Aligning your hiring process with your company’s culture is crucial for long-term success. This guide will walk you through creating tailored interview questions that reflect your company’s values, mission, and culture, helping you assess whether candidates will be a good cultural fit.
Step 1: Define Your Company’s Core Values
- Identify Core Values: Start by clearly defining the core values that shape your company culture. What beliefs and principles are most important to your organization?
- Align Values with Roles: Determine how these values should manifest in everyday roles within your company.
“ For example, Onin’s core values are Service, Integrity, Performance and Innovation. This is something that permeates our culture, down to the interior branding in our local branches.
”
Step 2: Understand Your Mission and Vision
- Mission Statement: Review your company’s mission. What is the broader purpose of your organization?
- Vision for the Future: Consider your vision. What are your long-term goals, and how should your team members contribute to achieving them?
“Onin’s mission statement is simple and free of corporatespeak and jargon: “Helping motivated job seekers and partnering companies grow and prosper, by setting the staffing industry standard for innovation, strong employee relations and exemplary customer service.”
Our vision for the future is to become a billion-dollar company with soul, not because there is any magic in the number 1 billion… but because that means we will have given 100,000 active Onin Teamamtes access to tools most production-level workers are denied, like affordable health insurance, legal resources, and financial tools other workers take for granted.
”
Step 3: Identify Key Cultural Touchpoints
- Cultural Attributes: Identify the attributes that define your company culture—collaboration, innovation, transparency, etc.
- Work Environment: Consider how your work environment supports these attributes. Is your culture more team-oriented, or does it favor individual initiative?
“Onin’s culture revolves around two simple but powerful ideas: Create Opportunities and Empower People. Everything we do leads to or is a product of these ideas.
”
Step 4: Build Your Questions Based On Values and Cultural Touchpoints
Using the insights gained from the steps above, here’s how you can craft seven interview questions that reflect your values. We’ll use Onin’s own mission, vision, values, and a key cultural touchpoint as an example:
1. Values-In-Action Question
- Example: “Tell me about a time when you had to prioritize the needs of others. How did you ensure you maintained your integrity and delivered excellent service?”
- Purpose: This assesses alignment with Ōnin’s values of Service and Integrity, focusing on how the candidate balances ethical behavior with high-quality service.
2. Mission-In-Action Question
- Example: “Can you share an experience where you helped a team or individual grow and succeed? How did your efforts contribute to their overall success?”
- Purpose: This question evaluates the candidate’s motivation to help others grow and prosper, aligning with Ōnin’s mission of creating opportunities for job seekers and partners.
3. Vision-Oriented Question
- Example: “Where do you see yourself contributing to a company like ours in the next five years, and how does that align with our vision of empowering 100,000 Teammates?”
- Purpose: This question explores the candidate’s long-term goals and whether they align with Ōnin’s vision of becoming a billion-dollar company while empowering production-level workers.
4. Culture-Contribution Question
- Example: “Tell me about a time when you contributed to building a positive team environment. What specific actions did you take to ensure everyone felt empowered and able to contribute?”
- Purpose: This evaluates how well the candidate’s work style aligns with Ōnin’s culture of Creating Opportunities and Empowering People through collaboration and support.
5. Collaboration & Teamwork Question
- Example: “Tell me about a time when you had to work with a diverse team to accomplish a difficult goal. What role did you play, and how did you ensure success?”
- Purpose: This assesses the candidate’s ability to work within a team, reflecting Ōnin’s cultural emphasis on strong employee relations and collaboration.
6. Adaptability & Growth Question
- Example: “Can you describe a situation where you had to adapt quickly to change at work? How did you maintain high performance during the transition?”
- Purpose: This measures the candidate’s ability to adapt and grow, which is crucial to sustaining innovation and performance within Ōnin’s fast-evolving work environment.
7. Cultural Impact Question
- Example: “What do you believe your personal contribution to company culture would be, and how would you help create opportunities for your teammates?”
- Purpose: This assesses how the candidate plans to make a positive cultural impact by creating opportunities and fostering an environment that aligns with Ōnin’s core values.
Step 5: Implement and Evaluate
- Interview Consistency: Ensure all interviewers are aligned on the cultural attributes you’re evaluating.
- Debrief and Analyze: After interviews, discuss candidate responses and their potential cultural fit with your team.
Ready to implement these strategies in your hiring process? Use the attached worksheet to work through the process for yourself. And for personalized support, schedule a meeting with an Ōnin expert today!