Interview on values. Interviewing on values. Comparison of individual and corporate values

The factor of coincidence of the values of the candidate and the firm plays a significant role in the selection process of personnel in large international companies. At the same time, recruiters do not always realize this against the background of the insufficient presence of the theme of values in the Russian corporate culture. Appearance is another significant factor in hiring employees. This conclusion was made during the study by a professor at the Faculty of Management, National Research University Higher School of Economics. Veronica Kabalina and graduate master's program Faculty of Management, Higher School of Economics Anna Pakhomova.

The factor of coincidence (congruence) of the values of the candidate and the company is taken into account by firms in the selection of personnel, but has been little studied in the scientific literature. Foreign companies include such an indicator as "the degree of coincidence of the values of the candidate with the values of the company", among the criteria for selecting candidates for vacancies when passing an interview with a recruiter. "In Russia, this is still a rare practice, characteristic, first of all, for international companies", - noted the professor, head of the Department of Management by human resourses Faculty of Management, Higher School of Economics Veronica Kabalina and graduate of the master's program "Human Resource Management" of the Higher School of Economics Anna Pakhomova in the article "Influence of the congruence of values of the candidate and the organization on the selection of personnel", published in the journal "Organizational Psychology".

The study showed that the factor of coincidence of the values of the potential employee and the company plays a leading role in the decision-making of recruiters. Scientists found this out during the analysis of interview data conducted by HR managers in the Russian branch of a large international company in 2014. The focus of attention was the work of ten recruiters who assessed candidates in terms of their relevance to the available specialist vacancies. The sample of interviews with candidates was formed in a random way, the data for every second interview were entered into the database; in total, the sample included 127 interviews. The average age of candidates is 21.6 years, of which 71 are women and 56 are men. When working with the data, the authors used the methods of correlation and discriminant analysis.

In addition to the results regarding values, the researchers found that recruiters' selection was also heavily influenced by appearance and the clothing style of the candidates. This factor is more important than, for example, experience or skills and abilities.

Approaching values through competencies

In the company under study, there are values shared by the staff, which are formalized as company values. The values adopted by the firm, in turn, are “translated” into competencies, the authors note. Competencies in a company mean behavior that is consistent with the accepted corporate culture.

In the course of theoretical analysis, the researchers came to the conclusion that values and competencies are in fact inextricably linked, since both become “visible”, which means that they can be measured only through the assessment of a person’s behavioral manifestations. “By measuring (evaluating) competencies, we measure ( identify) and values are possible, ”noted Kabalina and Pakhomova.

The authors draw attention to why it is important for an organization to understand the value portrait of a candidate. "In the scientific literature there is a point of view that since organizational socialization cannot change an already formed system of human values, it is necessary at the stage of hiring to rob employees with values that correspond to the values of the organization."

Leading factor

The research case provides information on how recruiters conduct competency interviews. “During the interview, the candidate describes his actions in solving specific tasks for previous locations work, and the interviewer identifies elements of compliance or inconsistency of the candidate's behavior with corporate values, ”the researchers said. However, despite taking into account the values when recruiting, the company did not initially have information about the impact of the factor of coincidence of the values of the candidate and the company on the recruiter's decision.

The main hypothesis put forward by Kabalina and Pakhomova is that applicants with values that coincide with the values of the company are more successful in interviewing than those candidates whose values do not coincide with the values of the potential employer. During the analysis, this hypothesis was confirmed.

The researchers also found that it is the factor of congruence of the values of the candidate and the company that plays a leading role in making a positive decision of recruiters about the next stages of selection. It is for this reason that the process of finding a suitable candidate can be delayed, Kabalina and Pakhomova note. “Recruiters are not just looking for an employee who has education in this field and work experience, they are looking for and selecting through the identification of values through the competence of those who can be successful in the company in the long term,” the authors explain. As a result of the study, the company implemented a communication program for line managers, which took into account the results obtained.

Recruiters value business style and attractiveness

An additional benefit of the study is that the researchers identified a number of factors influencing recruiters' decisions, and the degree of importance of each of them. It was necessary to do this in order to understand the place of the value aspect in the selection process. The full list of factors looks like this: education, work experience, appearance, knowledge, skills, skills, knowledge in English, competencies, coincidence of values, availability of recommendations, gender, age, motivation to work in the company, personality of the recruiter.

The results are quite interesting. The least significant factors turned out to be knowledge, abilities, skills, the availability of recommendations, the personality of the recruiter. And this is quite understandable: we are talking about the vacancies of specialists for which the company is ready to hire people with little or minimal experience. Also, the recruiter has no interest in hiring someone else's acquaintances - his KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are based on how effectively the candidate selected by him will perform effectively in the future. As for the personality of the recruiter, the company has developed clear instructions for conducting interviews, which can reduce the influence of the human factor.

But at the same time, the factor of appearance (compliance with the corporate standard in clothing and attractive appearance) was in the list of the leading - next after the factor of education. The authors refer to past foreign research that confirms that physical appearance does indeed influence the interviewer's decision to hire a candidate. However, in their opinion, this aspect needs further research. The question is whether candidates who are neat, attractive and adhering to the corporate style of dress are actually more successful at work in the future, or this factor is not so significant in real practice. The results obtained, according to the researchers, can be used in the process of training recruiters /

When Zappos CEO Tony Shay just graduated from college, he sold his first company to Microsoft for $ 265 million. For him, the deal was not driven by financial necessity. Most of all, Neck did not like the culture that developed in the company.

"I didn't want to go back to the office. I didn't feel the urge or the urge to do it anymore," Tony said in an interview with the New York Times. "A year later, I came to Zappos and vowed to myself not to repeat my mistakes."

Since then, Shay has focused on culture and strives to hire people who share the company's 10 core values. These values were developed in the early years of the company and include items such as "constant growth and development" and "fun and a little oddity." To ensure the right recruiting, Zappos HR has developed specific questions to identify candidates with the right mindset.

“We wanted to compile a list of [ten] core values and use that as a basis for hiring and firing, regardless of personal productivity,” says Tony.

This is just one example of a company that hires according to its values and selects candidates based on personality traits that match those values.

Here are five questions to help you do this:

1. "Tell us what you have learned over the past six months."

Early in his career at Google, Eric Schmidt realized that technical skills and grades were not the most important factor in predicting a candidate's success. It is much more important that the candidate has two specific personal qualities - persistence and curiosity.

“The combination of perseverance and curiosity allows a person to succeed in the knowledge economy,” says Eric.

These qualities are fully consistent with Google's core values - the so-called "ten principles", which include items such as "more information than it seems" and "you can always do better." Finding a candidate with the right set of personal qualities, most likely, you will get a valuable employee.

Recognizing a candidate as an inquisitive person is not easy, but it is definitely possible - provided you practice asking the right questions. First of all, it is worth asking what the candidate has learned recently or suggesting him in advance to complete the task with elements of research, and then discuss the results in the interview. Of course, you can always invert the interview so that the candidate asks you questions and then evaluates those questions.

2. "Suppose you become a member of the XYZ team and work for one year. How do you determine if you are successful?"

ThirdLove is an online lingerie supplier. It was founded by former Google marketer Heidi Zak. The leaders of the company quickly recognized that candidates who matched key cultural values delivered more value to them than specialists with unique skills and vast experience.

In order not to reduce the selection process to primitive questions like "How responsibly do you approach your work?" Heidi developed a special test that allowed her to identify candidates with the right qualities- such as positive attitude and the ability to adapt to change.

Like Google, ThirdLove also values curiosity. To find curious candidates, Heidi asks everyone a simple question: "Imagine that we hired you, and you worked with us for a whole year. How will you determine if you have achieved success during this time?"

Of course, there are no right and wrong answers to this question, and Heidi is looking for people who are focused on growth and learning new things, rather than personal achievements. She knows that these candidates make excellent leaders because they share the goals of the company's management.

3. "What has influenced your personal development besides work and school?"

You’ve probably already noticed that questions designed to identify a candidate’s alignment with the company's core values often go beyond the workforce. For example, at Ikea, where values, cultural relevance and communication are also valued above experience and credentials, recruiting chief Marilyn Schroeder asks specific questions to gauge a candidate's true personality.

The core values of this Swedish company include humility, willpower and constant striving to updates.

To find out how the candidate lives, Marilyn asks him to talk about what is not on the resume: "What influenced your personal development apart from work and study? "This question makes the candidate reflect on the experience that has been gained outside the office.

“Every person has their own value system,” says Schroeder. "The more it fits with Ikea's value system, the more likely a person will be happy with us."

To hire the right people, Marilyn constructs the interview as a dialogue, not an interrogation. In the end, the candidate also needs to understand whether the position and the company as a whole are suitable for him and whether the transition to a new organization is a profitable career step for him.

"Interviewing is not a question and answer game," says Marilyn. - "We hope that each meeting is mutually beneficial, and each side receives all the information necessary to make a decision."

4. "Does it make sense?"

The most sought-after quality for a candidate is communication skills, according to a LinkedIn survey of American executives. Fortunately, this quality is very easy to assess, but only if the candidate has a chance to demonstrate it.

Josh Millett, founder and CEO of Criteria Corp, says the most important interview question is, "Does it all make sense?" This question forces him to pause the narrative and find out how well the candidate perceives and processes information.

If the candidate answers briefly - for example, "Yes, of course!" - Josh notes this as a disadvantage.

“I really want to measure active listening skills,” he says. "Will the other person be able to rephrase what I said? Does he understand my needs?"

However, this question should be asked with caution, remembering to give candidates freedom of speech.

“In the current environment, job seekers need to be able to sell their skills to a potential employer,” says Josh. "Give them that opportunity. Let them show their skills, otherwise you will never find the right employees."

5. "Tell us about your greatest achievement or project that you are most proud of."

Even if the candidate's personality and alignment with the company's values are very important to you, you should not deliberately shy away from discussing his achievements. According to Tesla recruiter Max Brown, the way a candidate talks about their accomplishments gives a good idea of what kind of person they are.

Max conducted over 1,000 interviews for technical positions and figured out the question that invariably poses a challenge for candidates: "Tell us about your greatest achievement or project that you are most proud of."

At first glance, the question is unremarkable and even simple, but in fact it allows you to identify people who have qualities that are highly valued at Tesla, including business acumen, scrupulousness and responsibility.

Business-minded people describe in detail their efforts to achieve goals, and meticulous people usually give the interlocutor a bunch of technical details. But the most important thing, according to Max, is the ability to take responsibility, that is, the desire to play important role in achieving the result.

"There cannot be many basic values" - from this inDeceuninck RUS»Began work on describing their corporate culture. Olga Tsvetova tells how the process went, what the personnel department did, how the general director participated, how the employees reacted, and also about the custodians of values and the company's internal currency.

about the author: In 1999. finished State University Management in the specialty " World economy", In 2006. - Presidential program on the basis of the Higher School of Economics with a degree in Organization Management / In Deceuninck RUS LLC since 2003, responsibilities - from the organization of office work and administrative. department before the implementation and improvement of office personnel management processes. The company supports creative and non-standard approaches to work, over the past 2 years, many new projects have been introduced and interesting ideas aimed at increasing the interest and loyalty of employees, improving internal communications and increasing labor efficiency.

Implementation topic corporate values is now being discussed in almost every company. I don't want to write another theoretical calculation - I would just like to try to summarize our practical experience, our mistakes and findings in this matter.

So, for 7 years we have been actively developing our company thanks to the activity of like-minded employees and investments from the European headquarters, which believed in Russian market... Market growth was 15-20% per year, and our turnover grew even faster, and there was simply no time to think about something more global - our rapid growth did not give us the opportunity to realize the need for a strategic component and introduce some philosophy into our business. But the crisis put everything in its place: we began to think about our strengths and focus on them, we began to think in financial terms of business success, we wanted to identify our uniqueness and the corporate culture created by our efforts. We thought about what is especially valuable in our employees and decided that there cannot be many basic values, and therefore settled on three main ones: Openness, Maximum return and Enterprise. Now we had to organize the process in such a way that every employee of the office and production would recognize and remember these names. And I realized that this is important!

We have tried to summarize the actions that have been taken. Time passed, and one can judge what was not done very effectively, and, perhaps, a different approach to implementation was required - in this article we share this experience with everyone who still has a difficult, but interesting project implementation of corporate values in the company.

The personnel department made a presentation in in electronic format in order to decipher and explain each of the three values, with examples of behavior from our daily working life... The presentation was made informally, colorfully, but not all examples were "taken" by employees seriously - this suggests that all employees (for example, through focus groups) should independently participate in one way or another in the process of generating everyday examples - this is how they will accepted with great optimism.

General Director's presentation to employees in the office and at the factory. Of course, there should be such a presentation! And it is imperative that the General Director should present the values firsthand. Ideally, this should be preceded by work to identify the common values of the company in working groups among colleagues, so that the topic is not completely new for employees, otherwise it is perceived as an imposed ideology from above.

The presentation on values was included in the onboarding program for new employees of the company. This is the responsibility of the HR officer. From the very first days, a new member of the team gets an idea of what is valued in the company, we consider this experience positive.

At the semiannual general meeting of all employees, the CEO returns to the issue of values in his informal speech and names “keepers of values” - employees who, from his point of view, most clearly demonstrate these values when performing their professional functions in the Company. Here it should be borne in mind that some employees may perceive this initiative with caution. The General Director cannot always “see” and evaluate absolutely all employees of the Company; the opinion is formed, mainly, about those with whom he contacts the most. Some employees had the feeling that the director did not see the work and merit of ordinary employees.

Almost immediately after the meeting, according to the suggestion of one of the employees, we conducted a survey on the Custodians of values in the company - i.e. now only the opinion of employees was taken into account. Employees who were voted for by 2 or more people were publicly named and awarded. This good experience, it is simply necessary to give more publicity to this initiative, using all possible ways internal communication so that the picture of the survey is complete.

At the summer holiday, we announced a fresh idea - the introduction of the internal currency of the Company - minted nominal coins that can be earned and then exchanged for certain bonuses (for example, 1 day off, or payment for part of a sports pass, or the ability to work from home for several days, pay for an employee's holiday table on his birthday, etc.) through a vivid demonstration of one of our values or a number of other merits (a clear list was determined). The competition aroused general interest and was actively discussed. The most important thing here is to develop a common criterion for rewarding employees so that there is no impression of inequality between departments.

The marketing department offered to visualize our values. The designer has developed various options from which the heads of departments should choose the graphic image (icon) that best reflects the content of this value. It is planned to use these images for any reference to the corresponding value - in press releases, in emails, on the website, etc. A graphic image is usually remembered better and faster than a verbal one. The most difficult thing here is to decide on a single option. graphic image, which would suit each of those choosing. Everyone has different associations.

Marketing department proposed and implemented non-standard idea communicating values to employees through the statements of children. A film was edited with interviews of employees' children, who were asked to explain in their own words how they understand Openness, Maximum Impact and Enterprise. The film was presented to employees at the annual general meeting. The employees took this idea with enthusiasm and were happy to decipher the statements of the children, guessing what value they were talking about.

Assessment of employees by values. We have introduced an employee assessment form that assesses the degree to which employees demonstrate values on a given scale. The opinion of both the employee and the manager is taken into account. The assessment does not have a direct impact on the material remuneration of employees, but is the basis for a conversation between a manager and an employee at the end of the year. If the manager takes this procedure seriously, then the employees have the opportunity to once again think about their behavior in the framework of the values of the Company.

A questionnaire was developed and introduced for conducting interviews on values (for candidates applying for vacant positions in the company). A selection of questions helps to better understand a person and his values, in addition to a purely professional assessment. Questions need to be tailored to the specific values of the company.

Of course, the completion of this table does not mean the end of the process of introducing values - this is a long chain of communication, introspection, awareness, development of the team and the organization as a whole. We will think about new ideas and initiatives in this area and will definitely share them with colleagues, choosing our most effective innovations in this area.

We are grateful to the editors of the "Planet TBM" magazine for providing this material.

Staff- an irreplaceable resource of the Company, its intangible asset and intellectual capital at the same time. The level of personnel development determines competitive advantages any organization, therefore, the selection of employees who meet the values of the Company is one of the most important strategic tasks.

In 2015, the personnel management service of TBM Company developed and implemented the Standard for assessing competencies based on corporate values when hiring employees.

She told about what it is, how such a personnel assessment system will help TBM Company in its further development

- Yulia, what is competency selection? How does it differ from the standard interview when hiring employees?

First, let's define what competency is. Competence is a combination of business and personal qualities that allows an employee to act within the framework of his profession, position.

For example, an important competence for a picker is “quality of work”, for commercial personnel it is “result orientation”, for a manager it is “leadership”. These are examples of professional competencies.

The basis for recruiting strong and successful companies are corporate competencies. Corporate competencies - standards of employee behavior that follow from the values of the Company and set requirements for all employees, regardless of their position - from service personnel to general director... For example, the corporate competence "customer focus" is a description of the standards of behavior based on the value adopted by the TBM Company: "We work for the client." Customer orientation, external or internal, is important for every employee of the Company - then all work will be done efficiently and on time, with an understanding of how this will affect the overall result of the Company.

Therefore, selection by competence is an assessment method that is used by the world's leading companies in the selection of personnel. Such an interview is also called behavioral: the meaning of this method is that a person's previous experience can help predict his behavior in the future.

Competency interviews improve recruiting efficiency as opposed to standard interviews.

Behavioral interviewing is applicable to candidates from any field of activity. During the interview, the recruiter collects complete behavioral examples from the experience of the candidate.

These components are easy to remember by their acronyms. STAR — S ituation, T ask, A ction, R esult.

... Situation the situation the candidate has encountered;
... Task that stood in front of him (task);
... Actions taken by the candidate (action);
... Result, the result of the situation (result).

- Why did TBM start working on such a system?

As Akiro Morita, founder and owner of the company, said SONY:“No theory, program or policy can make your business successful. No matter how smart or adventurous you are, the fate of your business is in the hands of the people you hire. ”

I would add that an integral part of a strong company is a strong corporate culture and a team of like-minded people, and this is possible only when each employee shares the values of his Company: the interests of the organization and the employee coincide. Strong company easily overcomes any crisis and maintains its success and leadership in the long term.

Therefore, the management of the TBM Company made a decision to shift the focus from personnel selection based on professional qualities to personnel selection based on corporate competencies, that is, according to values.

- Is recruitment by competence related to the recruitment of absolutely all employees or only management personnel?

Recruitment of personnel based on corporate competencies is carried out for all positions. But in the selection of leaders, this is given Special attention, since it is the leaders who form and develop the corporate culture on the ground.

There are social competences, and there are professional ones. If the interviewer sees that the candidate fully possesses only one set of competencies, what to do in such cases?

According to the current standard for staff recruitment by competencies in the TBM Company, the candidates are initially assessed for the compliance of their values with the values of the Company. Our employee must be customer-oriented, be able to work in a team, enjoy the respect and trust of team members, constantly develop, do their job efficiently and increase the efficiency of their work. If the candidate meets these competencies, then at the second stage we evaluate him professional quality related to the requirements for his position.

Is it realistic to accurately select according to this system exactly those people who are suitable specific company? Often in interviews, people who are looking for a job try to appear their best in order to make a good impression.

Indeed, now there are many resources on the Internet that tell how a candidate should behave in an interview, how to answer frequently asked questions. Competency interviews are most effective due to a certain technology of asking questions - the STAR model. We refer to the past experience of the candidate and find out in detail how he acted in one or another working situation... The answers to these questions show that he has one or another competence. For example, you can suggest that a candidate for the vacancy of a sales manager recall the most difficult negotiations with a Client and ask him to describe his actions in this situation, what difficulties he faced, how he made decisions, what arguments he gave to the Client, what were the final agreements. Such questions require detailed answers from the candidate, which reduces the likelihood of error in the skill assessment.

Of course, an experienced interviewer still observes a person's facial expressions, gestures, as well as his speech, in order to exclude distortion of facts on the part of the candidate.

But, in any case, the likelihood of an error in the selection of personnel is possible, therefore the next filter defining employees who do not meet the requirements is probation... At the end of the probationary period, an anonymous survey is conducted among colleagues to determine whether the newcomer complies with corporate competencies. And we have had cases when it was the survey that identified newcomers who did not share the values of the Company, the accepted norms of behavior in the team.

But already, having worked for a year on the system of recruiting employees according to corporate competencies, we can say that with such an approach to recruiting, turnover decreases, the adaptation period is easier, employees are ready to develop together with the Company and change it for the better.

- To what extent are TBM Company employees prepared for recruiting specialists in competencies?

Implementation of selection by competence is a time-consuming process. The project was launched in September 2014. For this was organized working group, which included: me, Marina Kapralova, deputy head of the personnel service, Elena Rozhkova, head of the personnel service of TBM-Logistic, Irina Kryukova, head of the personnel service of TBM-Volga region and Vyacheslav Absalyamov, director of the TBM-Ufa branch, - a pilot project for the selection of personnel based on corporate values was tested in this particular branch. At the first stage, corporate competencies were developed, the skills necessary for practicing in practice were identified in the qualifications matrix. Then a global training of managers was carried out - 168 people in 3 months. After training, the leaders in triplets (head - HR manager - candidate) were engaged in practicing skills in real interviews. This period lasted more than six months. The final stage there was an assessment of skills according to the developed checklist by the personnel management service Management Company... We watched how the manager conducts the interview, put down the points in the qualification matrix and gave feedback on what was done during the interview, and what skills still need to be worked on.

Today, the average level of qualification of managers using this method is 67%. This is a solid four.

The most successfully used competency selection is TBM-Volga Region, TBM-Ural and TBM-Sever. This is, among other things, the merit of the heads of the personnel service of the Divisions Irina Kryukova, Yulia Karlina and Olga Erokhina. They were able to clearly organize the work on mastering the skills of personnel selection by values in practice.

Of the leaders, I would single out the five most qualified: Vitaly Viter, Evgeny Kortunkov, Anatoly Chipizubov, Yulia Polyaeva and Vyacheslav Absalyamov.

And if the director of the branch changes? How new leader learns about the possibilities of recruiting employees based on corporate values?

Training in selection by values, followed by an assessment of the skills formed, is mandatory in the work plan for the trial period of the new manager, so there should be no problems due to personnel changes.

- What tasks are currently facing the personnel management service? What new projects await us?

In business today, the winner is the one with the best team and stronger corporate culture. Therefore, we have many challenges ahead. The “right” people in the “right” places with the “right” attitude and the “right” culture are what we have to work on in the near future. These are projects for adaptation and rotation of employees, development of leaders within the Company, improvement of corporate culture in divisions.

If you see a job seeker who is capable of a certain job, thinks in a certain way, and his skills and personal qualities complement the existing set, the missing piece of the puzzle will be his ability to fit into your corporate culture.

Cultural fit is defined differently for different companies. Moreover, the degree of compliance can change over time. To hire the best people, before posting a vacancy, it is necessary to carry out thorough preparation. Before creating a system that would allow evaluating candidates, it is necessary to analyze the existing types of employees. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What qualities do the company benefit from in particular?

Once you have a clear image of the employee who could be the missing piece in your puzzle, start preparing for your interview. Develop clear criteria that work for you and your team, and make sure all decisions are based on information from the interview and not on guesswork or guesswork. Good system assessing the degree of compliance with the corporate culture should take into account the goals and values of the company, as well as personal qualities that could be useful to a successful candidate. You can give the candidate the freedom to decide for themselves by being honest about your culture and needs early in the interview.

After that, you can ask him questions and evaluate the answers according to a predetermined scheme. The questions may vary.

Please describe the culture of the company in which you worked before.

What did you like about her? What did you dislike? What was it difficult to adapt to?

Possible answers:

1. Does not attach much importance to culture. Cannot describe it even in simple terms ("good" or "bad").

2. Tells about his preferences, but the answers in no way meet your expectations.

3. Clearly describes the culture, preferences are in line with your expectations.

4. Describes his experience in the smallest detail, preferences meet expectations, the proposed ways of adapting to changes seem acceptable to you.

5. In addition to the criteria listed in paragraph 4, demonstrates a willingness to adapt and thinks about what contribution he could make.

Use questions to identify the candidate's core values and personality traits that would enable him to achieve professional success. For example, if the job involves attention to detail, ask the candidate to talk about how they had to redo something from scratch. A suitable candidate will surely have a story to tell, while an unsuitable candidate will hesitate and will not be able to squeeze out a single example.

After the interview, assess how well the candidates fit your culture. Be sure to note the obvious strengths and weaknesses of each. After signing the contract, re-check after three months, six months and a year. Use this information to change the rating system and improve the hiring process.

eremedia.com, translation: Airapetova Olga

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