How Values-Based Hiring Attracts Top Talent

Compensation and benefits are an important part of your recruitment strategy – but bringing in people who are only attracted by a paycheck isn’t the way to build a highly engaged, passionate workforce. 

Values-based hiring is the solution. By understanding and promoting your company’s culture, including your commitment to diversity and inclusion, demographics, and leadership values, you can draw in top talent. 

How can you uncover your company’s values, understand them, and use them to create a values-based hiring process? This blog post will cover all of that and more.   

The Benefits of Values-Based Hiring 

An employee’s performance at work is determined by more than just their skill level – it is also strongly influenced by their values, thoughts, and cultural fit within the organization. Employees who are used to working within a large, hierarchical organization such as a 100-year-old corporation tend to operate very differently than the founders of a start-up, even if the job title is the same. 

In today’s fast-moving world, relying on evaluating a static set of skills is not enough to determine if a candidate is a long-term fit for the needs of the organization. A focus on compatibility with organizational culture and the right mindset to succeed is the purpose of values-based hiring, allowing for flexibility and adaptation when circumstances change. 

And leaders agree – 72% of executives in 2021 said that the ability of employees to adapt, reskill, and take on new roles is the first or second-most important factor to navigate future disruptions. 

Identifying the traits that lead to long-term success in your organization helps recruit candidates who are a better fit for the role and the company as a whole. And that benefits both your business and your new employees.  

Making your company’s values clear throughout the whole hiring process will attract candidates who are attracted and aligned to those values. That can drive significant increases in productivity and engagement among employees – and create a healthy, strong workplace culture.

Discovering Your Company’s Values 

Whether you’re new to your organization or just beginning to turn your focus to a values-based hiring process, uncovering and understanding your company’s values is critical. 

You might be starting from scratch, needing to discover and clearly communicate your company’s values. You can begin this process by thinking about what elements of your company culture are already in place: diversity, demographics, and the CEO’s values. 

While your organization might not have clearly spelled out its values, they’re already in place in your company’s culture – they just need to be made explicit. You can also determine which values are aspirational for your business, such as a commitment to increasing diversity in your leadership or creating a more entrepreneurial culture where employees feel free to experiment and innovate. 

If your company already has clear values established, that makes this process simpler. But your work isn’t done – you need to think about how those values translate into actions and behaviors when employees are on the job. 

Incorporating Values Into Your Hiring Process

Once your company’s values are clearly understood, you can begin to incorporate them into your hiring process to attract more of the right candidates. 

Including your company’s values in your job descriptions and careers site lets potential candidates know what’s expected before they even apply. This proactive approach can help you attract applicants who have those values, and weed out some of those who don’t. 

You should also conduct structured interviews with questions that reflect the organization’s values. For example, if your company is deeply committed to providing exceptional customer care, you should include questions that are designed to determine if a candidate shares that same commitment. 

With values-based hiring, you can attract more of the top talent in your field – and increase engagement and retention as well. Incorporating AI hiring tools, such as Cangrade’s Retention Forecast, into your hiring process also helps you determine which candidates are highly qualified and likely to stay with the company long-term. Request a demo or contact us today to learn more.