With so many companies competing for the top talent, especially in people-driven organizations, your workplace culture can and will be a deciding factor for job candidates.
Nearly 70% of candidates say their experience during the hiring process shapes how they expect to be treated as an employee down the line.
First impressions matter, making it critical that your culture shines from the start and throughout the entirety of your hiring process.
So, whether you’re posting job listings for open roles or interacting with candidates, keep reading to explore how culture-driven communication helps attract the best talent and how to set mutual expectations to ultimately drive better hiring decisions for both you and your candidates.
Attract Employees Who Fit
When you clearly communicate company culture during recruitment, candidates can self-select based on alignment with values, working style, and overall character. This way, new hires won’t just meet the job requirements, but thrive alongside other team members and contribute to a unified, energized work environment.
How do you build a recruiting process that does this?
Use structured interview questions, job descriptions, and employer branding materials (like recruitment videos, employee testimonials, and culture-focused content) to highlight your culture.
Whether your team values open communication, rapid iteration, or social impact, candidates should be able to identify those priorities early on. For example, let’s say transparency is a core value. Your job description could mention that team members regularly share feedback or that leadership communicates company updates openly.
Want to dive deeper into this concept of “attracting the right candidates”? Explore Chapter 3 of our Hire Education: Guided Training to Better Hiring for actionable advice, best practices, and more resources on this specific stage of hiring.
Set Culture Expectations Early
You don’t want a candidate arriving on their first day only to feel completely out of sync with how your team operates and communicates.
Clear communication about daily work rhythms, communication norms, and team values helps set expectations early, reducing costly misalignment and employee turnover.
Showcasing your work environment through behind-the-scenes videos, employee testimonials, or a simple “what it’s like to work here” section on your careers page can go a long way. Candidates should know what to expect long before their first day or even before they accept an offer.
Here’s an example of how to set expectations early in your screening process.
Let’s say your culture is fast-paced and creative. You might communicate that dynamic by highlighting:
- How your team runs energetic, idea-packed brainstorming sessions
- The way quick design sprints help transform ideas into deliverables within days, not weeks
- An openness to testing out new ideas, even if they don’t always work
- Bi-weekly creative rituals like idea jams or team show-and-tells
Visuals can help too! Pictures of team whiteboarding sessions or case studies of bold project pivots can help candidates picture themselves in that same high-energy, imaginative environment, allowing them to self-select whether it’s the right environment for them.
Differentiate Your Company Culture Against Competitors
When job roles, pay, and benefits look similar across companies, your culture can play a huge role in tipping the scales in your favor for candidates.
Today, job seekers — especially younger professionals — weigh work culture right alongside compensation when deciding where to apply or accept an offer.
Here are key work environment differentiators that you should consider highlighting within your recruitment process:
- Social responsibility initiatives, such as community volunteering, sustainability efforts, and employee matching gifts
- Support for work-life balance, like flexible scheduling, paid time off, or mental health days
- Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through internal initiatives or employee resource groups
- Leadership transparency and two-way communication, allowing employees at every level of your organization to feel comfortable and confident communicating team-wide
- Opportunities for creativity and experimentation, like dedicated time for brainstorming new ideas, casual team challenges that inspire fresh thinking, or structured work sessions for solving problems
Highlighting these cultural elements helps candidates envision which prospective workplaces would help them thrive.
When your workplace culture is transparent and unique, you give job seekers a clear reason to choose your company over another with similar compensation and responsibilities.
Enhance the Candidate Experience
As mentioned, candidates use their experiences during the hiring process to gauge what it’s like to be part of your team.
From the first email to the final interview and even an offer extension, every interaction provides a look into your company culture.
Here are some questions candidates are probably asking themselves during your screening process to assess your company’s culture:
- Are you responsive? Do team members answer questions quickly and offer support?
- Is communication clear, respectful, and consistent?
- Are the interview steps well organized? Does follow-up happen promptly?
- Do I feel welcomed to ask questions or share ideas?
- Are the conversations genuine, or do they feel overly scripted?
- Can I tell how people on this team work together and get things done?
Essentially, candidates are testing the waters: Does your process reflect the same values you claim to hold? Are they treated with respect? These impressions shape how they feel about the role, your team, and the company overall.
Look for ways to bring candidates into your culture rather than just talking about it. Give them a sense of what it’s really like to be part of the team.
As an example, you might offer a “day in the life” chat with a current team member, which gives candidates an informal space to ask questions, hear about team dynamics, and get a sense of how things really work. These low-pressure conversations can reveal your company values, how people collaborate, and what a typical day actually feels like.
Or, you could invite them to join a team stand-up or internal demo. These experiences let them observe how people collaborate and determine whether they’d be a good culture fit.
Create Brand Ambassadors
Not every candidate becomes an employee, but every candidate can become an advocate!
When your company culture is communicated clearly and positively throughout the hiring process, candidates walk away with a memorable impression, even if they don’t get the job or ultimately decide not to accept your offer.
There are so many opportunities for job seekers to share their opinions about your company publicly. Keep that in mind every step of the way!
These individuals may refer others, apply again in the future after gaining experience, or speak positively about your organization online — or they could provide an honestly terrible review that hurts your brand reputation.
When culture is prioritized and clearly communicated throughout hiring, it shapes how people talk about and remember your company. That makes it much easier to attract high-quality candidates!
Make Company Culture a Green Flag for Your Organization
When candidates can clearly see what it’s like to work at your company, and recognize that it’s a positive environment where they can truly thrive, they’re more likely to apply, stay, and grow there.
Treat every stage of the hiring process as a chance to authentically show who you are and help candidates determine if they’re the right fit.
