Are You Too British When Recruiting?

In the past couple of years, the idea of British culture and behaviour has come under the spotlight. For some people, Britishness has been seen as something to be ashamed of while for others, it is a badge of courage that should be proudly displayed at all times. No matter what your opinion is on Brexit or the future of the company, there should be agreement that the disparity of views and the anger that many people have felt and expressed to others over these differences of opinions has been slightly distasteful. Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts, it is how we deal with our views and the views of others that matter, and on all sides, this has been lacking at times.

This means that your organisation may not want to delve too deeply into how British you are, or aren’t these days but if you are recruiting, this may be a factor that you need to consider. A recent study by Xref suggests that cultural norms in countries or regions impact on the decisions that HR departments make, and this may be holding your business back.

Some cultures are more up-front in evaluating people

Britain has a culture of being slightly restrained, especially in comparison to the United States. Across the Atlantic, and in many other countries, it is common for the applicant to place a photograph of themselves in or alongside their CV but this isn’t the case in the United Kingdom. Now, when you consider the growing importance of social media platforms when recruiting, is this going to have an impact on what you can find out or learn about a candidate?

If UK candidates are more shy or hesitant about sharing about themselves, are you going to be able to obtain as clear a picture of them as HR departments in the US or France could of their candidates? If this is the case, you need to make sure that your line of questioning is better tailored to gaining insight into what a person has to offer, but again, this is where the cultural norms of the UK can cause problems.

Here in Britain, we are not always fond of direct questioning whereas in other cultures, they cut straight to the heart of the matter. This sort of approach would likely be considered rude in the UK but in other countries, there is an understanding that you only have a limited amount of time with a candidate and you want to glean as much information from them as possible. This is not a time to be coy or play nice, this is a time for your HR department to be proactive and if you be bit less British and a bit more American or European in your outlook, you may find that you can better judge candidates on what they have to offer.

There is a lot to be said for the use of technology in judging candidates but it is also important to ensure you have the right mentality to view what people are really like.