Talk to any hiring manager, and they’ll tell you that they want candidates who not only have all of a job’s required skills, but also demonstrate a strong cultural fit. But what exactly does cultural fit mean?
In theory, it describes alignment between personal and organizational values. When there’s a match, the result should be greater job satisfaction, higher performance and longer retention. In practice, the concept is a lot harder to pin down.
Should you go with your gut?
While resumes may determine who lands an interview, cultural fit definitely impacts who walks out with a job offer. Even when intentions are good and interview processes are consistent, you need to beware of hidden bias based on “chemistry” and “gut instinct.”
It’s natural to gravitate to people who have shared experiences, education and hobbies; in other words, people who are like you. Personally speaking, I know it will be easy to make a connection with someone who went to The Kiski School or loves Pitt basketball.
While a similar background may enhance likeability, it’s no guarantee of strong job performance. In fact, hiring for cultural fit can backfire.
Unexpected risks of cultural alignment
Lack of diversity kills creativity. For jobs that require complex decisions and collaboration, it’s critical to elicit and explore different viewpoints.
As professor and author Lauren A. Rivera stated, “Too much similarity can lead to teams that are overconfident, ignore vital information and make poor (or even unethical) decisions.” In other words, you can end up with employees who tell you what you want to hear, not what’s in the company’s best interest.
Balanced recruiting strategies
So how can companies incorporate culture into hiring decisions? Here are a few practical suggestions:
- Identify success attributes. To start, document the skills and attributes that are necessary to succeed in a specific role, including both hard and soft skills. Whenever possible, base those predictors of success on actual data and input from others in similar positions.
- Prioritize needs ahead of time. Working with organizational stakeholders, determine the three most important attributes for the position. If you don’t have agreement upfront on the absolute must-haves, you’re more susceptible to changing your strategy midstream based on personalities.
- Follow rigorous interviewing practices. Consistency is critical. Ask every candidate the exact same interview questions. Also, use open-ended behavioral questions to evaluate the underlying values that drive a candidate’s decision-making process.
- Use multiple, diverse interviewers. Don’t just rely on one manager’s opinion — ask several people from different functions, disciplines and backgrounds to serve on a hiring panel to broaden your perceptions.
The bottom line is, once you know a candidate has the skills to perform the job, you need to evaluate them against corporate values, not personal ones. Don’t allow yourself to use the airport test — whether you could deal with the person if you got stuck in an airport during an ice storm — as a benchmark for organizational fit.
Greg Lignelli is the COO at System One Holdings LLC, which delivers workforce solutions and integrated services to help clients get work done more efficiently and economically, without compromising quality.
