{"id":14997,"date":"2019-06-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/identifi-global.eu.applyflow.com\/why-honesty-is-more-important-than-culture-in-recruitment\/"},"modified":"2022-12-09T06:14:31","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T06:14:31","slug":"why-honesty-is-more-important-than-culture-in-recruitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/news\/why-honesty-is-more-important-than-culture-in-recruitment\/","title":{"rendered":"Why honesty is more important than culture in recruitment"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>\n<p>\n\t\t&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/identifi-global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/HonestyRecruitment.jpg\" style=\"width: 600px; height: 400px\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\tYou\u2019ve conducted your interviews and whittled down your shortlist of candidates. Finally, after much deliberation, you make an offer to your top prospect &#8211; and they accept. A few weeks later they join the team. Everything seems to be going fine, until one day, out of the blue, they hand in their notice. The work\u2019s fine, they say. But the culture isn\u2019t quite what they were expecting.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHiring that candidate took months and now you\u2019re back to square one. How can you prevent this from happening again?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><b>You may like: <\/b><\/span><a href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000FF\">Is there a right way to lead?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\t<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\">in their first 45 days. There are countless reasons why people leave their jobs. But for new hires, one in particular stands out &#8211; they were expecting one thing, but got another.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>\n\tBuilding an authentic \u2018employer brand\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>\n\tMarketing used to be the sole custodians of the brand. These days, HR are increasingly involved in brand decisions as it has such a huge impact on attracting and retaining talent. But while building an attractive employer brand is important, it\u2019s also important to make sure that brand stacks up with reality.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/case-study-monique-duarte\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3jh33bzyw1wep.cloudfront.net\/s3\/W1siZiIsIjIwMTgvMTAvMTIvMTQvMjAvMjEvMTMzL01vbmlxdWUgRHVhcnRlIENhc2UgU3R1ZHkucG5nIl1d\"><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n\tNo company is perfect. And employee review sites or social media make it easier than ever for candidates to see what a company is really like. So if your website is full of photos of staff having a great time, but your Glassdoor profile is full of people ranting about your toxic culture, you\u2019re going to have an issue.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIf you\u2019re looking to avoid new hire turnover, here are three ways to build a more authentic employer brand and attract the right people.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t#1 &#8211; Get in touch with reality<\/h2>\n<p>\n\tMost businesses have mission, vision and core values statements. In an ideal world, these form the bedrock of the brand and the company\u2019s culture, and guide how the business and its employees behave. However, more often than not these statements do little more than gather dust.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe best place to start is to audit your own company culture. You can do this by speaking to your employees: try finding out:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\tWhat makes them tick<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tWhy they do what they do<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tWhat they like about their job<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tWhat they\u2019d change if they could<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tAnd, most importantly, why they work for you<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\tYou may not like everything you hear, but an unvarnished picture of your strengths and weaknesses will help you root your employer brand in reality. Glossy photography, beautifully-worded job ads and lofty values statements are all well and good, but culture has to be lived and breathed. And a company that misrepresents its culture is no better than a candidate who misrepresents their skills. You need to be honest about what your culture is, not what you think it should be.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">\n\t<strong>&#8220;D<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\">on\u2019t just focus on the positives.&#8221;<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>\n\t<span id=\"docs-internal-guid-a4106484-7fff-f5df-bf35-ff1a78d74219\"><a href=\"http:\/\/glassdoor.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000FF\">Glassdoor<\/span><\/a> <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\"> is another place to look. And don\u2019t just focus on the positives. In fact, if you\u2019re not already, you should be responding to and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.glassdoor.com\/employers\/blog\/responding-to-negative-glassdoor-reviews-faqs-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000FF\">managing all positive and negative feedback on Glassdoor<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\">. Researching potential employers on Glassdoor is par for the course and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.glassdoor.co.uk\/employers\/blog\/facts-glassdoor-jobseekers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000FF\">73% of candidates are more likely to apply<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\"> if the employer is active on the site.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>\n\t#2 &#8211; Create your employer brand<\/h2>\n<p>\n\tNow that you\u2019ve got a handle on your culture, you need to bring that to bear on your recruitment process and materials. This includes job ads, your Glassdoor profile, any recruitment boards you use and any recruitment collateral you produce.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tJust as in your customer marketing, a consistent, multi-channel presence is key. Your brand behaviour should be identifiable and consistent across every touchpoint. It also needs to come across in the interviews themselves, as well as in any preliminary phone calls or video calls.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-a4106484-7fff-f5df-bf35-ff1a78d74219\">The crucial thing here is to stick to your guns &#8211; and keep sight of what you learned in your research. While it might be in vogue to have a ping-pong table in the office, beers on a Friday and <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/flexible-working-what-is-it-and-why-should-we-be-paying-attention\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000FF\">flexible working<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\">, if that\u2019s not what you do then it\u2019s best to be honest about that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n\tA particularly good source for positive, authentic messages to weave into your hiring materials is your employees\u2019 answers to your culture audit. Specifically, the questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\tWhat they like about their job<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tWhy they work where they work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\tBy rooting your employer brand in the answers you got from your staff, you reduce the odds of someone joining the company and quickly becoming disenchanted.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t#3 &#8211; Repeat the process<\/h2>\n<p>\n\tBusinesses rarely stand still. And when they do, it\u2019s usually a bad thing. As your business grows, evolves or acquires other businesses, it\u2019s culture will naturally shift. And it\u2019s important that your employer brand keeps up with that, or it will cease to be relevant.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">\n\t<strong>&#8220;Keep your finger on the pulse of the culture and the employee experience.&#8221;<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>\n\tThe culture audit process only needs to be completed once a year. It may also be a good idea to run an audit after a particularly disruptive event, such as a merger. By speaking to employees and keeping a close eye on Glassdoor, you can keep your finger on the pulse of the culture and the employee experience. This helps with hiring, but it also helps to identify and resolve any challenges that come up.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\tHonesty is the best policy<\/h2>\n<p>\n\tHonesty is crucial in recruitment &#8211; and it goes both ways. Employers need to be honest with candidates, and candidates need to be honest with employers. And in the long term, it\u2019s in both parties\u2019 interests to do so. New hire turnover is unpleasant for everyone involved. An authentic employer brand is a great way for employers to manage and set the right expectations.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-a4106484-7fff-f5df-bf35-ff1a78d74219\">Ultimately, transparency and authenticity are about more than just hiring. They\u2019re about integrity. In recent years there have been a string of household brands caught out by saying one thing and doing another, including <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2006\/mar\/17\/retail.animalrights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000FF\">Body Shop<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/innocent-drinks-profit-goes-through-a-blender-after-coca-cola-takeover-3sw8pn5j3hb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000FF\">Innocent Drinks<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-46984349\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000FF\">Iceland<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0)\">. By auditing your own culture, defining a strong employer brand and regularly repeating the process, you can avoid making the same mistake.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n\t<b><i><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-a4106484-7fff-f5df-bf35-ff1a78d74219\">If you\u2019re looking for help in finding the right personalities to enhance your company culture, check out our <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/talent-management-online-assessment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000FF\">online assessment tool<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\">.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>\n\t<b><i><span style=\"color: #000000\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/contact-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3jh33bzyw1wep.cloudfront.net\/s3\/W1siZiIsIjIwMTgvMTEvMDIvMTMvNTEvMjUvODE3L2lkZW50aWZpIGdsb2JhbCBuZXcgam9iIHJvbGUucG5nIl1d\"><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; You\u2019ve conducted your interviews and whittled down your shortlist of candidates. Finally, after much deliberation, you make an offer to your top prospect &#8211; and they accept. A few weeks later they join the team. Everything seems to be going fine, until one day, out of the blue, they hand in their notice. The&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/news\/why-honesty-is-more-important-than-culture-in-recruitment\/\" class=\"\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Why honesty is more important than culture in recruitment<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-management"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/14198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}