Interviewers who are authentic and advocate in helping candidates genuinely understand what embodies the company culture. When interviewing candidates remotely and approaching culture conversations honestly and successfully is a critical element, writes Elizabeth Mye, global senior vice president of human resources, Intermedia.
Hiring is difficult enough, never mind adding in the COVID-19 pandemic, 100% remote work, and the everyday stresses of keeping a business thriving and profitable while supporting staff needs. In today’s current climate, all aspects of a company’s culture are also understandably at the top of almost every job candidates’ mind when heading into an interview, in addition to understanding the company’s health overall. 70% of Opens a new window professionals in the U.S. today say they would not work at a leading company if it meant they had to tolerate a bad workplace culture.
It becomes crucial for all interviewers to serve as an advocate and translator of the company culture. Defining one individual to serve as the candidate or culture ambassador creates continuity in the candidate’s experience. As you prepare to conduct your next remote interview, let’s first consider a few actionable tips, potential missteps to avoid, and the benefits and value of approaching culture conversations with job candidates from the start of their possible new journey with your business.
1. Best Practices for Your Next Virtual Interview
Culture is not defined as one size fits all. With the majority of professionals currently unable to interview in a physical office setting, many rely on the HR teams and company representatives to give them a transparent and accurate depiction of what the company has to offer and how its culture is reflected across departments and global geographies.
Here are a few best practices to follow to help you prepare:
· Ensure that your technical recruiting interview tools are flawless
Recruiting in a 100% remote work environment creates a different set of technical demands. Start by putting in place a reliable and consistent video conferencing platform to conduct interviews. It is also essential to ensure that you have several virtual interview rooms set up and available to run multiple and concurrent interviews. Finally, advise the interviewers to ensure that they have an excellent technical connection and that their internet is stable so the interview will run smoothly from start to end.
· Select a diverse interview panel
Extending the interview panel to employees from other parts of the company and geographic locations will ensure a well-rounded assessment and cultural fit while providing the candidate better insight into the company and culture.
· Assign specific culture focal areas and questions
The hiring manager should think about what skills, experience, and working style will fill out their team. With that clarity, they can focus on candidates’ technical and cultural assessment, assigning focus areas by the interview panel’s strength and insight through cultural, behavioral questions.
Learn More: Remote Hiring: 3 Steps to Digitally Execute an “Onsite†InterviewOpens a new window
2. Potential Missteps To Avoid
Work-life is busy and hiring managers will often shortcut and miss critical elements that genuinely guide making the right hire. These are a few of those essential missteps to avoid proactively.
· Interviewing by phone only
Interviewing by phone only provides about 50 percent of what you would get from a video meeting. Being able to see the candidate’s expression and reactions and the inflection of the interviewer for the candidate is the only way to obtain the most comprehensive read on a candidate.
· Not looking for signs in the interview feedback that determine the right cultural fit
Sometimes, it takes some convincing. However, building an interview plan, assigning a diverse interview panel, balancing the technical assessment with the cultural fit assessment, and having discipline in your candidate will help make the right hiring decision.
· Not taking the time to create a thoughtful and thorough interview plan
Best practices tell us that remote work requires a higher level of defined process and more frequent communication. The same discipline is essential for interviewing, all starting with a predetermined plan to guide the conversation and keep it going once the interview has wrapped.
Learn More: 6 Ways to Have Inclusive Virtual MeetingsOpens a new window
3. Benefits and The Value of Culture Conversations
The remote interview requires excellent coordination and predictability to ensure that the candidate has a fantastic interview experience. The benefits of fitting in culturally are especially great for individuals who serve as a network bridge and are positively associated with career success. Here are the additional benefits you can expect.
· Ability to gauge what is driving your candidate
Establishing a strong culture fit should give insight into the candidate’s demonstration of honesty, transparency, the ability to work in ‘collaborative autonomy,’ and drive results that are approached intelligently and with a critical eye in vetting potential risks.
· Finding the right fit
Knowing and embracing your company’s culture allows interviewers to see how a candidate responds during the interview process with iteration. It provides a real-time way of seeing how the candidate responds, learns, and adapts to your team.
To Wrap Up
Overall, consistency in the candidate experience and interviewers who are authentic and advocate in helping candidates genuinely understand what embodies the company culture are critical elements of creating a strong candidate connection. As we continue to navigate this new normal, implementing this type of transparent HR strategy is essential to attracting and retaining the right talent for your organization. By following the best practices listed above and avoiding common mishaps often overlooked, culture conversations can be approached successfully. They can mutually benefit both the interviewer and interviewee, even in a remote work environment.
Which best practices have you considered during remote virtual interviews? Tell us on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window .