Firms, job seekers both looking for 'cultural' fits

Employers looking to create an engaged workforce should never rush the hiring process, workplace experts and local company executives said.

The advice may seem counterintuitive given Long Island's tight labor market.  The region's September unemployment rate stood at 3.4%, considered full employment, and  companies have long struggled to fill some jobs.

But executives at firms that made Newsday’s list of Top Workplaces said a more deliberate hiring process — one that views an applicant’s skills and experience as starting, rather than ending points — has helped them find skilled workers who stick around. A key consideration, they said, is whether the company and a prospective employee are a good fit “culturally.”  

And just as companies are checking out job applicants, job seekers are checking out companies looking for the right fit, too, experts said.

Gone are the days when an employer’s job offer based solely on an applicant's skills was enough to reel in and keep talented employees. Millennials, now the largest group in the workforce, want a workplace that not only values their skills, but also shares their values.  

“The modern workforce knows what’s important to them and isn’t going to settle,” according to the 2017 State of the American Workplace report, published by Gallup, the Washington, D.C., polling and management-consulting company. “Employees are willing to look and keep looking for a company [whose] mission and culture reflect and reinforce their values.”

And look they do.  

“With the talent shortages that we have now, job seekers have lots of choices, and they are looking and researching companies like never before,” said Tony Lee, a vice president who specializes in talent-acquisition efforts at the Society for Human Resource Management, an Alexandria, Virginia-based trade group. “So companies have to be pretty transparent about who they are.”

That means putting their culture — the firm's beliefs and habits — on display at all times, in everything from job boards to job interviews, said Ben Wigert, Gallup's director of research and strategy/workplace management.  

“When you want to play the long game, you want to hire someone who is a good fit for the job and the culture, and be willing to train them," if the job requires easily acquired skills, Wigert said.

It’s a tall order in the tightest labor market in a generation, here and nationwide, which has left employers scrambling to find top talent.  

“One out of every six occupations on Long Island had more job openings than active job seekers registered through the New York State Department of Labor” based on August data, said Shital Patel, principal economist in the department’s Hicksville office. “These occupations range from entry-level positions to highly skilled positions that require advanced degrees across almost every industry.”

Still, local companies said it's worth holding out for hires that are the right fit.

“We typically use panel interviews so that we get multiple impressions and come to a consensus as to whether a candidate is a strong fit for the role and our culture,” said Beth Bledsoe, vice president of human resources and chief people officer at MSC Industrial Supply Co., a Melville and Davidson, North Carolina-based distributor of industrial tools and supplies. “Interview questions often relate to how the candidate would go about performing the role or handling a certain scenario or situation.”

The Uniondale law firm Farrell Fritz tries to ensure that candidates are a good fit in a culture that values teamwork and innovation, said managing partner Robert Creighton.

“Mutual respect, openness to ideas, a willingness to listen, to help, and compassion are integral to who we are as a firm,” he said.

He said Farrell Fritz has a culture of entrepreneurship among its attorneys, which pays off for them and the firm.

“Any number of our attorneys have developed niche practices, where they have distinguished themselves as leaders,” he said. “This translates to a healthier bottom line, as clients and other professional-service providers seek our expertise.”

North Atlantic Industries Inc.,  a Bohemia company that designs and manufactures electronics for the aerospace, military and industrial sectors, places a high premium on skilled applicants who can demonstrate that they are problem solvers and team players, said chief executive Bill Forman.

“Candidates who demonstrate an ability and desire to solve technically challenging problems will feel at home at NAI,” he said. “Our employees are empowered to voice their ideas and views to any other employee, including the CEO.”

Ellen Barrett, human resources director at Lessing’s Hospitality Group in Great River, said she uses a wide-ranging conversational approach in job interviews to determine a cultural fit for the firm, which has restaurant, catering, food service and franchise divisions.

Barrett passed on one management candidate about a year ago who she said didn’t demonstrate teamwork.

“Especially in a management position, we are looking for someone who is going to roll up their sleeves, and [who feels] they are not above anything," she said. "That is how you gain the respect of your employees.”

-Carrie Mason-Draffen