Qualified and experienced, but do you fit into the startup culture?

Even before you appear for an interview at Bengaluru-based startup BigBasket, you get an email describing their four core values and as many cultural components. This, to make sure that you decide whether you fit into their culture, and of course, to avoid early attrition.

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"When we send this document to potential hires, it gives them a good sense of whether they would fit in or not even before the meetings," their Human Resources head Hari TN told ET.

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The recent past has seen some top-level exits and generally high attrition in the Indian startup space, which has forced the startups to ensure that the new employees fit into their culture and would stay for long.

Several startups, like BigBasket, BabyChakra, Chumbak, Paytm and Limeroad etc have followed this path, and seem to be impressed with the trend.

But that seems to be changing with startups consciously absorbing talent that fits best with their culture.

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Some parameters of this cultural fitment are career aspirations, enterpreneurial attitude, belief in company’ vision and the ability to build things from start.

Bengaluru-based Chumbak has dedicated employees who scan candidates exclusively to understand their cultural fit, quizzing them about their interests and motivations. The most common question, which definitely helps in understanding whether the employee is in for long is, "If money were not an object, what would you be doing instead?"

"We find answers to this question give us interesting insights and help us judge whether someone is a good fit for what we stand for at Chumbak," co-founder Vivek Prabhakar says.

However, the trend is yet to go viral, since several startups still have employees that have no firm faith in the business.

(Image source: UrbanBound)