions.

Asking The Right Questions

Most companies choose to measure culture fit in job interviews. As for what counts as the right questions, everything will depend on your company culture. You can begin with specific questions about themselves, such as “What values do you place high importance on?” or “Tell me about your worst personality trait.”

You can then move on to more culture-specific questions including:

• “Tell us about the work environment in which you perform best.”
• “What management style motivates you to give your best at work?”
• “How would past coworkers describe your work ethics?”

If you want, you can ask off-the-wall questions on unexpected topics like when they usually engage in their hobbies as well.

Using Pre-Employment Assessment Tools

If you want to make assessing cultural fit as objective as possible, it is a good idea to use a standardised method. There are numerous tools available online, but try to focus on those that have features you can customise to match your company.

Some tools come with a culture fit module that compares an applicant’s preferences with the actual culture in your organisation. You can make the assessment take on different formats, be it validated questionnaires or whichever meets your needs.

Let Them Lead The Conversation

Most of the time, interviews are treated strictly as Q&A sessions where the hiring staff does the questioning. This may be efficient for getting answers, but it can tell only so much about a candidate. You’ll also want to see how they communicate even without a guide or prompt.

Hand over the reins to the applicant and provide them with a greater challenge than simply answering your questions. Those who have outgoing personalities are sure to shine in this situation. If that’s the type of person who would suit your team, all the more you should try this method.

If they have a hard time conversing with you on their own, it can be a sign that they’re not a good fit for the position.

Perform Those Reference Checks

Background checks are more than just a formality; they give valuable insight on a person’s character. It’s common for former colleagues to sugarcoat the parts that aren’t so pleasing about an applicant. But asking the right questions can reveal some truths that you’ll want to hear before you hire.

When speaking with a character reference, avoid close-ended questions. Focus more on questions that’ll prompt further information on accomplishments, struggles and overall performance.

Listen carefully to know when and where you can dig deeper. Be careful that you don’t delve into personal lives too much though. You really don’t need to know who they dated in high school or even what their favourite colour is.

To Wrap Things Up

Low quality of hire and high turnover rates are common issues that companies face today, and determining cultural fit is one of the ways you can address them. Rather than focusing only on skills and experience, it’s important to check if they will mesh well with the rest of your team as well.

You can measure organisational fit in various ways, but they take up additional resources in the hiring process. Fortunately, Remote Workmate can handle all the heavy lifting in your recruitment efforts, including culture fit.