Employers strive to hire employees that will fit their position in the company to a tee, especially when it comes to managers and top executives. They want to get leaders that will be effective and high-performing from the start.
This is where a “hiring for cultural fit” approach comes into play when recruiters screen candidates based on their potential matching the organization’s corporate culture and internal principles of work.
There is nothing special about an employer’s desire to engage professionals that will succeed in the company while leading it to success. Yet, getting it done in practice is not that easy. If you are determined to rely on hiring for cultural fit, in our article, you’ll find a few helpful tips on this subject.
What Is Cultural Fit?
The notion defines how the personal values, principles, attitudes, beliefs, visions, work approaches, and behavioral lines of the candidate match those of the employer. Recently, it has become a highly important factor in recruitment and team building since professional skills and qualifications are not the only factors that determine employee performance.
A seamless match to the company culture and ideology will ensure improved job satisfaction, better worker engagement, and higher productivity. In the meantime, the poor cultural fit might cause internal conflicts, a lack of coordination inside the team, and low performance.
At the same time, though, it should be noted that culture fit doesn’t imply hiring similar candidates who have the same background, expertise, or attitudes. It’s rather about recruiting people that share company values, methods, and working principles while still maintaining diversity among employees.
Why Is It Important to Make a Cultural Fit Assessment?
Primarily, hiring for cultural suitability is essential since it can impact organizational success both in the long and short run. Companies do their best to create strong employer brands to reach a quality employee pool and attract the right hires.
Likewise, over 70% of candidates consider the organizational culture before they apply for a job, and over 50% of potential employees prioritize company culture over the level of salary when speaking about job satisfaction.
When it comes to searching for efficient managers, culture match assessment is even more important since they play a key role in team building and guiding others in achieving the company’s goals.
If you recruit managers taking into account not only professional but also cultural fit, you’ll get leaders that:
- Stand on the same ground with the organization;
- Smoother and faster integrate into the team and the working process;
- Start generating results quicker;
- Feel happier with their roles and, as a result, better involved in the work;
- Naturally promote your employer brand;
- Stay in the company for longer.
How to Run an Effective Cultural Fit Assessment?
Here are a few tips that will contribute to your successful cultural fit evaluation. These measures will enable you to hire managers that will easily become a part of your current teams, will be in line with your values, and will support your long-term business objectives.
- Outline your company culture: Before making a candidate assessment, you should first determine your organization’s culture, which means defining the core values, visions, attitudes, concepts, and strategies you build your business around;
- Make a culture fit assessment a part of the hiring process: You can do it by holding behavioral tests, conducting reference checks, holding in-person tours, or arranging random candidate interactions with different team members;
- Let team members participate in recruitment: By engaging existing employees, you will ensure adequate and objective assessment from different perspectives. Above that, you’ll be able to estimate how the candidates match the team as it operates at the moment;
- Search for shared values: Define the aspects and values that are of prime importance for your organization and look for candidates that are on the same page with you in that concern. Those will be the most likely to align with your organization’s corporate culture. Likewise, determine the features, traits, and behaviors the right candidate should have to smoothly integrate into your working environment;
- Consider communication style: Interaction is part and parcel of the working process. A good manager and effective leader should be capable of collaborating and communicating with ease to build a strong team. Notably, some people are team players while others are solo workers, and this will define their ability to manage teams. Body language and psychometric tests will tell you a lot about the person’s communicative skills;
- Use behavioral interviewing techniques: This way, you’ll get a chance to see how candidates will handle certain situations specific to your company. And you’ll be able to assess their decision-making and problem-solving skills;
- Take into account diversity and inclusion: Building a diverse and inclusive organization is no less important than a culture fit. Different people bring different ideas and perspectives and use different approaches. When working together, they might be much more effective than similar workers. Hence, don’t sacrifice diversity for a perfect cultural match since it can result in a negative impact over time.
Bottom Line
Right managers will help your company succeed. Yet, finding the right leaders is quite a challenge. Refrain from searching only based on a set of skills and required professional experience. Incorporate a cultural fit assessment into your hiring process to get onboard leaders that fully align with your company values, tactics, strategies, and visions.
