Abstract. The goal of this thesis is to find out how international growth-stage companies lead their organizational culture with recruitment and personnel selection. The theoretical framework of the study consists of two main themes, organizational culture and human resource management (HRM). In HRM, the focus is on recruitment and selection functions of the organization. Empirical part of the study is a qualitative study, which was composed from three semi-structured interviews among growing, international companies. The data collected in interviews was analysed by using Gioia methodology and presented in the findings based on the dimensions created by Gioia.
The research question of this study is “How international companies facing a growth-stage are leading their organizational culture with recruitment and personnel selection?”. Based on the findings the research question was answered in a following way: In international growth-stage companies, recruitment and personnel selection are used as a tool of preserving the original organizational culture, and companies trust their recruitment personnel’s ability to find the cultural matches among the applicants in the interviews. The main finding of this study is that the focus of leading the organizational culture is on preserving the current culture. Remaining in the same is seen as development instead of trying to change the culture. Features such as openness, agility, empathy and giving responsibility were appreciated in the cultures. Case companies did not use specific methods such as personality tests in selection, but they trusted on interviews and open discussion. Companies were trying to find matches among applicants, who share the similar company values and can cope and enjoy working in the culture of the organization. Growth creates pressure for the recruitment function, but companies are not willing to compromise their culture and values by hiring unsuitable employees.
The findings of the study were mainly in line with previous research. The interrelated nature of HRM and organizational culture came up in the theory as well as in the interviews. Interviewees had noticed, that acting according to the company values and culture can lead to improved financial performance, which is a view supported also in the literature. What was new, was discovering that the order of values can guide the culture and how employees make decisions in the organization. The theory and practice do not either match when discussing the best selection method, because in practice, companies seem to prefer less structured, open interviews instead of other, more structured methods
