Your company has a culture that you are proud of. Employees are deeply engaged with the company mission and you believe your teams have strong leadership skills that lead projects to success. And yet, you’re finding it difficult to recruit for (and keep) senior staff positions.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal blog, “Why you should ask new employees what most shocks them,” you might want to consider implementing a shock report when hiring new employees – a tool that taps new recruits, asking what they found most shocking or astonishing after joining the company. The blog draws on a recruitment discussion with Chinese company founders in Shanghai that ask new recruits to fill out a type of shock report after a set period of time at the company – usually 100 days. The goal is to “capture the collective wisdom of first impressions before the organization’s culture begins to indoctrinate new recruits.”
While the importance of gathering data and asking questions certainly isn’t a new idea in the marketing research industry, you might find it a bit puzzling that shock reports are recommended to organizations that already have a strong company culture. The reason? A strong culture often makes it hard for new leaders and ideas to find success in the company. In addition company pride – a common side effect of a strong culture – can also cause management to overlook internal dysfunction.
So the next time you are recruiting, make it a goal to ask new employees to observe subtle trends, emphasizing their role in taking the company to the next level.