Recruiting to Organisational Values in a Tight Labour Market

Australia’s current labour market paints a challenging picture for employers. With skill

shortages affecting a wide range of industries, many businesses are finding it difficult

enough to attract applicants with the technical capabilities needed for their roles.

Yet more and more organisations are recognising that technical skills alone are not enough. To create sustainable workplaces, employers are choosing to recruit not only for capability but also for alignment with organisational values.

This creates a dilemma, how do you balance the need for essential skills with the equally important need for people who reflect and strengthen your culture?

Why recruit to values at all?

Skills can often be taught, but values driven behaviours are harder to instil. Employees who genuinely connect with an organisation’s purpose are more likely to:

• Stay engaged and committed in the long term

• Strengthen workplace culture and cohesion

• Build trust with customers, clients, and partners

• Adapt to change with resilience and collaboration

In a competitive labour market, values fit becomes a protective factor against turnover and disengagement. When values misalignment is tolerated, however, it is like white ants eating away behind the walls. At first, everything looks intact. But over time, the unseen damage can weaken the organisation’s structure, culture, and reputation until the cost of repair is far greater than the cost of recruiting carefully in the first place.

The challenge of a skills shortage

When the talent pool is thin, the temptation is to compromise, hire the person who has the technical requirements, even if they show little affinity with organisational values. This often leads to misalignment and downstream issues, conflict in teams, resistance to workplace initiatives, or an erosion of the culture leaders have worked hard to build.

Real world examples highlight the risk:

• Aged Care: The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety revealed that while many facilities had staff with the right clinical qualifications, some lacked employees who embodied the sector’s values of dignity, respect, and compassion. The result was widespread cultural and reputational damage. Skills alone could not guarantee quality care without values alignment.

• Qantas: In recent years, Qantas has faced significant public criticism, from flight cancellations and service disruptions to customer complaints about lost baggage and credit redemptions. While operational pressures were real, the deeper issue was a perceived drift from the airline’s core values of reliability and service. The reputational cost has been steep, showing how quickly trust erodes when employees and leadership behaviours do not consistently align with the values customers expect.

Both cases demonstrate the same truth, technical capability without values alignment can cause deep and lasting harm.

Finding the balance

Successful employers are approaching this challenge in a few ways:

Defining values in practical terms

Values need to be more than words on a poster. Translate them into observable behaviours. For example, “respect” might look like active listening in meetings, or “innovation” might show up in how staff approach problem solving. Clear definitions make it easier to screen for alignment.

Using recruitment methods that test values

Structured behavioural interviews, scenario based questions, and even group activities during assessment centres can highlight whether a candidate demonstrates values driven behaviours in real time.

Broadening the skill search

Instead of requiring candidates to meet every technical requirement from the start, organisations can identify the core non negotiables and be prepared to invest in training for the rest. This opens the door to a wider and more diverse talent pool.

Showcasing values in employer branding

Candidates are more likely to be attracted to organisations where values are lived and visible. Sharing authentic stories of how values shape decisions, leadership, and employee experiences makes it easier to draw in applicants who are aligned.

Partnering for capability development

Apprenticeships, traineeships, and collaborations with training providers can help organisations build a pipeline of talent. When values alignment is prioritised in recruitment, organisations can then shape the technical side through structured development.

The payoff

In today’s talent short environment, it may feel counterintuitive to hold the line on values. Yet employers who compromise too far risk higher turnover and greater disruption down the track. Recruitment grounded in values alignment ensures that new hires not only bring skills, but also contribute to a resilient, engaged, and future ready workforce.

Just as white ants left unchecked can quietly destroy the foundations of a home, employees who do not align wit organisational values can gradually undermine culture. By holding firm on values, organisations protect their foundations and set themselves up for long term success.