Culture Add in Hiring – What Is It? And How Do You Implement It?

The hiring process is one that is constantly evolving with recent years greatly altering the way recruiters distinguish quality candidates and identify beneficial hires. Amongst the many new areas of focus when hiring, culture and background now play a more vital role than ever with systems such as culture add becoming a norm in businesses of all shapes and sizes.

What Is Culture Add? 

It’s the easy choice to hire someone similar to yourself; you share the same hobbies and background which naturally gives you plenty to talk about with your views on the world and mindset also frequently coinciding. Getting along well is key to a successful workplace and the bolstering of teamwork is never a bad thing, however, an office full of near-identical personalities won’t exactly give you an eclectic view of the world or your industry. Culture add is the process of adding individuals from various different cultures and backgrounds to your team in order to provide a fresh perspective and bring something new to the table.

You can read more about culture add in this Leadhership and Innovation article from Forbes.

Benefits of Culture Add 

Culture add and change tend to go hand in hand. As new people join your team, you can expect there to be changes within your office as well as in the wider functionality of your business; some of the key benefits to these changes include:

• New skills and perspectives – intrinsic within culture add, hiring people from different walks of life will naturally diversify your team’s skill set and provide varying perspectives on issues inside and outside of your business.
• Performance and efficiency – culture add puts you in direct contact with people who are completely different from yourself. This forces you to adopt new ways of thinking and challenges your preconceptions and biases – which frequently leads to sharper performance in the workplace.
• Brand image – culture add can be a great way to demonstrate your inclusivity as a business. In a time where being accepting of diversity is more important than ever, a positive brand image is key to attracting top talent and keeping employees happy.

How Can I Implement Culture Add? 

Implementing culture add doesn’t have to be complex, chances are that simply by being made aware of the intention to implement it, your recruitment team will be able to take better hone in on the candidates that meet your criteria. Of course, you still want to ensure that candidates align with your business goals and that they will boost your company culture. You may wish to make some alterations to the interview or candidate sourcing processes in order to garner a better idea of this. Our own ATS system at Eploy for instance offers diversity and equality features that allow for easy reporting and tracking of equal opportunities as well as a ‘name blind’ tool that encourages an impartial hiring process.

The benefits that culture add can provide to your business far outweigh the potential risks, the next time you come across a unique candidate, why not consider how they may be able to bolster your team or provide something new to your business?

Contact Eploy for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) 

At Eploy, we offer highly configurable Applicant Tracking Systems designed to help you find the best candidates for each and every job opening. Get in touch with our specialist team at Eploy to find out how we can help you meet your recruitment goals.