Organizational culture
The construct of organizational culture has been vastly explored by research, with the most common definition suggesting that organizational culture is a set of shared beliefs and values held by the totality of the people comprising an organization. A strong organizational culture has been associated with increased organizational effectiveness, easier attraction and retention of employees, higher motivation and a clearer direction for the company. While organizational culture might seem as a rather abstract concept, increasingly more organizations value the importance of setting and sustaining a strong culture and look for ways to leverage culture to enhance organizational effectiveness.
“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind will be favorable.”
While the philosopher L.A Seneca probably wasn’t thinking of a company's culture when he made the above realization, this is a great way to conceptualize organizational culture. A company’s culture should reflect the goals, motivations as well as all the behaviors that a company wants to exhibit and reinforce.
As suggested above, Organizational Culture is a set of shared beliefs and values, which are unique for every organization. Think of the beliefs of an organization as representing “Who we are” and most importantly “Who we want to be” and by saying that, we mean which are the key personality traits that are shared by the majority of our employees and create our unique set of beliefs.
The values of an organization represent the “How we work” idea which reflects the actual behavior that we want employees to exhibit. While these constructs might be elusive at times, Bryq can provide an objective way to measure them and generate great insights into how your current employees and teams as well as how the future hires shape your culture.
It is great to have a deep understanding of your culture, but it’s even better to be able to measure it.
Our goal is not only to help you gain a deeper understanding of your culture, but also to provide you with an objective way to measure and enhance your company’s culture. To do so, you need people that will not only fit your values, but will be able to add cultural value. But how do we do that?
We understand that each organizational culture is different, thus the Culture Indicator is tailored to your company's values and beliefs following our Bryq process. The process of obtaining this indicator is straightforward. Our in-house team of I-O psychologists receive your values and they map out how they fit into the 16 Bryq personality traits. The purpose of this analysis is to identify which personality traits are key and optimally represent each of your values. That way you can identify how a candidate fits in your culture and most importantly whether a candidate is able to reinforce your culture for the future to come.
What does the Culture Indicator look like?
That is how the Culture Indicator will be presented on your account once it is live. You will be able to see the overall fit score of the candidate, as well as their score on each of your values. It is important to check both the overall score and the breakdown, as specific values might be considered more crucial for specific roles.
📌 Remember that there is no need for candidates to undertake any further assessment in order for you to have access to the Culture Indicator.
At the bottom of the spider chart, there is a Read More Insights button, where you have the option to view the mapping of each value and how the candidate performs per value.
💡 The candidate is compared to the candidate pool's average giving you an indication of how the candidate scores vs. the average score of the candidate pool for the relevant role.
Deprecated view:
On the right corner of this image, there is this expand dropdown option, where you have the option to see the mapping of each value and how the candidate scores on each of the mapping traits.
Another great feature of Bryq’s platform is the Candidates Comparison.
Here you can compare up to 5 candidates and check how they score on each of your values. This insight is very helpful and it provides a deep understanding of how each candidate fits your organization. You can find more information on this feature here.
🎥 Deep dive into our unique Culture framework here.
✉️ If you are interested in including the Culture Indicator in your account, please reach out to Bryq Customer Success and we will guide you through the process. We are always happy to help! :)
ℹ️ Click here for instructions on how to add Indicators to your assessments.
Culture Interview Questions:
A few interview questions that will be helpful for you during your interview.
Top 5 questions:
Describe the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.
What are the characteristics exhibited by the best boss you have ever had—or wish that you have had?
Describe the management style that will bring forth your best work and efforts.
What is your preferred work style? Do you prefer working alone or as part of a team? What percentage of your time would you allocate to each, given a choice?
How would coworkers describe the role that you play on a team?
References
Heathfield, Susan M. “18 Cultural Fit Interview Questions to Assess Your Candidate's Fit.” The Balance Careers, www.thebalancecareers.com/cultural-fit-interview-questions-1918498.
Limaj, E., & Bernroider, E. W. (2019). The roles of absorptive capacity and cultural balance for exploratory and exploitative innovation in SMEs. Journal of Business Research, 94, 137-153.
MJ Hatch, AL Cunliffe. Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives, - 2006 - Oxford University Press
Spicer, A. (2020). Organizational culture and COVID-19. Journal of Management Studies, 57(8), 1737-1740.
Paais, M., & Pattiruhu, J. R. (2020). Effect of motivation, leadership, and organizational culture on satisfaction and employee performance. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business, 7(8), 577-588.