When recruiting your next health, safety, environment, or sustainability team member, it’s not only important to consider their skills and experience, but also if they will fit with the organisation’s culture.
Company culture is a combination of your goals, workplace environment, work styles and employee behaviours, and finding an employee that aligns with these can be beneficial for everyone. Here are some key reasons why hiring for cultural fit in the health, safety, environment, or sustainability sector is so important:
1.Increased job satisfaction
Employees who fit well with the company’s culture are more likely to enjoy their work and be motivated. Bringing their best selves to work every day which will no doubt reflect in health, safety, environment, and sustainability performance.
2.Increased employee retention
An employee who fits the company culture will feel comfortable in the workplace and be engaged, therefore less likely to look for opportunities elsewhere. In an ever-increasing fight for talent in the health, safety, environment, and sustainability sector, retaining your best people is critical.
3.Improved team dynamics
Hiring for cultural fit means that team members will share similar values and work ethics, making collaboration and communication more effective. This does not mean everyone agrees on everything always! Indeed, the best decisions are often come to through a process of negotiation across shared views, however having the dynamics to enable this communication and negotiation to happen in a healthy way is essential.
4.Aligned decision-making
Shared values and beliefs can lead to better decision-making consistency and alignment within the organisation.
So how do you hire for cultural fit in the health, safety, environment, and sustainability sectors?
Firstly, your organisations culture should be communicated effectively during the recruitment process, including on hiring materials such as job postings and the careers section on your website. Any team members participating in interviews should also be able confident in discussing the company culture in a way that is honest and genuine. Involving existing employees in the process also provides the opportunity for others to see if the candidate is a good fit for the team and company. Asking about how a candidates background fits with the company culture is so often left out of an interview process which focuses regularly on the technical. Asking for clear, concise examples of non-technical competencies is something all companies should do to ensure the right cultural fit.
You can also add some science behind this through psychometric tests, some of the leaders in the space are SHL and Myer-Briggs.
If you are currently looking to recruit a health, safety, environment, or sustainability professional and looking for how to test for a cultural fit in your recruitment process, get in touch with our specialist team here.