Psychologist, Adam Grant, posted an interesting thought on Linked In recently. He said, “Before taking a job offer, it’s worth asking, ‘Do I want to become more like the people here? You can aspire to change the culture of a group, but don’t overlook how the culture will change you.”
In these challenging times, applicants are being evermore careful about the job offer they accept. At the same time, desperate employers are trying to hire people who may not be a good match for the organization just to fill a slot.
The past two years have compelled millions of workers to reconsider what they want in a job and the kind of people they want to work with. While this has surprised many employers, the savvy ones have been screening for cultural match all along. Here’s an example.
A manager in one of my recent presentations mentioned that after he has interviewed a finalist for a position, he asks his team to take the person to lunch, without him but paid for by the company. This accomplishes two objectives, he said. First, it gives the team a chance to spend some social time with someone they will spend a LOT of time if he or she is hired. Second, it gives that person a chance to assess the team’s energy and culture. Several times, the team has recommended against hiring the finalist because they feel the person is not a good match.
I asked if this has caused disruption, especially in this time of lean applicant pools. “Yes,” he said. “But it has probably saved a lot of heartburn down the road if the person didn’t work out.
So, how about in your organization? What do you do to assess the cultural match with applicants before making an offer? Do you seek out applicants who turn you down to find out why? I think you’ll find that 99% of the time their reason for saying “no” has to do with the culture match, not the job itself. What do you do to address these issues? I’d love to know. Shoot me an email at bobw@commonsenseenterprises.net.