Hire Better: Focus on Your Mission, Vision and Values

It’s all well and good to have your company mission, vision, and values (M,V,V) emblazoned across your company walls and in your employee handbook. But the true essence of what your company stands for is key when deciding who the best candidate is. Think of it as more than just cultural fit – it’s about matching the appropriate person to the real values you hold.

Do a Check-up

Litmus test your company mission, vision and values against your current workforce climate and observe the general sentiment towards it. Ask a few employees if they know about the M, V, V and then ask how well they think the company is living up to them. If you suspect employees might feel uncomfortable to respond accurately, send out an anonymous survey. If this is the case, you probably already know things haven’t been going as great as they could be.

Examine the results of this check-up and go over them with your managers and if possible, top leadership. Hopefully it won’t be a wake up call, but sometimes you’ll learn more than you bargained for about employee engagement through this exercise. These results will give you great employer brand insights too! Take the results and brainstorm how to better present and show the company M, V, V throughout the workplace, or use this opportunity to pat yourselves on the back and celebrate how well you’ve done.

Spread the Word

Once you’ve determined how effectively your M, V, V are displayed and acted upon in the company, it’s important to take them to the job posting process. Many companies add a line or two with their company vision and mission statements in their job ads, but it’s often glossed over as jobseekers read through job postings. Hardly anyone seeks out a job based on that line of text that may or may not have any reality in the company atmosphere. But what if they did?

Take some time to discuss demonstrating the vision with managers, and go over the results of your survey, looking for key quotes or elements to add. These can build up the body of your company profile, but also form the ‘About Us’ or ‘Intro sections’ of your job postings. Employers who show true evidence of their mission, vision and values, build companies employees want to work for. This can boost your employer branding for recruitment efforts. Attractive companies are ones that provide employees with a sense of purpose and meaningful work.

Matchmake for Mission

After you’ve promoted your job to popular and niche boards, consider also sharing it on social media, in community groups, and within your own network. Share it with people who you think would forward it to others who appreciate and live by your company values.

***CAUTION*** Make sure to understand your personal bias here and try to remove it as much as possible from this process. It’s not about hiring people like you, It’s about hiring people who compliment what you do and believe in meeting company goals together.

In the selection process, look for resumes that 1) meet the required skills, and 2) seem to fit the profile you’re looking for. It’s best to have a second (or more) set of eyes on this, especially if you work in a small, dynamic team.

Explain Why You Do What You Do

When you’re conducting interviews, take some time to explain the company brand, mission, and values. Don’t just state them and move on. Share some examples of how they are demonstrated in your company culture, business decisions, or community initiatives. This builds additional branding into your recruitment process (Check out Daryl Weber’s advice on employer branding) and shows evidence of your company values. Compliment this discussion with real descriptions of the workplace environment (ex: is it corporate, professional, or relaxed, flexible, and casual?).

Remember, the candidate is also looking for fit. Giving information that helps them picture themselves in the position, and see how well they’d fit, is key. It can save a lot of time and money (for both of you) if they decide then that it just isn’t the right role for them.

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Make The Selection

When selecting a hire, many aspects come into play, including their skills, qualifications, attitude, availability, salary expectations, and much more. But, adding a conversation around company vision is also important. Ask yourself and a few team members these questions, How well do you think this person would fit into our corporate strategy, given our vision and goals? Does their experience, attitude, or personal philosophy seem to fit well with what the company is trying to accomplish? Do they have professional goals that align well? Why do you think so? It can be difficult to know the answers to these questions off hand. So try to ask similar questions during the interview. Note that everyone has different interview skills. Some people interview really well while others interview poorly (but are equally qualified for the role). To help get the most out of the interview, have more than one person conduct the interview so you can gather more information and discuss. To learn more about how to interview the best, check out the interview questions we use for our very own hiring process.

Roll Out the Welcome Mat

Congratulations! You’ve selected your hire! Now it’s time for their onboarding. Make sure to again revisit your mission, vision, and values and strategies to re-introduce them again. Examine your onboarding checklist (don’t have a checklist? Here’s a great example of one), processes, and other elements of their new employment package. Where are the opportunities to share more of your vision? Perhaps an engaging presentation, decorated company swag, or a more exciting approach to delivering content in the employee handbook. From day 1, your new employee should be acquainted with the company vision, so that they can feel bought-in, motivated, and can easily join the existing team in living and working towards your vision daily.

Are you looking for more great advice? Download The 6 C’s of Strategic Hiring eBook today. It’s free! 🙂