What are some of the best practices for measuring culture fit among remote workers?

Uma boa pergunta é: "Como esse seu princípio cultural pode ser vivido no ambiente remoto?" Por exemplo, digamos que sua empresa tenha o valor "colabora??o". No trabalho presencial, talvez seja mais visível a participa??o dessa pessoa em diferentes reuni?es e trabalhos em equipe. No remoto, a colabora??o pode ser vista se a pessoa é ativa nas ferramentas de comunica??o, comunicando e interagindo com as demandas que surgem nos grupos (Teams, Slack, etc.), ou se a pessoa é participativa nas reuni?es online acrescentando ideias e contribuindo para discuss?es. é preciso deixar isso claro, principalmente para as pessoas que far?o uma avalia??o, pois o comportamento visto como "colaborativo" no presencial nem sempre é o mesmo do "remoto".

a) In my experience, carrying out regular surveys and check-ins is an effective way of measuring cultural fit among remote workers, as it allows you to collect direct feedback on their perceptions and experiences. b) For example, I use online survey tools to assess employee satisfaction with the organisational culture and identify areas for improvement. c) Individual check-ins help to deepen understanding of employees' concerns and needs, promoting a more inclusive working environment that is aligned with the company's values.

First of all, the phrase "culture fit" is problematic. Never aim to fit people into an existing frame of culture. Always look at how people can help contribute to and evolve culture. Defining your culture means understanding what outcomes you want to drive for the business (usually one of these outcomes is team engagement & satisfaction) and then identifying behaviors that will drive those outcomes. Only then can you start to understand if your systems and processes will support the behaviors you want. "Write down your culture statement and share it with your remote workers" is actually terrible advice, if that's the only thing you do.

"Culture Fit" becomes code of "like me." We should be thinking in terms of "culture add." In what ways will the person add and further develop our culture? Will their add take us in the direction we want to go?

Define your culture AND be sure the organizational processes and systems support that definition. Was the remote worker onboarded through a process that not only talks about your core values but exemplifies them? (e.g., if "innovative" is a core value is your onboarding process innovative, interesting and inspiring?) If your culture statement claims you have a culture of feedback, does this remote worker's manager take feedback well or are they defensive? If you're "inclusive" are managers trained in and measured on coaching "exclusive" behaviors like gossip or cliquish behavior? Culture fit is hard to see if the culture is defined one way on paper and another in practice.

One thing I've found helpful in interviews is to use a mix of behavioral and scenario interview questions. Behavioral interview questions tend to ask questions about things that happened in the past like, "Tell me about a time when..." Scenario interview questions are more future focused and get the candidate to think about scenarios they may be in if they were selected for the job. An example may be, "In this role you may come across.... Tell me how you would approach solving this."

One way to help prevent bias during behavioral interviews is to implement technology to conduct automated Q & A processes. If considering an AI automated system then it would be essential to ensure it is trained on diverse and unbiased datasets as well. Also, there are technological tools available to ensure behavioral interview questions are free of bias. The goal is to ensure decisions are being made based on the information provided only and not unconscious bias and assumptions. Regardless, interview process and outcomes should be continuously evaluated to ensure all approaches are fair and equal.

Ask about their remote work experience and preferences to gauge compatibility with your remote culture and run cultural fit assessments to evaluate candidates' alignment with your organization's values, work ethic, and communication style.

When you're rolling out a company survey, it's best practice to use a third party, this way, results really are anonymous and employees can answer freely.

The use of validated psychometric assessments (e.g. CFAM?), surveys and regular feedback are essential to understand employees' perception of company culture.

In my view, solely gauging candidates or employees based on cultural fit can limit diversity and dynamism within an organization. It's crucial to foster an environment that encourages varied perspectives and innovation while maintaining a cohesive workplace. I advocate shifting focus from assessing culture fit to aligning culture with business strategy. This ensures the organizational culture supports strategic objectives. Assessing an individual's performance after strategically aligning culture provides a more accurate reflection of their suitability. If they perform well, it suggests an effective contribution to strategy execution and harmony with the organizational culture.

Ensure that your organization's culture actively includes and values remote workers. An inclusive culture encourages remote employees to engage fully and authentically, making it easier to assess true culture fit.

More than measuring culture fit among remote workers, perhaps the focus should be on creating the right conditions for them to feel part of the organization. The key elements are engagement and connections and those can be developed remotely too. It is funny how some organizations lay their organizational culture foundations on the idea that everything needs to happen onsite as an excuse to avoid being “strangers”. The pandemic proved we were strangers in the office too. We really need to make time to connect with people meaningfully, to get to know them because strangers can’t team and less develop a sense of common purpose and culture. That’s where we should start if we want to create inclusive cultures that cater for everyone’s needs.

A creative icebreaker for fostering a healthy culture fit among remote workers is the "Virtual Scavenger Hunt." Have team members find and share an item from their home related to a specific theme, like "something that represents your favorite hobby" or "an item with sentimental value." It encourages personal sharing, sparks conversations, and adds an element of fun to remote interactions.

One way to provide support is through a formalized buddy system, where buddies have been chosen carefully and are representative of a high-potential employee. By providing the buddy some training on their role, their goals, and the expectations around success, they can help bring a remote worker into the culture and keep their eyes open for signs that the remote worker is or isn't a good fit. Of course, the buddy system must be designed and managed by a diverse group to minimize bias in buddies chosen and definitions of culture fit.

We've all experienced crappy onboarding: you arrive on your first day, no one is ready for you, you might not even have a laptop or desk, and you don't have the right access to get anything. You spend your whole day twiddling your thumbs while watching everyone around you act frantically, or worse, ignore you. Now imagine you're remote. This same experience makes a new hire feel completely alone. You NEED to prepare for the new hire a few weeks before they even show up. Put some thought and effort into their onboarding. Plus, make sure their onboarding includes plenty of cross-collaborative interactions, where they meet with the team. Bonus points if you implement a buddy program.

I don't go much on the term 'culture fit' - I prefer to think about it as 'culture contribution' (I've heard it termed elsewhere, 'culture-add'). Evaluate how someone might contribute or add to the strengthening of your current culture. Speak with them, get their early insights before the 'way we've always done things' mindset settles in! What are the things that make them raise an eyebrow early on and what are their suggestions about improving things. You will very quickly determine whether your remote worker will simply 'fit' the status quo or they are willing to be a champion for maintaining a great culture, or improving one that needs work.

Involve current remote team members in the interview process to provide insights into the candidate's potential cultural fit. Peer interviews allow candidates to interact with their future colleagues and gain a sense of the team dynamic and culture.

Culture fit starts in the interview. And I'm not talking about the "Would I have a beer with this person?" qualifier that is wrought with bias. Many hiring managers have resorted to this kind of approach to determining culture fit in the interview because they know it's important, but they haven't been trained on how to truly determine culture fit with a candidate. Most importantly, it takes knowing who you are as an organization. REALLY knowing what it's like to work there. Once you can communicate that clearly and transparently in an interview, you'll be amazed at the quality of culture fit discussions you have with candidates.