Culture Add
🧑🔬 Scientific Background
An organization's culture is shaped by the beliefs and values of its employees. By definition, "Culture Add" means that each individual shapes culture by contributing their own values and beliefs. Does "Culture Fit" also play a role? Yes! We understand culture fit as the overlap between the values of the company and those of the individual. Culture Add and Fit aren't mutually exclusive but rather complementary from a scientific viewpoint!
💡 Hiring for Culture Add is all about strengthening certain aspects of your corporate culture by hiring the right candidates who reflect the desired values.
We use a proven framework to assess candidates' values and beliefs. It is called "Schwartz's Theory of Basic Human Values". Research agencies are widely using the theory to conduct cultural research as it has been extensively validated internationally. If you want to see for yourself, either search the vast amount of Google Scholar publications or start with one of our top scholarly references.
Using the theory in its applied form, all types of work values can be described as a blend of exploration ⛵️ and optimization 🔍, along with output orientation 🎯 and teamwork orientation 🤝. Here are the possible combinations:
- The innovative culture add, combines exploration with teamwork values. Candidates with this profile typically encourage the team to experiment and take risks.
- The detail-driven culture add, combines output orientation with optimization values. This type of candidate tends to encourage the team toward being precise and organized.
- The results-driven culture add, combines output orientation with exploration values. Typically, candidates with this profile push the team to be fast and competitive.
- The collaborative culture add, combines teamwork orientation with optimization values. Team members with this profile typically emphasize harmony and participation within the team.
Here is an example to illustrate how we can use the model to assess candidates:
"Having opposing values leads to conflict! For example, candidates who place a high value on innovation are more likely to struggle with detail-oriented people or environments. By ensuring that candidates are not hired into teams where values will reside on the opposite site, engagement and retention will increase!"
🕵️ Questions in the Module
For this module references will complete 2 short comparison questions. Both comparisons are inspired by validated psychometric measurement tools such as the OCP and the PVQ. The HiPeople twist: each comparison represents positive aspects of opposing values.
💡 When comparisons are based on equally desirable values, respondents have a difficult time choosing the socially desirable option. This forced-choice technique is used to obtain less inflated data. Moreover, the comparison statements are shuffled in a new order before they are displayed in a reference. This further improves the accuracy of your data!
For what kind of job roles should I use the Culture Add?
Any role that involves a need for cultural fit, the concept of generating shared values and perspectives in a company. This may include but not limited to job roles like diversity manager, international business relations, intercultural coordinators, and project managers.
When to use the Big Five Culture Add?
The culture add assessment can be used at any stage of the hiring process but may be most relevant in an early stage when getting to know the candidate.
