Culture-fit recruitment checklist

▢ Role purpose – do you have a clear role purpose?

Take the time to get this right. This is not the full role description. It comprises four to six unique activities that determine the purpose of the role. If you cannot define these, the role does not exist.

▢ Performance criteria – have you documented how you will measure success?

What are the tangible outcomes you want the person to achieve? How will you determine, in 12 months time, if they have been successful? If you write up an actual job score card for 12 months, you will be better placed to support them toward their success in the role.

▢ Person description – have you defined a specific person description?

This is separate to a role description. It profiles the ideal person in two areas:
• The ‘can dos’ – the tangible capabilities you need for successful job performance, such as specific work experience; knowledge; education; technical, communication and analytical skills; and specialised training
• The ‘will dos’ – the motivations and competencies you want to see, translated into the behaviours that are required/desired and associated with success in the job, such as drive and reliability.

▢ Past performance – have you identified desired can and will dos in their past performance?

Ask for accounts of where the candidate has displayed the abilities you seek. For example, if you seek innovation in products and services, you can ask them about an improvement they led, how they came up with the idea, how long it took to implement, whether staff accepted the change, and what the impact was to the bottom line.

▢ Behaviourial patterns – have you identified repeating patterns of your desired behaviours over time?

Ask probing questions across their last several roles to identify whether the candidate has a track record of demonstrating what you are looking for. This will uncover if there is a repeating pattern of behaviour – remembering, the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour.

▢ Verifications – have you effectively leveraged reference checking and psychological assessments?

A robust verification process helps to reduce hiring risk. The more insight you gain from referees who managed the person, the better you will be able to work with, and manage, the candidate. Psychological tests can then outline personality, abilities, motivations and values, which will help you determine if the person is a good fit for the role and your organisation.

While there are many more steps within a robust process, these core elements will add immense value to your recruitment.

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