One of the lessons I learned last year was that not paying attention to our culture when recruiting, was to the detriment of my business. (see point 3 of Riding across bumpy ground).

Over my holiday this year, I have reflected on how I used to interview staff at an Aussie pub I helped run in London. The other manager and I believed the best way to work out if they were a fit, was to interview them 1 night at the bar when we were ‘soft’ working and fill them full of beer.

We reckoned that you got a much better taste of their real self when they were ‘pissed’ than you did at some mock interview.  And the truth of the matter was after we did use that style of interview we got a better fit for our pub. It’s called matching people to your individual culture.

At ireckon, culture is as important as at any other workplace. While we do like attitude and creativity, not all people bring it in the same way. Moreover, not all ways are ideal as the organisation evolves either. We need people that fit in our culture today and will add to it.

So how do I preview / post interview potential job candidates?

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