Harver’s Cultural Fit focuses on the potential match between the culture at your organization and the preferred culture of the candidates. Results are broken down into four main dimensions of organizational culture and are presented in an easy to understand way, saving you valuable time when reviewing candidate results.
Within this article we will break down different aspects of Culture fit and how to best understand the results:
Candidate experience
Candidates are asked to complete the Cultural fit assessment and are challenged on what they would value in an organization. They divide 10 stars according to their preference resulting in their ideal organizational cultural distribution.
Candidates will choose their preferred cultural distributions on the same six dimensions as the organization has done during the benchmarking phase:
- Dominant Characteristics
- Organizational Leadership
- Management of Employees
- Organization Glue
- Strategic emphases
- Criteria for success
Scores
The Cultural fit results show scores for each of the cultural dimensions: Clan, Adhocracy, Market and Hierarchy. These scores are calculated by looking at the percentage of stars that have been appointed on each dimension for a specific culture.
For instance: if 5 stars have been appointed to the cultural statement related to the ‘Clan culture’ for each of the six dimensions, this results in a total score of 50% for that specific culture.
The percentages on the different cultural types for both the organization and the candidate are visible as results on the result page showing the distribution of culture.
Cultural dimensions
- Clan
- Hierarchy
- Adhocracy
- Market
Clan
A very pleasant place to work, where people share a lot of personal information, much like an extended family. The leaders or heads of the organization are seen as mentors and perhaps even parent figures. The organization is held together by loyalty or tradition. Commitment is high. The organization emphasizes the long-term benefit of human resources development and attaches great importance to cohesion and morale. Success is defined in terms of sensitivity to customers and concern for people. The organization places a premium on teamwork, participation, and consensus.
Leader Type: facilitator, mentor, team builder.
Value Drivers: commitment, communication, development.
Theory for Effectiveness: human development and participation produce effectiveness.
Quality Strategies: empowerment, team building, employee involvement, Human Resource
development, open communication.
Hierarchy
A very formalized and structured place to work. Procedures govern what people do. The leaders pride themselves on being good coordinators and organizers who are efficiency minded. Maintaining a smooth-running organization is most critical. Formal rules and policies hold the organization together. The long-term concern is stability and performance with the client, smooth operations. Success is dependent on dependable delivery, smooth scheduling and low cost. The management of employees is concerned with secure employment and predictability.
Leader Type: coordinator, monitor, organizer.
Value Drivers: efficiency, punctuality, consistency and uniformity.
Theory for Effectiveness: control and efficiency with appropriate processes produce effectiveness.
Quality Strategies: error detection, measurement, process control, systematic problem solving, quality tools
Adhocracy
A dynamic, entrepreneurial, and creative place to work. People stick out their necks and take risks. The leaders are considered innovators and risk takers. The glue that holds the organization together is commitment to experimentation and innovation. The emphasis is on being on the leading edge. The organization’s long term emphasis is on growth and acquiring new resources. Success means gaining unique and new products or services. Being a product or service leader is important. The organization encourages individual initiative and freedom.
Leader Type: innovator, entrepreneur, visionary.
Value Drivers: innovative outputs, transformation, agility.
Theory for Effectiveness: innovativeness, vision and new resources produce effectiveness.
Quality Strategies: surprise and delight, creating new standards, anticipating needs, continuous improvement, finding creative solutions.
Market
A result-oriented organization whose major concern is getting the job done. People are competitive and goal-oriented. The leaders are hard drivers, producers, and competitors. They are tough and demanding. The glue that holds the organization together is an emphasis on winning. Reputation and success are common concerns. The long-term focus is on competitive actions and achievement of measurable goals and targets. Success is defined in terms of market share and penetration. Competitive pricing and market leadership are important. The organizational style is hard-driving competitiveness.
Leader Type: hard driver, competitor, producer
Value Drivers: market share, goal achievement, profitability
Theory for Effectiveness: aggressive competition and customer focus produce effectiveness.
Quality Strategies: measuring customer preferences, improving productivity, creating external partnerships, enhancing competitiveness, involving customers and suppliers.