Table of Contents
- Your Company is Your Brand, and So Is Your Corporate Culture
- Identifying and Defining Your Company Culture
- Our Brand is Our People: The Importance of Internal Branding
- How to Interview for Culture Fit
- Culture, the Key to Retention
When a candidate walks into an organization, they have certain expectations in mind. Some of these expectations are tangible—such as the paycheck and benefits. These are easy to evaluate, compare, and will greatly influence a candidate’s decision to join.
However, once the candidate joins a company, various other factors come into play. While these factors are ‘intangible’, they are no less important. They determine how the candidate will perform on the job, and how they foresee their future with the company.
A candidate’s ‘staying power’ is based largely on the image of the company and the candidate’s perception of their ‘fit’. Companies that effectively manage their company culture will be able to attract people that fit better, shorten the learning curve, and deliver in the long run.
Your Company Is a Brand, and So Is Your Corporate Culture
A Harley isn’t just a bike. It’s an attitude, a mindset, a way of life. While some might swear by ‘the Harley way’, others might be repelled by it. From an engineering standpoint, the Harley is a fine example of a bike, just as the Mercedes is a fine example of a car. But a Harley rider might not be caught dead behind the wheel of a Mercedes. Similarly, the Mercedes owner might find ‘the Harley way’ repulsive. So here’s my point: Anybody with the right qualifications and experience can get the job done. But it matters equally how they do it- and that’s what culture is all about.
Identifying and Defining Your Company Culture
Company culture can be described in terms of the work environment, core values and principles that drive key decisions within the company, and the attitudes, and mindset that create a sense of belonging.
Hospitality companies such as Holiday Inn place much emphasis on experimentation and innovation. “Holiday Inn is said to have 200 test hotel sites in operation where they are continually experimenting with rooms, pricing, and restaurant menus,” observe Peters and Waterman in their best-selling book, “In Search of Excellence- Lessons from America’s best-run companies”.
This way of ‘running the show’ might not suit a traditionally run hotel, where they pride themselves on providing the ‘same great taste’ or experience for over a hundred years.
At Hotel Le Meridien, the emphasis is on being approachable, open-minded, and personally accountable. “Nobody is beyond criticism, though we make sure the feedback is neutral and constructive”, says H.R. Officer Nitin Jadhav. Feedback is meticulously gathered from a variety of sources and made available to everyone within the organization. Various systems are in place to ensure that the lessons are well learned and painstakingly implemented.
A manager drawn from a traditional hierarchical setup might be intimidated by the Le Meridien way. Similarly, an employee who thrives in an open environment, and values frequent feedback and reviews, might feel isolated or under-appreciated in a closed, hierarchical setup.
Our Brand Is Our People: The Importance of Internal Branding
In the hospitality industry, we are very conscious of the brand image of our property. When we advertise our property and services, we are careful about the image we convey to our guests and business partners. We invest time and money into getting the right message across to our audience. We realize that our brand image is worth bookings and revenue.
It’s about time we realized that in the Hospitality Industry, our brand is our people. Yet we tend to neglect our internal branding. It is the people that bring a brand to life by living up to its promise, sticking to the standards, and respecting the values and principles that define the essence of a company. If we do not make conscious efforts to attract and retain people that believe in our culture, we’re making an expensive mistake. We must hire candidates that live up to the company’s standards- or we’ll soon have the company living up to theirs.
How to Interview for Cultural Fit
When you hire a candidate, you don’t just acquire skills. You welcome a new mindset, beliefs, a way of doing things.
How can you be sure that their way is your way? The key is to clearly define every desired attribute, and what it means to your organization. Even a generic term such as “service” can be defined and measured.
“For us, service is all about attention to detail,” says Jadhav. While interviewing a candidate, I put them in various hypothetical situations and ask highly specific questions. I wouldn’t hire someone till I’m sure they know what they’re talking about.”
Culture: The Key to Retention
The hospitality industry invests heavily in selecting and training the right people. The cost of employee turnover is high. “Our people must live up to the image of our property,” says Kavita Kapare, Assistant Manager (HR) at The Best Western – Pride Hotel. “We have a rigorous training program and dedicated trainers to ensure that our service standards are consistently met and exceeded.”
“Ensuring the right fit while hiring candidates is the key to fewer problems on the job,” says Kapare. It not only helps retain employees, but it also ensures that customers have a great experience and keep coming back for more.
“The hospitality industry is booming”, says Kapare. Despite increased bookings, there is immense pressure on the margins, and service expectations are sky-high. With these changing work conditions, culture-based recruiting can ensure that your employees (and guests) don’t stray. Just the thing that every hospitality employer is looking for: a win-win situation!