The Myth of Cultural Fit
It is no secret that hiring is broken. The current system works against recruiting, hiring, and retaining talent. From candidate experiences with clunky ATS systems, hiring managers ill-trained in conducting interviews, to the seemingly endless rounds of interviews, it is surprising that anyone gets hired. Another factor that impedes hiring is the idea of “cultural fit.” While it is undoubtedly essential to determine whether there is a cultural fit on both the part of the company and the candidate, many people on both sides of the desk get this wrong.
The core problem with cultural fit is that it can be impossible to define a single corporate culture. Within an individual company, culture can vary from location to location and department to department. In addition, corporate culture is often aspirational and does not reflect the current reality. Cultural fit has come to be understood as how well a candidate will fit in—in other words, how similar the candidate is to other people already working there. I’m sure you can see the inherent flaws in such highly subjective and arbitrary “criteria” that are not predictors of someone’s future performance. “Not a cultural fit” has become a lazy excuse for candidates that didn’t meet hiring managers’ preconceived ideas of what the right person for the job should look like, act like, and be.
Hiring for cultural fit can also breed groupthink. If everyone on the team has similar backgrounds, experiences, and worldviews, driving innovation will be challenging. And, what is branded as cultural fit is often business leaders’ personal preferences enforced by unacknowledged power relationships. At its worst, hiring for cultural fit can lead to racist, sexist, and exclusionary preferences in work environments. What drives innovation and makes people enthused about working is when there is diversity of thought and experiences. Savvy companies know that when they make a concerted effort to recruit and develop diverse talent, the results are measurable and immediate.
Focusing too much on cultural fit can also degrade into hiring for personality rather than competency and potential. We all know that the most qualified candidate is often NOT the one who gets the job. The one who gets the job is usually the one who puts on the best performance during the interview process. Performance during an interview has little correlation to someone’s ability to do the job and to do it well.
Stop hiring for cultural fit. Stop hiring for likeability. Stop hiring based upon people with whom you would like to have a beer. You are missing out on incredibly talented, creative people who can help you take your business to new heights. Hire for potential. Hire people who are going to shake up the status quo. If you continue doing the same thing you always have, you will continue to get the same results you always have, and you will stagnate.