Every new hire starts with a job interview. During the interview process, interviewees are enthusiastic and hoping to please a prospective employer. But how will they behave once they’re actually hired? Will they be motivated? Will they work well with the team? What questions should the employer ask to know if that person will truly be a good fit for the overall culture?
Even when the interview goes well, it’s impossible to know how a new employee will fit in until they’re actively working in their new role. This can cost your organization time and money wasted on training and trying out an employee that ends up being a bad fit.
PRADCO Assessments can stop that cycle, helping employers determine right away whether or not a potential employee is suited for the job and the organization they are applying to join.
How Bad Hiring Choices Can Pull Your Organization Down
One of the largest problems with hiring is high turnover. It takes time — and money — to train new employees and get them acquainted with your organization’s strategies and procedures. It’s only once they’re fully up-to-speed that you can truly judge their capabilities and potential. If they’re an obviously bad fit, then you’re back to the drawing board. This means starting the hiring process all over again and making the same financial investment in yet another candidate.
What if you keep someone who is a bad fit on board in hopes that if given enough time, they’ll start to get into the swing of things? It’s a gamble that many employers take, but it’s also one that can have a negative impact on your organization.
For instance, if an individual isn’t team-oriented and their role depends on constant interaction and collaboration with a group, this can cripple the team’s ability to get things done. Smooth teamwork depends on each individual having the ability to coordinate their work efforts with other people rather than going solo. They have to be cooperative. If one cog in the network of gears refuses to turn, it will slow the entire machine — or even worse — bring it to a screeching halt.
Integrity is another key factor with employees in any organization. It’s important for an employer to be able to trust their employees, but it’s equally important for the employees to be able to trust one another. When someone asks that new hire about the status of an ongoing project, can they be confident that the information they’re getting is the truth? If you have an employee who tends to spin things or only provide a partial picture of what’s happening, it hinders your team’s ability to see the full picture and problem-solve. This can throw projects badly off-course.
And what about when things go wrong? Do your team members take ownership of their work efforts? Do they step up, learn, and work to make things right, or do they make excuses and try to pass the buck? Employees taking individual responsibility for their decisions and actions is key to the overall success or failure of each project, as well as the organization as a whole.
How Can the Culture Fit Assessment Help?
Cultural fit assessment tools can help you cut to the chase when it comes to hiring the right people. They’re better than generic interview questions to help employers find an ideal fit for the job. The Culture Fit Assessment is an online assessment that can help you decide if a person’s work style and overall approach will be a good fit for the individual job, as well as the organization. It’s a great tool to assess a person’s behavior and philosophy to see if they are a good match for what is needed to drive success within an organization’s culture.
The Culture Fit Assessment helps employers and organizations better understand a person’s motivation, work approach, interpersonal skills, and decision making. While these are the main categories, they’ll be broken down even further to assess specific behaviors critical to success.
Here are details about some of the key areas that are measured by cultural fit assessment tools:
• Motivation: Is an individual ambitious and looking to advance within the organization? Do they take ownership of their role? Do they take responsibility when things go wrong, as well as when they go right?
• Work Approach: What is their work ethic like? Are they responsive? Do they respond to the needs of others in a timely manner? Are they flexible? How do they handle pressure? Can they adjust to change?
• Decision-Making: Do they have integrity? Are they candid, transparent, and honest? Are they upfront with their thoughts and motivations? Are they resourceful and a good troubleshooter?
This is just a small sample of what’s measured in a Culture Fit Assessment. Although it’s typically used for hiring, it can also be used to measure the behavioral style of current staff. In addition to interview questions, the assessment also has developmental suggestions, so it can be used as a training tool for current employees.
The Importance of Hiring the Right People
Because the requirements for what is necessary to succeed differ from organization to organization, an employee who would be a good candidate for one organization could be problematic if hired somewhere else.
One hospital discovered this the hard way after hiring a team of people who didn’t fit the profile of what was needed for that style of work. Certain members of their team were too dominant and assertive, far from the communicative, team-oriented, people-positive approach that helps people succeed in the healthcare field. This meant that the employees couldn’t meet their full potential, the organization struggled, and management wasn’t happy.
After using the Culture Fit Assessment to get a better grasp of what was going on from a behavioral perspective, management was able to make changes in the staff, bringing in high-value people whose work style and motivations were a better fit for the organizational culture. This helped the hospital stop the revolving door, reduce turnover, and cut costs within the first 90 days of implementation. Over the first year, turnover decreased by a remarkable 40 percent.
The Culture Fit Assessment also saves time, energy, and money during the hiring process itself. Results of the assessment allow HR to better decide which candidates to spend time pursuing in the interview process. Culture Fit Assessments also give interviewers an idea of which follow-up questions they need to ask.
Ignoring Red Flags
Of course, there have been situations where organizations have used cultural fit assessment tools to screen potential candidates and then ignored the results. In multiple instances where the assessment raised red flags regarding a candidate’s fit for a particular position, management ignored the warning signs and went ahead with the hire.
Typically, these situations end with the person causing internal damage and disruption over a period of months before they are finally let go. This is sad, really, as management had the tools necessary to weed that candidate out during the interview process.
That’s what the Culture Fit Assessment is designed to do. Determine which candidate will be most successful in any given role. Save money by decreasing turnover. Provide helpful suggestions for current employees to improve their performance. Because when each employee is able to succeed, the entire organization can better succeed.
At PRADCO, we have the experience, drive, and tools to be your partner in hiring better talent. We’ll take the time to learn about your organization and customize solutions for you. We’re ready to help you hire with confidence. If you’re ready to get started, let’s talk.
