CULTURE FILTER
Screening strategies and
interviewing tips
A WHITE PAPER PROVIDED BY ULTIMATE STAFFING SERVICES
“Recruiting” is what you do to get
candidates in your door. “Screening” is what you do to determine
which candidate should be
offered the job. “Screening for
culture” means dedicating more
time determining whether their
personality and strengths are the
best fit for your organization. All
positions require a certain set
of skills and experience; that’s
understood. However, dedicated
and passionate candidates can
be taught certain skills and processes, while you cannot teach
candidates how to react to challenges or how to inspire others.
Don’t pass over someone who
is perfectly aligned with the core
values of your company or team
in favor of a shiny resume.
Now you just have to dedicate yourself to
uncovering these traits by screening for
culture fit.
If you focused on “recruiting for culture,”
then your job posting is getting a lot of
attention. You not only clearly communicated the required hard skills and soft skills,
but also proudly articulated your company
culture. The resumes are flooding in, and
you’ve got some excellent candidates.
The downfall of many employers is measuring candidate excellence based on their
resumes. You know that the purpose of
an interview is to go past the resume and
open the conversation, to focus on what
kind of employee they are – and it can, but
only if the conversation is structured right.
You don’t want them to simply regurgitate
their resume; you want to know what’s
beyond the page.
Like so many things in life, it’s not what
they’ve done; it’s how they did it.
That “how” is what ultimately contributes
to your company culture. And while skills,
education, and experience are what move
your business toward its goals and objectives, it is how your employees utilize
them, along with their human traits, that
make it a great place to work.
In his TEDtalk, Resumes are Bad for Business, John Fleischauer, senior member
of Halogen Software’s talent acquisition
team, warns about the transactional
behaviors that resumes can illicit: “They
speak to nothing but our past, and they
tell nothing about our future.” Your candidates are not a checklist; they are dynamic
beings and dynamic professionals. It is
those dynamic traits that will support and
build upon your culture.
The truth is, resumes are still a necessity. Your candidates have to be able to
perform the tasks the position requires,
but be prepared to dig deeper during the
screening process and be willing to take
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a chance on the less than perfect resume.
You shouldn’t be only concerned with
what they are going to do in your business, but how they are going to do it.
Step by Step
While you may want to take your time to
get to know your candidates in order to
be confident in your selection, you may
lose candidates due to a slowed system.
The hiring process is taking nearly twice
as long as it did a few years ago, and you
cannot afford to lose top talent in today’s
tight market. Your hiring process needs to
be efficient and effective.
At Roth, we’ve found that we lose most of
our candidates if the interview isn’t scheduled within five days of finding them.
During each stage of your screening process, it is key to keep candidates engaged.
Placing a cultural emphasis and being
genuinely interested in your candidates will
keep them intrigued and patient.
However, it is still best to move along the
process as quickly as possible. Mimi Taylor,
Sr. VP of Roth Staffing and 2007 Private
Company CFO of the Year, recommends
investing time wisely: “Find a method for
ensuring the skills and personality you
need. Multiple interviews are still important,
but try to complete the entire screening
process in one longer appointment rather
than multiple office trips.”
(continued…)
Culture talk will keep the longer appointment lively, and break up the monotony of
repeating past experience.
Interview Process
1. Phone screen
2. Interview
3. Peer interview
4. References
5. Background checks
Prescreening
Your prescreening should also include a
cultural element. Utilize web-based application systems like ProveIt that allow for
a series of screening questions relevant
to the job, and workplace culture – a
lot of these questions start with “What
would you do if…?” At Ultimate Staffing
Services, our prescreening technology
includes questions like “Should work be
fun?” or “Describe a great manager.”
Be sure whatever system you use or
questions you ask are compliant with
employment laws.
away from the desk can give you some
amazing insight. Simply put, the way you
do anything is the way you do everything.
If they don’t have any passions, how are
they supposed to be passionate about
their work or your company?
Do their eyes light up when they talk about
their pet rabbit, then light up again when
they talk about spreadsheets? Can their
creative wizardry in the kitchen translate
to creative marketing solutions?
This will also help them feel more comfortable, so you can get a clearer picture of
who they are.
From there, continue with your basic interview questions (skills are still important),
while weaving in questions that will help
you assess culture fit:
• What type of work culture do you
thrive in?
• What values are you drawn to and
what’s your ideal workplace?
• How would you describe our culture
based on what you’ve seen? Is this
something that works for you?
Try to keep the application screening
relatively short. Nearly one-third of all
candidates won’t spend more than 15
minutes filling out an online application.
• Tell me about a time when you
worked with/for an organization
where you felt you were not a strong
culture fit. Why was it a bad fit?
Phone interviews require the same
amount of cultural attention. Pepper in a
few culture related questions and topics
while you get to know your candidate as
a professional and person.
• What best practices would you bring
with you from another organization?
Do you see yourself being able to
implement these best practices in our
environment?
Interview Stage
When looking for what you want, sometimes all you have to do is ask. 78% of HR
professionals rated behavioral questions
as effective to very effective when assessing culture fit of candidates.
Start by asking about them, beyond their
professional life (there are some topics
that are off limits, but ask about hobbies,
volunteering, and special interests). This
opportunity to talk about who they are
• Tell me a story of when “xyz” went
wrong [using a specific problem that
is likely to happen in their field].
• Why do you want to work here?
Also ask them about their job experience that may not relate to the position.
For example, employees of the restaurant
service organization Open Table all have
some past experience in the restaurant
and hospitality industry: programmers, IT
We love to create remarkable experiences… every person, every time.®
specialists, HR representatives, everyone
– even the CEO. This is a unique essential
to their business since they create tools
to be used in restaurants and hospitality,
giving each employee a specialized insight
to their services – one that can only come
from that bus boy or waitress experience.
While your organization may not have previous industries that create a smooth transition to yours, non-industry jobs will still
have a major effect on their current working
styles. Again, the way you do anything is
the way you do everything. If you have a
candidate who was a successful nanny,
they are likely to be trustworthy, detail
oriented, and great multitaskers.
After the initial interview be sure to
contact reference and conduct background checks. Ask their references
about previous culture fit.
Reminder: You are being
interviewed too
This is also their opportunity to better understand you and your organization. They
need to know if your company will be right
for them. This is a candidate’s market,
so you have to stand out against other
companies they are interviewing with.
Incorporate their name often (just be sure
to keep it organic without overkill). It’s a
simple way to communicate interest and investment. This personalized touch will help
you stand out from other organizations.
There are some that say our name is our
favorite word, but hearing one’s own
name also elicits a unique effect in the
brain. Areas across the left hemisphere,
including the middle frontal cortex, middle and superior temporal cortex, and
cuneus, show increased activation –
significantly more so than when hearing
someone else’s name.
These are the same regions that are activated with self-recognition and reference.
An interview is a process of self-recognition and self-reference, why not get that
part of the brain up and going.
(continued…)
Extra bonus: the more you practice
pairing the name with the face, the
less likely you are to forget their
name.
Be sure to introduce the candidates to
your team and allow time for peer interviews. Watch them interact, not just on a
professional level, but on a social level as
well. If too many awkward silences creep
in or they just don’t mesh, it might be time
to move on to the next applicant.
Keep in mind that it is your responsibility
as a manager to know when a potential
employee will not be happy in your workplace. You may be dazzled by their years
of experience and their proficiency with
Excel, but you must set that aside for your
team and the job seeker. Culture fit should
be a top priority.
The hardest portion of the interview maybe
when you realize that while one candidate
is an amazing culture fit, they may be
lacking in performance, and another is
lacking in culture fit, but exceeding in
performance.
Many organizations make the mistake
of hiring candidate #2, hoping that he
will eventually mesh with the company.
However, candidate #1 is the best choice.
You can teach skills, you cannot teach
culture fit.
HIGH
LOW
HIGH
#2
EASY CHOICE
(hire/keep)
HARD CHOICE
(don’t hire/don’t keep)
HARD CHOICE
(hire/keep)
EASY CHOICE
(don’t hire/don’t keep)
#1
LOW
Performance
Make sure they are aware of any special programs or perks that are popular
among your current employees. See what
they think about your volunteer programs.
Review the programs that make your
workplace fun or unique and see what
resonates with them. It not only gives them
a chance to learn more about your organization but further allows you to see what
excites them as you continue to look for
that culture fit.
Culture Fit
It will be much harder to make candidate
#2 feel at home, and when employees
don’t feel a strong connection with the
organization’s mission, goals, or their
teammates, they are more likely to leave.
In a survey of more than 200 HR professionals, 90% of respondents rated
recruiting for cultural fit as “very important
to essential.” Harmony between employee
and organization is critical for individual
and team success. According to the Society for Human Resource Management,
turnover due to poor culture fit can cost
you anywhere between 50-60% of that
employee’s annual salary.
“When you know, you know,” says Mimi
Taylor. “If they are just okay, move onto the
next candidate – don’t settle for anyone
less than excellent. Commit to only hiring
the most talented and best culture fit –
make this your hiring philosophy and stick
to it… having a team filled with exceptional hires is worth it!”
You deserve a team you will enjoy, someone who loves your organization as much
as you do; you just have to ask the right
questions.
Sources: Forbes, Society for Human Resource Management, Development Dimensions International, Brain
Research Journal, Business News Daily.
We love to create remarkable experiences… every person, every time.®
866.667.1611 • www.ultimatestaffing.com
ABOUT US
A
DIFFERENT KIND OF
STAFFING FIRM
In 1994, we envisioned a company
unique to the industry, one based on
pride and purpose. We wanted Roth
Staffing Companies, the parent company of Ultimate Staffing Services,
to be an organization our business
customers consistently raved about.
Ultimate Staffing Services currently
operates in nearly every major metropolitan market nationwide. We also
manage numerous on-site locations.
We are the only national company
in the commercial staffing space
that has been recognized with all
four of the industry’s major awards
for service excellence and coworker
engagement.
As a business line of Roth Staffing
Companies, L.P., we have received
awards for quality and service excellence in alignment with the Malcolm
Baldrige criteria and we remain the
only staffing company to be ranked
the #1 fastest-growing, privatelyheld company in the United States
by Inc. magazine. We are consistently ranked as one of the largest,
privately-held staffing companies in
the nation.
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