No It’s Not About Top 5 Tinder Lines!
From online dating, speed dating, Meet Up and “personal” networking, finding your missing puzzle piece is not much different than finding that right puzzle piece at the office. When you boil it down to its most simplest form on a professional level, it’s not much different than on a personal level.
You want to know, “does this person’s values and personal behaviors match what we believe in and do?”
Whether you’re building, buying or borrowing talent or looking for “the one,” the process is the same – chemistry and attraction, infatuation, dating, agreement to move forward in a monogamous relationship, engaged, the wedding, the honeymoon, the first year and the “bean jar,” woops, is this who I’ve married, the routine and the divorce. No one goes into a business or personal relationship with an eye towards failure, however our past experiences and our values and behaviors can sometimes be misaligned or even perceived as “not working for me” causing angst and in worse case scenarios division or ultimately separation. So what’s the answer? Well, we don’t claim to be like Patty Stanger, the Millionaire Matchmaker, our retention or stick rate is 94% after year one, 89% at 18 months and 82% after 24 months. Depending on who’s research and surveys you subscribe to, the data published is from a low of 26% to a high of 56% within 24 months.
We’ve all done it for one reason or another – hiring based solely on the candidate’s resume and skill set – which is how and why retention rates suck – it is one reason why you’ve crossed paths with so many highly skilled whack-jobs. Determining a cultural fit isn’t as simple as describing your “rainbows and unicorns” work environment and then asking the candidate for a fist bump. Some “expert authorities” have suggested not to divulge details about your culture is utterly preposterous. If you haven’t found Mr. Right and turnover has you banging your head against your 4-drawer HON, then you may want to consider an alternative. My favorite question when suits pay me to tell me what they’re NOT doing is “How’s it working for you?” Here’s your FREE answer:
3 Killer Culture Fit Questions:
- Tell me about a company you worked for that had an awful culture, and how you coped. You’re going to get two responses – those that were able to adapt and those that vomit their displeasure. Both tell you what you need to know. People who have had a difficult work experience have great perspective and appreciation for navigating the land mines of a disjointed organization. It’s easy to ID the bitter ones from those that work through it. Their job wasn’t easy in either case, but they may appreciate how your culture encourages cooperation. [kleo_gap size=”12px” class=”” id=””]
- What are your natural gifts and how do you apply them in your everyday work? You want value-add? Here it is – not only are you going to get their intangibles in black and white, but the candidate is going to tell you, on a personal level, who they are and why! After the honeymoon and when the going gets tough, THIS behavior is who they will ultimately fall back on. From job to job, role to role, relationship to relationship, we ALL take our behaviors – good and bad – with us. It’s human nature to let that guard down eventually and as I always say – people will eventually show you who they really are! [kleo_gap size=”12px” class=”” id=””]
- How do you prepare for, handle and embrace change? Stuff happens every day at your office, no matter how global or how intimate the setting. You want to know how Carrie Candidate handles, adapts or melts when facing horizontal and vertical challenges. The good ones will effortlessly answer this question reverting to their values – trust, communication, transparency; the better ones will give you an example of how they face, adapt to and effect change and the great ones will show how change is integrated in their lives daily in everything they encounter and do in a practical, graceful and simple style – they lead Elegantly.
Finding candidates who fit your company is easy! Finding ones that embrace your culture and have been successful in similar situations minimizes the guessing game on your part. At the end of the day, as a hiring authority or business leader, you want to know:
How can I hedge my bet?
and
How will this person lead?
When you have conversations during your interview process that engage, represent and reinforce your culture you’ll hire employees who will enhance and perhaps elevate your organization’s culture. At Brookestone Associates and JScott Partners, providing cradle-to-grave strategic talent solutions influencing Culture while impacting the organization’s Strategy is our wheelhouse. Clients come to us when they struggle with moving things forward in their organization, setting strategic direction, engaging and mobilizing employees, and creating a high-performance culture. We deliver practical, effective execution for maximum results while maintaining meaningful relationships! I look forward to and welcome your thoughts, questions and comments. Feel free to email directly scott@brookestoneassociates.com For more articles or to connect with me here on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ or on our website and ask about how you can take advantage of our High ROI Leadership solutions today!