When my team was screening candidates for a regional management position with a large hospital chain, we had narrowed the search down to two great finalists. The first person had stellar performance numbers but seemed highly competitive. While being competitive isn’t necessarily a bad thing, this particular employer placed a heavy emphasis on collaboration and team success, and I had a feeling a cutthroat mentality wouldn’t go over well. The other candidate had a strong focus on teamwork, frequently sharing anecdotes that described her previous experiences achieving goals with her team.
We recommended the second option for hire, and the decision paid off. This manager quickly became a favorite within the company, both among executives and her department. She fostered cooperation and the morale of her teams was exceptional. By thinking about the company’s team focused culture and making it a priority in our screening, we helped land a strong hire who has been with the company for several years now.
Hiring requires us to look for individuals who have the right combination of attributes — a good education, relevant job experience, and the right technical skill sets and knowledge. But culture fit is equally important if not more so in ensuring success and longevity.
Hiring for culture fit is about bringing employees into the mix whose beliefs, behaviors, and values align with those of your organization. This is not the same as hiring people who merely share similar backgrounds and experiences. It’s essential to include diversity while hiring for culture fit because different perspectives and experiences will help your company improve and scale. When more emphasis is placed on the diversity aspect, it is sometimes viewed as hiring for culture add rather than culture fit.
I’ll get to why hiring for culture fit is important and share some tips for how to do it in a moment. But first, it helps to have a definition of company culture to work with.
What Is Company Culture?
Defining company culture can be a challenge because it’s something that often evolves over time and is unique to each organization.
I describe company culture as the “personality” behind the organization. If the company were a person, what would be their most prominent traits? For example, a client might prioritize fun and employee engagement, made evident by perks like a lax dress code, strong work/life balance, flexible scheduling, and regular company-wide social events. And just like a person, companies have values and those are part of the culture, too. The organization’s vision and approach to work play an important role in its “personality.”
How you choose to define company culture is ultimately up to you, but ideally, it should be a statement or set of statements that define who you are as an organization and what it means to work for your company.
Why Does Company Culture Matter?
No matter how you define it, your company culture is incredibly important. Employees who rate their organization’s culture as “good” or “excellent” are nearly eight times more likely to feel satisfied at work and are 83% less likely to be looking for a new job than those who rate their workplace culture as “poor” or “terrible.” So how does this relate to talent acquisition?
Having a strong culture that you can show off to candidates from the start gives prospective hires an expectation of what it’s like working for your business. A candidate gets a vibe on the culture from the moment they walk in the door for an interview. I can usually tell from an interviewee’s face if they’re liking what they see or if they’re rethinking their choice to apply. If they don’t feel like they would work well in that environment, they can look elsewhere before taking up any more of either party’s time.
If you don’t address your culture in your hiring process, a candidate who isn’t a good fit may end up going through the entire process and being hired simply because neither party was aware of the mismatch. Considering the high cost of employee turnover, communicating company culture clearly to a candidate should be part of every recruiter’s checklist.
Your company culture doesn’t just help attract new talent, it helps keep your current talent satisfied and working for you rather than going to the competition. A happy, healthy work environment drives job satisfaction and employee engagement, which is one of the main reasons why hiring for culture fit should be an integral part of your hiring strategy.
While offering great salaries and benefits may get the best talent in the door, it takes much more to keep them there long-term. When your employees feel like they matter to you and are genuinely invested in your organization, they will be more loyal and passionate about helping to achieve your business goals.
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The Impact of a Bad Culture Fit
To illustrate the repercussions of a poor cultural fit, I’ll share a story I’d honestly rather forget.
I once brought in a recruiter with a very impressive resume who was used to working in high-pressure, corporate style environment. I believe strongly that I would rather submit one great candidate than 3 mediocre ones. We have turned down relationships with companies that don’t want to build a relationship and would rather have a vendor who slings resumes, and I see nothing wrong with that. This employee was used to being measured strictly on numbers and submitted many candidates in record time. While they met their metrics the candidate quality wasn’t there and they struggled to build relationships and anticipate client needs. All of this resulted in a high submit rate but a low hire rate. Against my better judgment, I tried to make it work with him for several months before finally conceding that we’d hired a mismatch. Ultimately, I pulled the plug on his contract prematurely.
Culture fit is one of those things that’s easy to overlook when it exists, but that becomes much more obvious when it’s missing. Consider some of the impacts of hiring a candidate whose values, personality and goals don’t align with yours.
Low employee morale and lost productivity are two of the largest hidden costs associated with a bad culture fit. If you bring in one bad hire who’s not a match for your culture, they can stick out like a sore thumb, alienating their peers and worse, feeling alienated themselves.
As the saying goes, “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.” When one person is pessimistic, always complaining, or just downright unhappy at work, it can create a negative working environment. This doesn’t just affect your employee’s attitude and mindset — it can affect their productivity, too. Think about it: when someone is miserable at work, it can be incredibly difficult for them to get excited about a project, produce quality work, or deliver high-quality customer service.
While disengagement and negativity are contagious at all levels, it becomes an especially big problem when the bad culture fit exists at a senior level. When a manager has a negative attitude, it will likely trickle down to the rest of their team. It’s not easy for a team to be happy, productive, and collaborative when their manager is undermining their ability to work well together and stay focused on the tasks at hand.
A manager who is a bad culture fit can introduce negative workplace practices that can take years to undo. Additionally, a manager who doesn’t get your company’s culture isn’t going to place a priority on hiring others who align with it, meaning a poor-fit manager who has any influence on hiring decisions can be especially dangerous.
Why Culture Fit Should Be Included in Your Hiring Strategy
To help make the case for prioritizing culture fit in your hiring strategy, here are a few of the biggest ways it can benefit your organization.
1. Culture fit plays a role in employee retention
If employees aren’t a good culture fit, they’re more likely to leave. Considering how costly employee turnover can be for businesses of any size, hiring for culture fit as part of your hiring strategy matters.
While increasing employee retention is important from a morale standpoint, decreasing employee turnover also significantly impacts your bottom line by:
- Reducing employee recruiting expenses,
- Cutting training costs, and
- Increasing productivity.
2. Hiring people who fit with your culture leads to better work
People who love their jobs and where they work tend to be more satisfied and perform at a higher level. If someone loves their job but is miserable where they work, it can lead to a lesser-quality performance that can affect your bottom line. This is a significant reason why hiring for culture fit as part of your hiring strategy matters.
When an employee works for a company in which they feel like they are at odds with the culture, it can lead to dissatisfaction that affects productivity. Examples include employees who may need specific direction when working on a project but work in environments that promote independence and self-direction, or employees who may want to take the initiative to head up projects but feel held back by leadership who want to micromanage everything.
3. Hiring for culture fit creates a more positive work environment
As we discussed above, hiring someone who isn’t a good culture fit can create a negative work environment. Someone who is miserable where they are may contribute to bringing down the morale of other employees and the workplace in general.
4. A strong company culture attracts top talent
While a good salary and employee benefits are among the top reasons why prospective employees choose to accept a job with an employer, culture fit is up there as well. If a candidate has concerns about whether they will fit into an organization culturally, they are less likely to accept a job – or to stay for long if they do accept it.
Communicating your company’s culture from the start helps prospective talent understand what they can expect to experience as an employee so they can make an informed decision about whether to move forward or look elsewhere. Considering how costly employee turnover can be, it’s vital to ensure that your organization’s company culture is positive, healthy, and is clearly communicated as part of your hiring strategy.
5. Company culture can engage and motivate employees
Employee engagement is directly tied to achieving organizational goals, retaining talent, and helping employees feel like they matter.
According to a Forbes interview with Kronos Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Aron Ain, achieving employee engagement comes down to having a company culture that demonstrates open and transparent communication:
“The reason we have over 90% employee participation in our engagement surveys when we ask employees about it, they say, ‘It’s because you do something about it. We can tell if we gave you feedback, that my manager sits down and talks to our group about something that came from our area, and then we take action to correct it, and do better going forward.’ That’s very motivating for people.”
6. A strong company culture is an investment in your business
Having strong employee engagement is one of the strongest predictors of long-term business success. One great example is Fortune’s list of the top 100 companies to work for–those companies outperform the market by a factor of 3.36, which makes a massive financial impact when repeated year after year.
Bascially, company culture is a form of currency, however, the currency isn’t just financial — it is also measured in terms of your organization’s credibility, reputation, and brand image.
7. A strong company culture supports a positive brand image
Your employees are your greatest ambassadors, both to prospective customers and potential new hires. Think of top-ranking companies like Bain & Company, Google, and LinkedIn—all of them are known to have employees who simply rave about working there, and it makes others want to do business with and for them.
How to Hire for Culture Fit
Now that we’ve hammered home just how important company culture is and how a poor fit can negatively impact your whole organization, you’re probably thinking: “How can I avoid these problems? How am I supposed to know if a candidate will be a good culture fit until they’re already working for me?” I’ll try to help answer these questions.
While there’s no foolproof way to determine a candidate’s true attitude and personality before you interact with them on a day-to-day basis, there are a few things you can do to get some insights before making a further investment. While it’s certainly not impossible, it does take a bit more effort and resources up-front — which will be well worth it in the long run. Follow these tips for effectively hiring for culture fit:
Clearly define your company culture and values
The first step to ensuring a potential hire is aligned with your company culture is to clearly define your mission and values. Why was the company founded? What goals do you strive to achieve through the work you do? What are the reasons to believe in the brand?
After clearly delineating these items, acquire company-wide buy-in and capture your company culture in your employee handbook so it can always be referenced. It’s also great to feature on the Careers page of your website.
Reference your company culture in any advertising for the role
Company culture shouldn’t be an afterthought in your job listings–it should be a main focus. Make sure each job description includes a few lines about your culture and use verbiage that aligns with your values. Consider this blurb from beloved footwear brand Allbirds:
“We take our craft seriously, but not ourselves. As part of the Allbirds family, you can look forward to team lunches, color brainstorms, product tests, fun company outings, inspiring guest speakers, comfortable shoes, sheep puns, and lots of creative ideas.”
Thanks to the descriptive language and specific details, candidates can immediately get an idea if they would be a fit for the work environment and whether they should apply. You can do the same with your job ads.
Discuss those values during the interview process
Be transparent about what your day-to-day workplace atmosphere looks like (something we should have done better when interviewing our tightly wound consultant). Tell candidates about any culture initiatives such as a company wellness program or monthly social outings that your team members can participate in and emphasize how they contribute to a positive, healthy work environment.
Ask culture fit interview questions that relate directly to these values
Ask culture fit interview questions such as, “How would you handle yourself if faced with XYZ ethical dilemma,” or, “How would you treat a fellow employee in XYZ situation” to uncover if their answers align with your values. Follow-up questions like “what made you decide to do that?” or “tell me more about that” can reveal further insight into the candidate’s thinking, values, and work style.
Get to know potential candidates on a more personal level
In a formal interview setting, it can be hard to gauge someone’s personality and character. Consider taking a top candidate to chat over coffee, grab lunch, or participate in a company-wide social event to see how they mesh with other team members before investing in hiring them.
Leverage pre-employment assessments
There are numerous pre-employment assessments on the market that can be used to help evaluate job candidates for both hard skills (such as typing speed and math skills) as well as “soft” skills like communication and teamwork. You can even create ideal personality profiles for various roles and see how candidates match up — for example, a customer service role should be filled by someone who is friendly and helpful, not shy.
Focus on company culture during onboarding
While onboarding should cover processes and day-to-day job role responsibilities, it is also the ideal time to go over your company culture. Don’t just assume your new hires understand your values and how you expect them to carry themselves and treat others in the organization — clearly explain it to them before their new role gets underway.
Check-in with new hires
Check-in with your new hires at the end of their first day, week, and month to ensure they feel like they are fitting in with your culture and are comfortable in your workplace environment. This way, if there’s a problem, it can hopefully be addressed quickly before it escalates or spreads.
Turn to a professional staffing agency or headhunter
The cost of a bad hire can be mitigated by turning to professional recruiters or headhunters. There are seemingly endless benefits of working with a staffing agency — especially if you’re having difficulties placing talent on your own. Professional recruiters and headhunters can leverage their vast candidate networks, experience, and expertise to ensure they are placing the best possible candidate from both a culture and job skills perspective.
Have Confidence in Hiring a Strong Culture Fit By Partnering With a Staffing Agency
We’re a professional recruiting and staffing firm that works with clients across the country to ensure they are hiring the right candidate every time.
Our success as a staffing agency was built by combining performance and effectiveness with unmatched personal client service. Our unique ability to combine culture fit with technical requirements has earned 4CR a reputation as a highly trusted recruiting partner to clients and candidates alike.
To learn how we can leverage our professional networks and recruitment expertise to effectively place a candidate who is both a job role and culture fit in your organization, reach out to us today.
