CULTURE AND VALUES: INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES AND QUESTIONS Using culture and values as an assessment tool can be tricky and founders should be mindful of not only hiring carbon copies of themselves. This is how unconscious bias can fairly easily leak into the hiring process and be legitimised behind “they share our culture and values”. The best way forward is to look for cultural and value fit. This does not mean that someone shares your values verbatim, but that their personality and values fit in under the culture and values that your organisation has formulated. It is difficult to provide a comprehensive guide to good answers on culture, but we will outline some general best practices when it comes to candidate’s answers. NONO TION TTION T Tell me about a couple of This question helps uncover whether the candidate has times you went out of your actively acted on their values (whatever they might be) and way to show [include a relates their actions to your company culture and values. company value here]? ALENT AALENT A What type of culture do you Does the response reflect your organisational culture? Both SS thrive in? the actual culture your employees have described and the SESSES values you have defined. SMENTSMENT If you could add anything to Culture is not a static thing. Hiring is not just about our company culture, what assessing fit, but how a candidate can positively add to the would it be? company culture and bring their best selves to work. Their answer should not be a copy of a current culture and make sure that they give a reason for why that specific addition. Their logic should be that it will eventually positively affect the bottom line, not just be a nice to have. Preferably they should have experience with the cultural element working well in the past. Describe the working Don’t look for confirmation, look for red flags. Are there environment where you are elements that are simply “no go” in your organisation. It most productive and happy. can be elements of relations between peers, supervisor relations, processes, team structure and more. Since culture and values are such unique parts of companies it will be more useful to em- phasise that you should ask questions directly related to your values. Ask both theoretical and behavioural questions in order to get both a sense of how they think about your and their values, as well as how they have embodied them. 9191