How engaged are your employees? It’s a question we should all be asking ourselves. According to Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace report, 17% of US employees are actively disengaged – this means they’re resentful about unmet needs and are undermining workplace progress through negative attitudes and actions.
According to the same report, employee engagement in the US dropped to a decade low of just 31% in 2024.
But let’s address the elephant in the room – or rather, in your interview room. Disengagement isn’t always the fault of the employee; it can be down to misalignment of values at the hiring stage.
The Values-Based Recruitment Solution
Values-based recruitment (VBR) focuses on hiring individuals whose personal values, behaviors, and beliefs align with your company’s mission and culture. It’s not a new concept, but it’s one that food and beverage companies increasingly rely on to build cohesive, high-performing teams.
According to recent 2025 hiring trends research, organizations that prioritize cultural alignment are 50% more likely to outperform their peers in profitability. When employees connect with your company’s values, they stay 24% longer and perform significantly better than those who don’t.
Why This Matters Now
With 1.9 million manufacturing jobs potentially unfilled by 2033, competition for skilled talent is intensifying. But the companies winning this talent war aren’t just offering higher salaries, they’re offering something more meaningful.
Built In’s 2024 Culture Report found that 61% of employees would leave their current job for a company with better culture, and 43% would leave for just a 10% salary increase if they felt undervalued or disconnected at work.
For Gen Z workers who now comprise an ever-increasing percentage of the workforce, the numbers are even more striking – 69% claim to prefer a positive company culture over a high paycheck.
Making Values-Based Recruitment Work
So, how do you implement VBR effectively in your food and beverage organization?
First, define your company values clearly. Without a strong set of company values that you and your employees can genuinely stand behind, hiring teams have nothing to align candidate values against.
Second, integrate values assessment into your hiring process. This doesn’t mean abandoning skills-based evaluation. The key is balance – evaluate both competencies and cultural alignment.
Third, communicate your values authentically throughout the recruitment process. According to 2024 candidate experience research, 52% of job seekers decline offers due to poor hiring experiences, while 69% share negative experiences online.
Values-based recruitment also addresses retention. SHRM’s 2025 research shows that only 15% of employees who rate their culture as good plan to leave their jobs, compared to significantly higher turnover rates in organizations with poor cultural alignment.
Your Competitive Position
Enhance your competitive position by swapping transactional hiring with values-based talent acquisition. Consider comprehensive values clarification workshops, values-based interview question development, cultural alignment assessment tools, and hiring manager training on values-based evaluation.
Organizations that hire for both skills and values build stronger, more resilient teams that drive business performance through periods of change and growth.
