Often in recruiting and hiring we hear: "We need them to fit the culture." But then you ask questions about it.. and nobody even really knows what the culture is and you ask 5 people and you get 5 different answers. It turns into this murky "know it when you have it" type thing.... The culture analyzer to the rescue.
This concept of “the culture analyzer” comes from the book Traction, which was written by the founder of EOS, Entrepreneurial Operating System. A well-known and well-regarded system for managing a business. Here is the breakdown of the concept and how to implement it…
Culture = Core Values
Your culture is your core values. Not what you say you value, but what you actually value. You look at your company and your team, and you list out the core values. 3 to 5 core values max. This is something that we do with clients on the intake. And we work with them to really get them crystalized, as each team really has its own culture within the bigger org, so it takes a bit to get clarity on that.
The easiest way to do this
The easiest way to do this is list 3 people in the company (or on your team) that you think really exemplify the culture. Then for each one, list out the character traits that you think they have that really exemplifies the culture. That is your starting list and then you start boiling them down to the core 3-5 values.
This is now the tool you use to analyze if someone is a culture fit. It’s very simple to understand. Here is a photo:
+ = exhibits that value most of the time
+ / – = sometimes they exhibit the value and sometimes they don’t
– = they don’t exhibit the value most of the time
The bar: if you have 5 core values it would be 3 plus and 2 middle of the road. This is a very simple way to define and execute on what a “culture fit” is. And to have very clear guidelines for who is and isn’t a fit. This is the main strategy we use when we work with clients on culture fit and making sure we are finding them the right fit.
We have had a lot of success implementing the culture analyzer for ourselves and for our clients. Increasing productivity, increasing profitability, reducing turnover, reducing drag in the system, etc. If you ever want to chat about recruiting.. You know where to find us!
Sincerely, Todd Patrick Dorsey
