Rebecca Hastings’ Post

"What is the company culture like?" You are in an interview, you want to learn about the workplace culture: is this the best way to get answers? I asked that question in an interview once and the two interviewers looked at one another before one came back and said “work hard play hard.” Ask a dumb question, get a dumb response… Its not that the interviewer was being unhelpful, most people just have such different perspectives that it’s a conversational cul-de-sac, heavy in words, light in meaning. Culture is intangible, most of us don’t have the language to convey it. It’s also subjective, so one person’s idea of an entrepreneurial workplace may be another’s idea of an autocracy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Go ahead and read all about a company’s stated culture if you are in a selection process, bone up on those buzz words, repackage them, reflect them back in your responses, and you’ll do well. But, to get into the nitty gritty of what it’s like to work there – you need more. Here’s some of what I’d want to know: How will I be managed? -           How often are performance reviews? What is the process? -           How are issues dealt with? If I've made an error should I brace for pain and awkwardness? Are your people happy? -           When was your last social? Is there good attendance? Is there a balance of well-funded top/down and casual bottom/up socials? -           Do you do pulse/engagement surveys? What themes are coming out? What are your top people like? -           When there’s bad news, is there a visible leadership presence to own the message? -           Do junior people in the business have an idea of the personality and values of the leadership? Are they comfortable raising concerns? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Whether or not you will get around to asking any of these questions at interview, depends. There is a natural imbalance within the interview process which you can’t ignore. Ballsy and all as it sounds, if you start interrogating the interview panel you’ll just .come across as eccentric at best, unemployable at worst. Asking at least some of these questions and actively listening to the responses will tell you a lot more than the boilerplate. You’ll seem more engaged and thoughtful than the next person. So, whether a prospective employer is saying “great culture” or a former (anonymous) employee is saying “toxic culture” – remember both parties have their own motivations. Whether in an interview, or speaking to present/former employees, or your recruiter, don’t just settle for buzzwords when it comes to culture: demand more. Those claims need challenged with concrete, objective questions. If you don’t ask the right questions, you’re flying blind.

Dear Hiring Manager, In the competitive world of hiring, authenticity stands out. As a hiring manager, your goal is not just to find the right candidate, but also to build a positive and thriving work environment. This begins right from the interview process. Instead of selling a positive culture, why not genuinely create one? Here's how you can be authentic and make your interview process a reflection of your company culture: Show Your True Colors! Rather than putting on a facade, let your genuine personality shine through. Candidates want to know who you are and what the company truly stands for. Authenticity establishes trust and lays the foundation for a meaningful employer-employee relationship. Encourage Transparency! Transparency is a key ingredient of a positive workplace culture. During interviews, be open about the company's goals, challenges, and growth opportunities. Discuss both the perks and the realities of working at your organization. This not only manages candidate expectations but also demonstrates your commitment to honest communication. Set Clear Expectations! Misaligned expectations can lead to dissatisfaction down the line. Be upfront about the role's responsibilities, performance metrics, and career trajectory. Providing a clear picture of what the candidate can expect in terms of tasks, projects, and goals helps them make an informed decision and reduces the chances of post-hire disappointment. Own Your Leadership Style! Every leader has a unique approach to managing their team. Whether you're hands-on or prefer to provide autonomy, own your leadership style. This helps candidates assess if they resonate with your approach and if they can thrive under your guidance. Remember, finding the right fit is a two-way street – both parties should feel comfortable with the working dynamic. Be the Culture, Don't Just Sell It! Instead of presenting a picture-perfect culture, actively create it. Actions speak louder than words. Showcase your commitment to inclusivity, collaboration, and employee well-being through your interview process. Share real examples of how the company supports its employees and promotes a positive atmosphere. Match Values and Beliefs! Cultural alignment is crucial for long-term success. During interviews, delve into the candidate's values, beliefs, and work preferences. Gauge whether these align with the company's culture. When both parties share common ground, it enhances job satisfaction and decreases turnover. Remember, there's a candidate out there who's looking for exactly what you offer—authenticity, transparency, and the opportunity to be part of a culture that's as real as it gets. Sincerely, Your favorite Recruiter ❤️

Writing core values is the easy part. Defining what they aren't and the relationship between them is where the magic happens. Every company wants their employees to care about the company’s purpose. But screening  for people who care in the way you’d like is only possible with a good understanding of what is and isn’t the intended behavioral outcome of your values? My approach has always been: let candidates tell you a story. At Sauceda Industries, two of our core values were “Build community” and “Give a shit” and they created some of the behaviors that I think were the most culture defining for our organization. In interviews we would ask candidates to “tell us about a time in which you worked with a colleague who was struggling with performance.” If their response was along the lines of: “I’m a high achiever and don't have time for people like that so I ignored them and did my job” that would get graded poorly: Give a shit: ✅ Build community: ❌ Sure, they cared about their own work, but they were missing the forest through the trees. Who cares if you have a company of high achievers if they’re all stepping on one another to achieve personal success? That wasn’t the type of environment we were trying to build. If they answered that they made attempts to level that person up from a position of sincere concern and still worked towards achieving the organizational goals, then we’d grade it like this: Give a shit: ✅ Build community: ✅ Our hiring panels would be given a set of questions that were developed to ask questions that surfaced scenarios like this. Screening for company values can feel like tricky work. And you'll never get there with a set of yes-or-no questions. But by making interview questions open-ended and about story-telling instead of skill-telling, you give candidates the opportunity to show you who they really are—AND whether they'd be a good fit in your company. In my experience the names of companies and titles on resumés tell you less about the candidates culture than the stories they’ll share if you give them the opportunity. So give them the space to do it and you’ll find plenty of folks who give a shit like we did. (As a total aside, I wish we had made more of these give a shit tees. They were a hit when our clients came by our facility and saw our team wearing them.) #culture #hiring #values

Company #Culture is one of those really difficult things to define. 🤷♂️ Ask 8 people to define what company culture means and you will get 15 different answers. 😳 One of my favorite definitions of company culture is - How we do things❗ Put another way- What it’s like to work here day to day. 👷♂️ It is really difficult to get a read on a company’s culture while going through the #interview process. You can often get a read on your future manager and others involved in the interview lineup, but it’s really hard to decipher what it will be like to work at this company. In my 20 years in Executive Search, I've had the fortunate opportunity to view hundreds of companies’ interview processes and there is a DEFINITE correlation between how the company conducts their interviews AND what its like to actually work at that company. There are no right or wrong answers to the questions below. ⬇ You need to ask yourself what type of environment you prefer to work in. One person’s love of a collaborative & communicative environment 😃 is another person’s frustration at the lack of independence, autonomy and agility 😠 . ➖ Do they move quickly or are they more methodical? Are they too extreme in either direction? ➖ Do they over/under communicate throughout the process? ➖ Is the interview process structured, organized, process oriented OR sporadic, last minute, etc.? ➖ Are the interviewers collaborating through the process or does every interview start at zero? ➖ Does the interview process feel very transactional or do the interviewers give you the “warm & fuzzies”? ➖ Does the #hiring manager keep you at arms length through the process does it feel like they are shepherding you throughout? ➖ Do the interviewers have genuine belief in what they are doing or do they all feel like they are cogs in the machine? ➖ Does it feel like decisions are made democratically or does the hiring manager have a reasonable level of autonomy to make decisions? If you are a hiring manager or HR professional, make sure your interview processes align with the culture of your organization. Candidates that do not align with your culture will often deselect themselves as they grow frustrated because “How your company does things” doesn’t align with “How they do things.” ↪ What other questions should we be asking ourselves as we go through an interview process?  Kate Bahnmuller Lee Kester Megan Jamison Kester Search Group, LLC ®

I think one thing that would be a game changer for candidates would be if companies that did interviews with candidates, and did not select them ultimately would share the feedback from the interviewers with the candidates. I think this would serve a few purposes. For the interviewee: - It would allow them to understand how they were perceived and received by their interviewer. Are the messages they are conveying being received as intended? If not, it allows you to adjust your messaging moving forward in other interview processes. - It can provide some level of comfort to the person being turned down that they were actually given due consideration in the process. In other words, they were seen as and treated as humans. - Plainly, it would also provide a bit of closure. I've had a couple of interviews where I was like "I knocked that one out of the park" (and let me assure you that I don't think that about all, or even most of them. I'm a harsh self critic.). There was a great chemistry, a great flow...and then rejection...with no reason given as to why. I'm a professional, and a big boy...so I move on to the next, however, that disconnect between "I knocked that one out of the park" and rejection, can be a bit confusing without further feedback. For the interviewer: - It would hold them to a level of accountability and ensure process consistency by making their feedback transparent. - It would help them to get better at refining their interview processes, and ensure that the people they have performing interviews do so in a way that's consistent with their organization's desired processes, and values. Think about all the endeavors you've ever undertaken whether it's sports, or music of some kind, or work related. Were you ever able to get better and improve without feedback? If you were...did you improve more quickly when you had feedback or were left to figure it out on your own? Feedback is such an important part to getting better at anything. I wish we could normalize companies providing it. Personally, I always ask for feedback when I'm eliminated from consideration. I want to get better and close up any gaps in my "game"...so to speak. Some of the best TA people I've worked with have actually responded with feedback. Most never respond. I realize that there's more value to the candidate than the prospective employer, but it would be an easy way to create the appearance of a human first approach to a company's hiring process by doing this.

A young adult named Jack walks into an office for his first-ever job interview. He's a bundle of nerves, not entirely sure how to tie a tie, but hey, he's giving it his best shot. Jack didn't have a clear roadmap growing up—no mentors, a shaky family support system, and life lessons learned the hard way. But here he is, stepping into the adult world, and he doesn’t only need a paycheck; he needs something more—someone who genuinely gives a damn about him. So, I've got to ask, if you're in that room with Jack, what's your move? This isn't just a thought experiment; it's a reality that happens every single day. Because being a leader isn't about clocking in at 9 and checking out at 5. No, leadership's reach extends far beyond office walls; it wraps itself around the very fabric of society. The way we lead can actually change lives. No joke. Empathy isn't just a boardroom buzzword to toss around in meetings; it's your most powerful tool as a leader. Each person who walks through your doors, from Jack to Jane to Jose, needs you to take the time to invest in them as whole human beings. Every person is a unique bundle of experiences, dreams, and challenges, and your job is to be the gardener that helps navigate through it all. Leadership is a serious commitment, and it’s not for everyone. And that’s okay. But if you can't look at your team and emphatically say, "These are my people, and it's my responsibility to help them be their absolute best," then it might be time for some soul-searching. Leadership isn't just a title you can slap on your LinkedIn profile; it's a commitment to empowering those who've trusted you with their time, their skills, and, their dreams. When you lead with this kind of heart-first, all-in approach, you're doing more than boosting quarterly profits or meeting KPIs. You're sending ripples out into society. You're transforming individuals into kinder, more effective human beings. You're setting the stage for a generation of leaders who know the value of empathy, responsibility, and—let's not forget—giving a damn about each other. In a world that often seems like it's teetering on the brink, that's precisely the kind of leadership we need. So ask yourself today: Am I just a boss, or am I a life-changer? The choice is ours to make, every single day. Let's make it count, and let's make the world a little bit better—one day, one person at a time. Here's to leading like we mean it. 👏🏼 #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #beallyoucanbe

How did you prepare for this interview?

How about some answers to help others

Hiring is not easy, but getting the best people is critical. Because a company is only as good as its people. Ask questions to access their attitude, their character, and their fit. Here are 22 questions for a hiring manager: 1/ How did you prepare for this interview? ↳ Let them show off their hard work. 2/ What does your calendar look like? ↳ Understand how they time block and what they value. 3/ What will past managers say about your strengths and weaknesses? ↳ From another person's perspective, they might be more honest. 4/ How did you handle an angry customer? ↳ Especially important for frontline workers. 5/ Did you ever have to convince someone to do something they were reluctant to do? How? ↳ Persuasion skills are important for any leader. 6/ Let awkward silences stay awkward ↳ Give them space to think or say more. 7/ What do you think we are doing wrong as a company? What would you change? ↳ Let them show how much they care. 8/ Is there anything about this role you are apprehensive about? ↳ Address unknowns and issues right away. 9/ Walk me through your last project. What should have been different? ↳ Understand how they reflect and learn. 10/ How did you handle a co-worker or boss you never got along with? What did you learn? ↳ People skills are key to excelling in any organization. 11/ What could you give a 5 min presentation on with no preparation? ↳ Let them show off their passion and expertise. 12/ What do you look for when hiring? ↳ Turn the tables around, especially for leaders. 13/ Tell me about the last 5 books you've read. ↳ Understand their interests. 14/ What is a value that is non-negotiable for you? Why? ↳ Either a green or red flag. 15/ What is not on your resume I should know about? ↳ Give them an opportunity to share something more. 16/ Tell me about a time when you had to deliver bad news. ↳ Are they kind and empathetic while being professional? 17/ What is something people might find weird about you? ↳ Give them a chance to show personality. 18/ Who would follow you here? ↳ Especially if you are growing. 19/ Which of our company values resonate with you the most? Why? ↳ Culture fit is important. 20/ What is the most critical piece of feedback you've received? ↳ Understand their growth journey. 21/ What was a tightly held belief you had to change? Why? ↳ Understand if they have a growth or limited mindset. 22/ What question do you want me to ask you? ↳ Let them shine. PS. Repost to help others hire! ♻️

During an interview, asking about the hiring process, your potential success, and the company's culture is essential. This will give you valuable information that can help you decide if it's a workplace where you would feel happy working. Here are a few questions you can ask. #CandidateResources #InterviewTips #TeamAssurant