Assessments designed to measure organizational culture are built to identify which participants will thrive in a specific work environment. Its practical purpose is to distinguish between participants who find the work environment fulfilling and those who may not fit the organization’s operational style.
Creating a Standardized Cultural Assessment
To build a structured assessment, organizations typically follow a specific framework:
- Analyze Organizational History: The process begins by understanding the historical differences between employees who were a strong operational and missional fit and those who were not.
- Behavioralize Differences: Once these patterns are identified, Highmatch, in partnership with the organization, works to behavioralize the differences between successful and unsuccessful participants.
- Build the Framework: After defining these behaviors, an assessment is mapped out to measure those specific competencies in new applicants.
Distinguishing Between Cultural Fit and Job Fit
A vital caveat in this process is that cultural alignment alone is often insufficient to predict a participant’s overall success. A participant might align perfectly with the company’s culture but lack the specific skills, abilities, or aptitudes required for their daily tasks.
To address this, cultural assessments are often supplemented with job-fit metrics. These metrics allow an organization to evaluate whether a participant is a good fit for their specific role in addition to the broader organization.
Predicting Long-Term Retention
Data suggests that job misfit is often a stronger early indicator of employee turnover than cultural misfit. Therefore, the highest likelihood of success and long-term retention occurs when a participant exhibits both a strong cultural fit and a strong job fit.
HighMatch Recommendation
Cultural assessments are best used as part of a hiring process that is aimed at “getting to know” a candidate rather than comparing candidates against one another for a specific role. Cultural assessments provide valuable insight into whether a candidate is likely to align with the way your organization operates, but job fit assessments should be used when trying to evaluate whether a candidate meets the requirements for a given position.
Our Success team at support@highmatch.com will be happy to answer any additional questions if you are interested in learning more about implementing a Culture Assessment.