Should culture, ethos and values underpin every HR recruitment policy?

I have witnessed two examples in the past week of companies where recruitment actively prioritises attitude and a good fit with the company’s culture and values.

Is the HR recruitment tide turning?

It was no surprise to me to discover that both companies score very highly on both employee satisfaction and employee retention.  Both companies could cite numerous examples of employees who had enjoyed varied careers within the company.  It was recognised that they had the right attitude and were therefore worth the investment of time and money to upskill them in order to keep them at the company.

An employee who has the right attitude can be taught new skills, but without the right attitude, the skills of an employee have limited use.  They will either outlive their usefulness as the company evolves, or will move on to find new challenges and opportunities.  Every time an employee moves on it costs you time and money on recruitment, induction and training.  John Timpson, Chairman of The Timpson Group says that finding the right people is an essential part of their success :

“The business only works if you have got the right people, and they are given the freedom to get on with it. There is an element of trust that runs through”

The problem for many companies is that traditional recruitment processes do not test for, or measure attitude – will the candidate fit in with other employees, do they have the right approach to looking after customers, are their purpose and values in alignment with those of the company?  Many companies use profiling tools which will explore personality traits, values and suitability for the role, but none that I am aware of  explore attitude and purpose.

By adding these two actions to your recruitment process you will be a significantly better chance of finding candidates that not only have the right qualifications, experience and track record, they will be a good fit with your purpose ad people too.

•  Identify and articulate the purpose and personality characteristics of your company and use the resulting brand essence as a benchmark for all future recruitment.  If you can demonstrate that the essence of your brand is in alignment with that of potential employees, you will attract the best people who are much more likely to go the extra mile for you and stay with your company for longer.
• Allow some time for serious candidates to spend working in the company with present employees.  Your people will tell you which candidates fit and which ones don’t, so listen to what they tell you.

I’ll leave the final word to John Timpson…

“If you get the people right and the strategies right you’ll make the money”

What are your views? How do you ensure that new employees are a good fit for your organisation?

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Richard Flewitt
An insightful approach
to Brand Essence &
leadership

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Photo credit: José Martín