2020 has been a funny old year in the world of recruitment. We are lucky that we support some amazing companies in their recruitment, and feel we offer more of a service than just sending CVs. Here at som3 we want to work closely with our clients, offering market insights, recruitment process guidance, writing job descriptions, bid support and recruitment planning.

We have always been proud of our ability to understand our clients from a culture and “fit” perspective. Technical ability, work history and qualifications are only part of the jigsaw puzzle when it comes to hiring – culture, fit, ethics, morals and approach are all massive pieces.  After all, you want to work with likeminded people who challenge you, in an environment that supports your goals and morals, who you are proud to work for!

Traditionally we would always aim to visit a company’s office multiple times while working with them to get a feel for the environment. Is it suits and ties corporate, or is it flip flops and table football? Is it open plan offices with break out spaces and onside cafes with pods to sit in, or a grade II listed historic building with amazing features, views across London and history oozing out the walls? Is it formal meeting rooms and white boards, or meetings surrounded by pink feathers and flamingos on the walls (true story)? We could see for ourselves how you expressed your culture in the office environment and answer these questions for candidates

Now up until March of this year a majority of people have worked in the office most days, and so this culture fit has been a pretty tangible factor. Covid has changed all this and we think home working will be much more commonplace even once we have a vaccine, as companies have realised that employees can be just as affective or even more so working from home. Your culture wont change, but how you express and communicate it needs to change

What does this mean for employers when it comes to hiring? We need to know how to support you and make sure we are still looking for all the pieces of the puzzle when we can’t see and touch that culture in an office environment. How do we get to understand your culture when we can’t physically come to your offices? We speak to you that’s how!

Firstly, employers must clearly know what their company stands for and their corporate values. Not just the fancy marketing blurb that is flashed on the website, but deep down how does your company define culture? What traits do you value and nurture, what behaviours do you want to encourage and how will remote working affect these? How do you communicate this and build it in to the interview process? You may need to look at your interview questions and techniques and we can support you.  We will ask these questions from your hiring managers and staff, see how current employees perceive the company.

What does your social media say about you – Does the company tend to post more business-like, factual content, or is it light-hearted and personal? Do the people pictured on your website wear suits and ties, sitting in a glass sided boardroom or are they in a room with fake grass and fairy lights on the walls? – all of these are expressions of your companies culture and are the face of what you are trying to portray to potential employees

Communication is even more vital in remote working, there is no longer the across the desk banter, chats in the kitchen, bringing the dog in for a visit – we need to fill this gap (which is a whole other article) and we need to understand how you are doing this, so we can use this when attracting talent, after all not everyone likes the weekly Zoom quizzes – they may prefer the more formal daily conference calls, so we need to know how you have changed your approach or if things have stayed the same

Our job as Recruiters is to support companies in finding their approach and what that means to talent acquisition, and how we communicate that to candidates, how is it incorporated in to the interview process – we want to find you candidates who will excel in your culture, and not feel like a square peg in a round hole.