Seeking a firm believer

Bridget O'Shannessey says company culture should allow for individualism. Picture / Dean Purcell

Despite having great qualifications, excellent work experience, and first-class references you still missed out on getting that top job. So what went wrong?

Based on the observations of Bridget O'Shannessey, BNZ's general manager of people and culture, it could have more to do with your attitude than your abilities.

With the service-based mantra running through so many organisations these days, good candidates can be overlooked (for jobs) if employers suspect they're not the right cultural fit, she warns.

Armed with the knowledge that hiring the wrong executive costs around seven times their annual salary, companies want to ensure there's no gulf between what it stands for and what its staff believe in, O'Shannessey says.

What a growing number of companies now recognise is that it's infinitely easier to hire people who already share their values than try to realign those values once they've joined the firm. She says companies also recognise that it's infinitely harder to achieve desirable corporate behaviour from staff who are indifferent to their values.

It's patently clear to O'Shannessey that customers want to deal with everyday people, just like themselves. That's why she claims cultural fit - or an alignment of overarching principles - is more about getting staff to emulate embedded values than training them to act like Stepford Wives. She's convinced that any organisation should be able to drive core beliefs within its staff without playing mind control games.

In the BNZ's case, she says it's about overlaying the company's business strategy with clear objectives at the tactical level.

That means getting staff to understand and embrace the core values of customer satisfaction and service standards without limiting their ability to think outside the box or stultifying their individuality.

To O'Shannessey that also means being up-front with staff about the things that really matter. And from her experience, companies only develop a culture of empowerment and engagement by treating staff with respect and letting them know where the boundaries are.

"We recognise that the people who work for the bank are responsible for developing its evolving culture," says O'Shannessey.

She believes cultural fit is more about delivering consistency in how an organisation operates as a group and the customer experience than limiting diversity of thought. Far from being detrimental to the organisation, staff who constantly challenge existing practices and question why things are done add to the bank's ability to continually improve.

"An 86 per cent participation in our employee opinion survey proves convincingly that staff feel comfortable about questioning how and why we do things."

So what opportunity is there for employees to contribute to the organisation's evolving culture?

As well as national training days and monthly team meetings, the bank runs six-weekly TV network forums where staff discuss key issues. Then there are quarterly road shows where every bank employee has the opportunity to contribute to the company's future strategy development.

"We also have an employee advisory call-centre where any staff can call about anything from dealing with difficult customers, how their pay works or even how to get a better job," says O'Shannessey.

But how does the BNZ know that it's recruiting people with the right cultural fit?

"There's little point trying to identify people who'll match the organisation's cultural fit, if you don't fully explain what your organisation is all about during the interview process."

For example, the bank's talent and acquisition team, responsible for recruiting, give candidates the opportunity to explore the bank before accepting a role.

Well before an appointment is made, it's the team's job to clearly explain to candidates what it means to embrace the BNZ employee proposition and promise.

"What the bank is really saying to prospective staff is here are the principles we work to, how we treat staff, and this is what it really means to be a BNZ employee - if that doesn't agree with you please say so now."

During the interview the team also ask questions designed to ensure candidates understand the expectations the bank will have for them as employees, and the diversity-factor.

O'Shannessey says it's important for any organisation to hire people who can work within and reflect their customer base. With more than 4500 full-time staff spread across many business units, the bank has cultures within cultures. But no matter what business unit staff work for, the overarching belief is that customers remain paramount.

"Our customer-driven culture is strongly aligned to the diversity of our staff. And so one way to ensure staff understand our culture is by ensuring they reflect the community comprising our marketplace," says O'Shannessey.

"But what should trigger alarm bells," says Nicola Pohlen, of recruiter Pohlen Kean, "are signs - despite your explanations - that candidates neither understand nor care about what your organisation stands for."

She says there's no guarantee that recruits will embrace your organisation's culture just because they know what it is. That's why it's equally important all recruitment is done around core values such as teamwork, respect, effectiveness, fairness, ownership and accountability.

She warns employers to remain wary of candidates who come across as bolshie during the hiring process.

"What they're really saying, is your organisation's culture will have to fit around me, I'm not going to change," says Pohlen.

So how does your organisation know whether candidates are sincere or just paying lip-service to your underlying values?

According to Sydney-based behavioural change specialist Carolyn Taylor, employers and recruiters can't afford to take candidate rhetoric at face value (and vice versa). She says they have to become more adept at picking up on the non-verbal messages that job candidates send out.

What candidates don't say, their attire, how they conduct themselves, plus the language they use, provides a useful window into underlying sentiment and attitudes.

But she reminds employers that if they want staff to display certain types of behaviour, they must lead by example.

Taylor claims it's pointless for a company to look for staff who'll fit its culture until it really knows what it is.

Before a company can identify the desired behaviour it wants to see in staff, it needs to spend sufficient time defining what it stands for, says Taylor.

And leading by example means showing staff that what the company is supposed to look like and stand for on paper is in fact what actually happens.

Creating the right cultural fit

* Clearly define and communicate what your organisation stands for.
* Don't assume candidates respect your culture.
* Encourage candidates to show how they'll embrace your values.
* Identify past experiences that demonstrate your firm's desired values.
* Look for non-verbal signals, like attitude, manner, and dress.
* Provide comprehensive company orientation programmes.
* Be clear about what really matters.
* Give staff the opportunity to question and contribute.
* Recognise that organisational culture is constantly evolving.
* Ensure you walk the talk.