Hire For Culture: Creating the Ideal Job Ad and Application
Hiring. It’s not fun. In fact, it can be incredibly stressful. Especially as you turn the corner on scaling your business, adding committed and passionate people to your team may seem completely daunting. Finding and retaining the right people may feel like a random stab in the dark.
There are definitely ways to increase the effectiveness of your interview process. But how about before they even apply? Changing your job ad and application will help weed out the wrong hires increasing the quality of candidates in your pool. Specifically, it should be your goal to hire for company culture, rather than simply for qualifications.
Why does culture matter?
Really, no matter how qualified a person is, they will only make a good impact if they connect with the rest of your team. Culture matters because culture sells. Remember, people aren’t buying your product for quality or functionality alone. They are buying it for the image and emotional connection. Company culture starts with your team. It permeates through your image. If every part of your team isn’t committed… well, that’s when a company starts to falter.
In his book, All Marketers Are Liars, here’s a story Seth Godin tells about Lennox, a furnace and air filter company. The company is over one hundred years old. When you call Lennox, you hear a voice on the phone that says, “Hi, I’m Dave Lennox!” As Seth Godin describes it, the experience is great. Although it’s a large company, the fact that Dave Lennox greets you himself makes it so much more personal. You feel like you’re getting small town treatment. However, it turns out the real Dave Lennox died over 50 years ago. The voice is actually an actor’s.
Godin says the personal voice actually makes it a better experience. Unfortunately, the company culture breaks down after that initial contact. Trying to fix a broken furnace is frustrating. “Once you reach someone on the phone at Lennox, it’s clear that not only is Dave long gone, but his spirit is gone as well.” Essentially, Lennox puts on a great face, but after the surface level, the rest of the employees don’t back up the same vision. (page 97)
Who you hire impacts the authenticity of your company. If, like Lennox, you market a message of home town and friendly service, the culture has to run all the way through. For that reason, you should begin your hiring with culture in mind.
Cater your ad and application to culture
How can you hire people who believe in your product, service, and mission? Infusionsoft, a CRM, sales, and marketing software company, sells its tools to small businesses. Every job application asks the potential hire how small business has impacted their life. This helps Infusionsoft see if the individual shares the commitment and vision for small businesses as they do. That’s just one example of a small way a company hires for culture. Here are several ideas and steps you can implement in your search for a great employee.
First, give some background on your company and your culture.
Don’t focus on facts like:
- How long you’ve been in business
- Size and customer base
- Too many specifics about your service or product
Instead, detail the purpose behind your business. Why is it around? Talk about the kind of people who work with you, and why they stay. Explain the kind of team they’ll be involved with. Why would they want to work there? Explain why they would matter at your company. Show them their worth.
Second, be detailed.
Say exactly who you’re looking for. Aside from qualifications, what is the temperament and personality of the employee you’re looking for? What qualities do you want them to possess? Even further, you can specify who you aren’t looking for. For example, “This job is not for dependant individuals. We’re looking for autonomous people who will work for their success regardless of the supervision.”
Third, make the application take time to fill out.
If your application takes 10 seconds to fill out, you’ll probably get more applicants, but chances are they’ve also applied to another 15 jobs that also took 10 seconds. If the application is just a little more involved, it will weed out those who are applying without understanding what your company is about. People who actually want to work for you will spend 10 minutes to fill it out.
How should you make your application more involved? Consider asking for short answer questions. Like Infusionsoft, you can ask questions that give you a deeper look at the applicant. These can be specific to your service, your culture, or any other random question that gives you a deeper look into the candidate.
Finally, require specific documents/links.
This can be a delicate issue to balance. More than ever, employers are requiring Facebook on job applications. While some might consider this an invasion of privacy, it can help narrow down applicants. If they aren’t willing to share a link to their social media, they might not be the best fit. How you use that information is up to you. If you don’t feel comfortable requiring it, then don’t! You can require a Linkedin profile or a physical resume as well. Both are signs of prepared individuals. The goal of requiring certain documents or links is to have the applicant stretch a little further to show their interest.
The rest of the process is on you! As you interview, remember to think about company culture. By following the suggestions above, those who make it to the interview stage will be professional and interested in working for your business.
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