BENGALURU | NEW DELHI: If you’re interviewing for a job at online grocery store Big-Basket , you can expect an email to reach your inbox that lucidly describes four core values and as many cultural components of the company.This, said human resources head Hari TN, is the Bengaluru-based company’s way of demystifying the idea of ‘cultural fitment’ for potential employees before they become a part of its 14,000-strong family."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," said Hari.Recent top-level exits and generally high attrition are compelling new-age companies to ensure that the people they hire fit into their culture . Apart from technical skills, this aspect that includes soft skills is now part of prerequisites for hiring and companies such as BigBasket, BabyChakra, Chumbak Paytm and Limeroad vouch for its effectiveness."It’s unfortunate, but a majority of people who join the startup world are in it only for quick money; culture is the last thing on their minds," said OnlineTyari co-founder Vipin Agarwal. But that seems to be changing with startups consciously absorbing talent that fits best with their culture.Swapnil Tripathi, who has 17 years of experience in the startup world, both as an entrepreneur and employee, said only 20 per cent of the hires in any startup are ‘right hires’. Now a founder of his third venture, Paalak. in, he said: “The churn in a startup is so fast that in a 10-year window, the entire workforce at the bottom and mid-levels would vanish, and only 20% would remain.” These 20% are the ones who are actually wired and culturally aligned to its work.At Bengaluru-based Chumbak, designated employees interview candidates exclusively to judge their cultural fit.While interviews are conducted by the departmental head and the HR team, the design brand has specific people to quiz candidates about their interests and motivations. One of the common questions they ask 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," said co-founder Vivek Prabhakar.Sandeep Murthy, partner at Lightbox Ventures, said people were drawn to join startups primarily for hefty salary packages. "Now, however, even high-profile executives in startups are party to the learning the evolving ecosystem has to offer," he said. Murthy said many startups are now looking at defining values and culture more seriously."Still not many startups are investing in strategic HR that can retain the people, especially the top talent," said Sriram Vaidhyanathan, chief HR officer at BankBazaar. Most of those currently employed at startups are living on “borrowed time” with no firm belief in the business, he added.For Mumbai-based BabyChakra, the definition to right culture fit is an entrepreneurial attitude and a passion for the company’s mission. Recently, chief executive Naiyya Saggi brought on board someone who had been following up with her for almost seven months."This particular candidate — whom we eventually hired in our product team — wrote to us at least once or twice every month on how we could improve our mission," Saggi told ET. "An essential part of culture fitment is being able to embody the values of the organisation you’re joining, and this particular hire showed a real and tangible alignment to what we stand for."Suchi Mukherjee, CEO at Limeroad, underlined the absence of a common ground on culture as one of the main reasons for rampant exits at startups. "Building a startup requires a strong can-do attitude, what we call a fighter gene. It necessitates taking the rough and the smooth. Expectations need to be aligned at the very beginning, otherwise there will be fallouts," Mukherjee said.Paytm invites candidates to spend a day at its office, attend sessions with employees and engage in discussions. The company does not hesitate to turn down those who come with necessary skillsets and technical knowledge but don’t fit with the company’s culture, said senior vice president Amit Sinha."People are realising that the startup world isn’t all money and glamour — it’s about hard work, being able to take ownership and build something from scratch,” he said. “It’s heartening that new-age companies are becoming more cautious and picky about the candidates they want to hire."