The danger of ignoring cultural fit when hiring
When hiring, it’s important to find someone with the right skills and experience for the job – but make sure to not overlook cultural fit too. This means considering how a candidate’s values, behaviours and beliefs align with those of your organisation.
“Cultural fit matters because workplace culture touches everything, from how people communicate r to how well teams collaborate,” says Justine Alter, organisational psychologist and Co-Director at Transitioning Well. “When people fit in well, they feel more at home, get more done and often stick around for longer too.”
The risk of poor cultural fit
So what happens when you hire a poor fit? First, there are financial implications, says Jeff Ha, Senior HR Consultant at Employii. “You spend time and resources to go through the entire recruitment and onboarding process only to find out three or six months down the track that they're not a good fit for the company. Then you have to start again from scratch.”
Beyond the tangibles, hiring someone with the wrong cultural fit can be like a bad apple – it has flow on effects to the rest of the team. “We often find all it takes is one person who doesn’t buy into the culture to really disrupt things,” says Ha.
For the team, this can ultimately lead to stress and burnout, disengagement and even resignations, undermining the hard work you’ve done to build your culture.
Spotting a poor cultural fit – and a good one
How do you know if someone is the right match? It depends on the values of your individual organisation. “You can spot a poor cultural fit when what a candidate says about their values just doesn't line up with what your organisation stands for,” advises Alter. “They might have totally different ideas about how fast work should happen, how people should talk to each other or how decisions get made.”
It’s important to distinguish between cultural fit and simply liking someone. “Cultural fit isn’t about personal connection or similarity in background, it’s about being on the same page with the organisation’s core values and mission,” says Alter.
She suggests focusing on whether candidates share specific defined cultural values (such as belonging and purpose) rather than whether interviewers personally connect with them.
Here are four ways you can better screen for cultural fit when hiring new employees:
Get clear on what your culture is. Each business defines their culture differently, says Ha, so take the time to work out what kind of employer you want to be and what your cultural aspects are. Tools like a values statement will help you clearly map this out and get the whole team on board.
Ask detailed, structured questions. When it comes time to for interviews, create specific interview questions that dig into each of your cultural values, advises Alter, so you can compare candidates accordingly. At the same time, make sure your interviewers know how to assess cultural fit properly, without letting unconscious bias creep in – it can help to have a diverse range of interviewers for this. Some examples of good questions to assess cultural fit are:
What gets you excited about going to work?
Can you describe the kind of work environment you feel happy and productive in?
How do you like to work as part of a team?
Remember, it goes both ways. Embrace candidates who come prepared with questions about your organisation’s culture, suggests Ha. He often advises clients to look out for applicants who ask questions and are curious about your culture as it shows they're interested, engaged and mindful of how they fit into the bigger picture.
Look beyond the initial impression. Rather than hiring someone just because you got along with them in the interview, instead look for people who genuinely connect with what your organisation is all about, says Alter. It’s important to remember that bringing in different perspectives can strengthen your culture – as long as those core values align.
With the right approach, you can successfully screen for cultural fit alongside the rest of your recruiting processes and help bring the right people on board.