Are You Hiring a Cultural Fit? Do You Actually Want To? Acknowledge your culture, and share it with applicants before they even get to the interview phase.
By David Teten Edited by Heather Wilkerson
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Who should you hire: the superstar with great skills who feels like a poor fit with the culture, or the person with weaker skills but who fits in culturally? Even though I believe in hiring the stranger, cultural fit really matters.
I once had an interview set up with a candidate who looked strong on paper. Within one minute of meeting him, it was obvious that he was too crude in his language and thinking for the culture I was building. I would have been embarrassed to have him introduce himself as affiliated with our company. I terminated the interview faster than I had ever done before.
Related: Why It Is Important to Hire People for Cultural Fit and How to Do It
Forty-six percent of newly hired employees will fail within 18 months, while only 19 percent will achieve unequivocal success, according to a study by Leadership IQ. Of those that fail, 11 percent lack the necessary technical skills. The remaining 89 percent have other difficulties integrating into the workplace. That statistic -- the 89 percent -- is startling, but even more startling is that a majority of employers are not addressing it sufficiently. How many interviewers make a formal assessment of cultural fit? Even the most impressive candidate may turn into a mis-hire if he or she onboards into a poor cultural fit.
Cultural fit includes both a firm's personality -- values, interpersonal skills, extracurriculars -- and how a firm works -- management, hours, pace, etc. I know one well-known startup that, in its early days, required that every hire be interviewed by the entire team. Not only that, but any one person could veto a candidate. "I think there is something to be said for the 'airport lounge test,'" a colleague said to me. "If you don't want to sit with somebody when stuck waiting for a plane, you probably won't want to work beside them either."
At the same time, cultural fit should not become a euphemism for hiring a bunch of people who look or think just like you. "Don't hire people you know." If you do, you're not going to get the best fit for your organization. An organization that selects for the highest performers cannot possibly also be a homogeneous organization.
It's also worth assessing if your culture is what it should be. Let's say you interview someone who tends to be very frank, and therefore irritates people. In your culture, people tend to speak indirectly about sensitive matters. They say, "If I could make a suggestion" and "perhaps" before saying, "We're screwed." On the one hand, you might say this person is going to irritate folks. On the other hand, is your firm burying problems rather than addressing them? Every hire shapes future culture; the new person might be an infusion of useful straight talk.
Related: 10 Ways to Gauge the Right Candidate
For employers, here are six steps that you can take to increase the likelihood of attracting candidates who will be cultural fits within your firm:
1. Have a company mission plus values statement, and list it on the job posting and your website.
Every firm has a culture. What is yours? We recommend to acknowledge it, and share it with candidates. In particular, highlight what is unusual, not generic, about your firm. If everyone in your office is obsessed with sports, then mention in your job posting. "Benefit: Get to attend home Rangers games with many of your colleagues!" This allows for candidate self-selection based on their values and whether they would feel like they fit into the culture.
2. Obtain data on a candidate's behavior, values and most preferred/least preferred company culture.
My executive coach observed that it's helpful to ask candidates to describe their ideal corporate environment, their "most preferred" culture, as well as to describe a place where others might like the culture but where they would not. This is to discourage them from describing a company culture that no one would like. These open-ended questions encourage candidates to free-associate about their company culture wish list, and can enable you to assess whether their ideal company is close enough to your real company.
I recommend to screen for cultural fit values and technical skills separately, in order to minimize the risk of missing something. Some firms make a point of screening for cultural fit, before even bothering with the technical fit interview, on the grounds that it's a waste of time to do otherwise.
Related: 5 Creative Interview Questions to Ask Job Applicants
3. Enforce a standard rating system.
I suggest formally assessing against the mission values of the firm. Show the mission statement to the candidate, and give an example of the mission conflicting with itself or other imperatives. Example: We have committed to a deadline of July one for a client, but the product still has bugs. What should we do, given our cultural imperative of keeping promises? See what the candidate recommends.
4. Assess a candidate's interactions with other employees and make observations.
Take note if they fit in with the rest of the firm's people by observing how the candidate participates in group exercises and how effectively the candidate communicates with the rest of the employees.
Ask people at all levels to interview the candidate. After all, the candidate will interact with people throughout the organization once they start the job. To encourage interaction, pay attention to how they talk with the receptionist, security guard and/or other candidates in the waiting room. The candidate is more likely to show his/her true self in these interactions.
Related: Why Every Business Needs a Culture Deck -- And How to Create One
5. Ask the candidate for their observations.
Dattner suggested you can also ask the candidate what they observed about the culture in discussions and meetings with you to ascertain how attuned they are to the culture. You may get valuable feedback about how an outsider perceives you.
6. Execute a post-facto analysis.
Review any mis-hires retroactively to determine what went wrong during the interview process. You can also interview any candidates you made offers to, but who did not accept, to get additional feedback about your company and its employment brand.
The candidate's point of view.
Here are some questions I suggest candidates ask before accepting a job offer:
Office personality and communication
- How have you responded to feedback from subordinates?
- Can you give me examples of how you support your subordinates' growth and development?
- What does my working group do together outside of work, if anything? Friday get-togethers, other functions?
Job pace
- When do most people arrive/leave work?
- Am I expected to be on call and/or checking email often in case any work needs to be completed outside of office hours?
- How formal is the firm? (Dress code, etc.)
Firm structure
- How many reporting layers are there?
- How often and how will I have access to senior management?
