Hire With Clarity: Acknowledge Today’s Culture, Build Tomorrow’s

I remember an HR Department all-day meeting at a “challenging” organization where I worked. There we were, clustered around a conference room table with coffees in hand, dissecting every facet of the company’s hiring process and employee experience - from employer branding to onboarding rituals.

We needed to cut straight to the heart of the matter - why did so many new hires vanish after one, three, or six months? So many. So so many. Like ghosts escaping back into the underworld.

It was due to – everyone finally realized – a disconnect of epic proportions.

When It Doesn’t Make Sense

The uncomfortable truth is that too often, companies recruit for the culture they aspire to rather than the culture they live. And that gap - between aspiration and reality - becomes the breeding ground for both misaligned expectations and early departures.

You can’t ignore the quirks of your existing environment. If your workplace quietly rewards perfectionism over collaboration, or if every decision must wend its way through six layers of approval, new hires will sense it immediately. No amount of marketing copy about “agile innovation” will mask the reality of daily stand-up meetings that feel like marathon lectures. And when companies gloss over these truths, they end up with frustrated employees who wonder, “Was I sold a story?”

Yet – of course - vision is critical. Without aiming toward a future state, culture stagnates and innovation grinds to a halt. Who wants to work for a company that dreams of rapid experimentation and creative risk-taking but evaluates every project by traditional ROI metrics first established in 1987? Even the boldest candidate will struggle if the day-to-day doesn’t support the aspiration. Recruiting purely for the culture you want, without acknowledging what is – today! now! - sets everyone up for disappointment.

Make it Make Sense

The solution lies in embracing both perspectives – the reality of today and the dreams for tomorrow - simultaneously. First, conduct a candid appraisal of your present culture. Gather a cross-section of voices - from tenured veterans to recent hires - and invite them to describe everyday experiences. What unwritten norms shape collaboration? Which rituals bolster morale, and which routines feel rote? This exercise isn’t about scoring “culture points” or getting some sort of “score” you can share with the Executive Team, but rather it’s about illuminating the landscape you inhabit day to day.

Next, define the contours of your desired culture. If your goal is a climate of continuous learning, identify what that looks like in practice. Perhaps it means allocating time for peer coaching or hosting internal “innovation weeks” when teams prototype ideas free from bureaucracy. If you aim for more transparent leadership, imagine regular town-hall dialogues where questions aren’t screened out. And then, by anchoring each of these aspirations in concrete behaviors, you can begin to turn those lofty ideals into tangible benchmarks.

With these dual diagnostics in hand, craft recruitment messaging that marries honesty with ambition. For example: a job posting can acknowledge the current pace - “Our quarterly planning process still relies on manual spreadsheets” - while promising active initiatives to automate and streamline – “We’ve chartered a cross-functional Innovation Circle to change our operational model.”

Then, during interviews, talk about this! invite candidates to reflect on similar transitions they’ve navigated and ask them they helped their teams evolve? What signals did they look for to gauge progress? These conversations become a preview of both your organizational journey and their potential employee experience.

Welcome to the Jungle

Onboarding then becomes the crucible for aligning realities and aspirations. Rather than a series of orientation slides, design immersive experiences that reveal both where you are and where you’re going. Pair new hires with “culture navigators” who can illuminate unwritten rules and champion emerging practices. Solicit feedback early - within the first t2 weeks! - about the surprises new hires have encountered and solicit their suggestions for improvement.

Of course, cultural transformation is not a one-off project/check-list exercise – it’s ongoing. Schedule recurring check-ins, skip-level “listening tours,” peer-review circles, and pulse surveys that monitor both satisfaction and alignment. Celebrate milestones: the first successful “innovation week,” the rollout of a real-time feedback tool. And when pilots don’t yield expected results, share those setbacks candidly. Vulnerability fosters trust far more effectively than feigned perfection ever could.

Living in the Middle

Ultimately, hiring for culture is neither a binary choice nor a static exercise. It requires a clear-eyed view of the here-and-now and a compelling vision of the next chapter. By acknowledging your present ecosystem while articulating the behaviors you’re evolving toward, you create a narrative that attracts candidates who not only fit today’s mold but are energized by the prospect of shaping tomorrow’s.

So, the next time you draft that job ad or plan your interview questions, ask yourself: am I painting a portrait of reality? And am I inviting others to help me refine that portrait into the masterpiece I know it can become? That tandem of honesty and aspiration is what can transform hiring the right team members from merely a transactional exchange into a future-focused strategy - and it’s the best way to close the loop between the culture you have and the culture you want.

Because you can do both: hire for where you are and where you’re headed.

The best teams are built not by pretending everything is already perfect … but by inviting people who want to help you make it better.