It’s a common and straightforward question that HR professionals get from both applicants and peers: “What’s your company culture?”

While the question itself sounds easy to answer, there’s so much more to company culture, also known as organizational culture, than meets the eye. Many people like to refer to company culture as the personality of the organization, or the company's DNA, which can vary greatly from business to business. During the hiring process, HR professionals may think that finding a candidate that fits the company culture is the most important factor, but the real priority needs to be finding candidates that exceed your expectations - and add even more value to your company culture.

Simply said, the goal is to determine which values and strengths make your business as successful as possible, and find employees that will only further that success via shared values.

Why is it important to define your company culture?

If you haven’t clearly defined your company’s culture, how can you ensure that you’re hiring employees who share those same pillars - and in turn, are adding value to your organization? For example, if your company is Sales and Customer service-oriented, you would look for hires who value commitment to customers, respect for people, and quality. But what happens if you hire someone who values creativity and innovation, and also lacks social skills? They simply wouldn’t thrive in your culture, and do not fit your company’s DNA. 

How does this play out in the long run? Simple answer: not great. Employees who don’t fit the same values as their company will have poor performance and be less engaged. Employee’s who don’t share the same values as their organization are 24% more likely to quit. In addition, disengaged and disinterested employees cost U.S companies between $450-$550 billion in lost productivity each year. 

Need some examples of values? Here are some common ones:

• Accountability

• Respect for Others

• Continuous Learning

• Leadership

• Attention to Detail

• Diversity

• Teamwork

• Innovation

• Exceeding Expectations

Culture Fit vs. Culture Add

When expanding your company in terms of recruitment and hiring, it's important to recognize the difference between a new hire who fits your culture, vs. one who adds to it. A candidate who fits your culture may blend in well and have average performance levels, but won't exceed expectations or take your success to new heights. Most likely, you already have other employees that have the same strengths and weaknesses, so you're only duplicating the same results. A good analogy would be trying to make a round peg fit into a square hole - it will fit but it won't really belong there.

A new hire who adds to the company culture is more likely to go above and beyond when it comes to job performance and engagement. These types of "Culture Add" hires are also more likely to work for promotions or take on new leadership responsibilities, as well as stay at the company longer. The overall goal here is to find a square peg for a square hole.

Measuring your existing culture and comparing new candidates

Needless to say, company culture is more important to an organization’s success than most people might think. So what do you do if you’re business is already flourishing and has a large amount of employees, but you don't have a way to define your existing culture? There’s a simple way to measure it. We suggest using a talent assessment, like Bryq, and have your current employees take the assessment to analyze where a majority of their values align. 

Once you have a detailed overview of where your employees compare in terms of their values, you can start implementing those pillars into your hiring process. It’s crucial to measure the candidate’s on the same values your existing culture focuses on. Hire the candidates that are going to complement your existing culture and add value, which will result in higher engagement and increased productivity levels. After all, over 50% of all CEO’s and CFO’s agree that company culture influences their “productivity, creativity, profitability, firm value and growth rates".

How can Bryq help?

To help HR professionals and business leaders assess how current and future employees align with their organizational values, Bryq created our Culture Add Indicator, which can be added to our talent assessment. To use the indicator, simply define your company's values and Bryq will implement them into the assessment. Candidates who take the assessment will then be measured in terms of compatibility to those values, and Bryq will tell you if they are a good cultural fit for your organization. At the same time, Bryq will assess candidates' cognitive abilities and personality traits, so you will get a complete report on how well the candidate would not only complement the organization as a whole but the specific job role as well.