Culture is not the business aspect of companies. The business aspect of companies includes: operations, finance, marketing & sales, strategy etc.  It is the hard stuff that makes your company deliver your products/services.

Culture is the soft stuff that makes up your firm’s DNA. It tells the world how you communicate with your team, what your attrition rate is, accountability amongst team members, morale and turnover, and so much more.  Skill-based questions in the interview process is a relatively easy to way to determine technical alignment. Culture is a little more difficult.  One way to assess culture fit is to ask behavioral-based questions and to pose scenario interview questions.

How do you interview for culture fit in your organization? 

1. Interviewing is more of an “Art” than a “Science.”

2. To do this well, it will take many hours of time and help from other leaders in your organization. Always include other interviewers to obtain different perspectives.

3. Make this discovery process a priority rather than an afterthought.

PRIOR TO A TELEPHONE INTERVIEW OR A FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW, BE PREPARED.

Know what qualities you are looking for in the ideal candidate

I. Leadership Qualities to think about should include the following:

1. High Performing Leader

2. Capable of building trusting relationships

3. Possess Humility

4. Decisive

5. Good Interpersonal Skills

6. Strong Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

7. Self-Awareness

8. Team Player

9. Inspirational Leader

10. Passionate about Company Vision, Values, Goals & Purpose

11. Value-centered

12. Relationship/Task Balance (Is focused on people or tasks?)

13. Authenticity – Consider the leader’s capacity to relate to others in an authentic, courageous and high integrity manner

II. Technical Skills
III. Design Talent
IV. Managerial Skills

DURING THE INTERVIEW

1. Allow at least one hour for your first telephone or face-to-face interview.  Allow three hours if you have invited the candidate to lunch or dinner.

2. Have three different interview settings:  1:1, conference room with panel and at least one meal (this will help assess the candidate’s social skills).

3. Don’t jump to quick judgments – either positive or negative.

4. Ask the right culture questions structuring your questions accordingly and carefully.  Know what you are looking for in advance of the interview and be prepared.

5. What is your company’s culture/DNA?

6. What are your company’s Core Values?

7. Ask valued centered questions.

8. If interested in a candidate’s level of integrity, do not ask:  Would you consider yourself a person of high integrity?  The interviewee is going to tell you what you want to hear.

9. Instead, if you are interested in a candidate’s level of integrity, ask a scenario question such as: consider the following, and then describe a story of conflict. Ask how the candidate would react in this situation. Probe further to get to the heart of their answer.

10. Further Questions

11. Write out many behavioral and scenario interview questions that probe values that are important to your company’s culture such as honesty, integrity, courage, respect for others, etc.  Be prepared with at least 12 well thought out questions for the candidate. Don’t hold back. This is an interview!!!!! This is your opportunity to assess whether or not you see this person as part of the team.

12. Focus on open ended questions to get to the meat of who they are and how they would react in certain situations.

HINTS DURING THE INTERVIEW

1. Talk less/listen more. Talk at most 20% of the time.  The candidate should be talking 80% of the time. If you are doing the talking, you won’t get to know them.

2. Ask yourself these questions during the interview:  Would I want to work with this person every day?  If so, fine.  If not, why not and be able to articulate that to your team and yourself. If you can’t put your finger on the “why”, continue to ask probing questions focused on comments that caused you to be unsettled or answers that stood out as ‘red flags’ to you.

3. Do not rush the process. Further conversations with others on the interview team as well as ongoing conversations between you and the candidate might, eventually, reveal potential issues that didn’t surface in the initial conversations.  It is better to discover concerns now rather than after the candidate joins your team.  This is their life and your company’s future.  We should never take this lightly.

4. Watch with a third eye and listen with a third ear.

5. Be aware of all verbal and non-verbal cues.

AFTER THE INTERVIEW

1. Compare interview notes with the other interviewers.  Remain as objective and open minded as possible but trust your team’s collective evaluation.

2. Do not rush your decision making process.

3. Consider utilizing a personality/assessment tool such as PXT, Myers Briggs, DISC, The Leadership Profile, etc. There are hundreds out there and they vary in price; look for one that works well with your culture and organizes personalities into the diversity factors you’re seeking.

REFERENCE CHECKING

1. 360 Reference Audit (we suggest at least 4-6 reference verifications).

2. Discussions with targeted key players: applicable clients, past employers and peers. 

3. Audits are not conducted as a formality or afterthought; but rather as a critically important part of discovery in order to fine tune the elements of fit. Remember culture alignment is all about FIT!

AFTER THE HIRING

1. Do a thorough job of “onboarding” the new hire! All forms ready for signature, computer, telephone/cell, database/intranet, business cards, vCard, etc. …giving this new member of your team all the tools needed to succeed in integrating with your company.

2. If at any time you believe that you hired the wrong person, deal with it quickly!  We are all human and will fail; make it a priority to fail fast. Do not ignore signs, the problem will more than likely not solve itself.

This article was written by Donna Gaines, the founder of Gaines International, an Allen Austin company as of November 2014. Donna would like to thank Kathleen Cartus, formerly a Principal with Cannon Design, for her collaboration with this post. 

About the author: For over 30 years, Donna  has assisted clients in finding key professionals with leadership talent to meet the challenges of modern business. With decades of experience in executive search and candidate placement in the architecture, design, engineering and construction industries, Donna brings a unique sensibility to recruitment and understands the impact of architecture and design on cultures and societies. Contact Donna Gaines 312-224-2545 or dgaines@gainesintl.com

Donna, along with Joy Avery, Gaines International Vice President of Operations, will be speaking on the topic, The Little Known Power of Building a Purpose Driven Culture, at  PSMJ’s 2015 A/E/C Industry Summit in San Francisco, Dec. 3-4, 2015.

 To learn more about Gaines International’s service offerings: