So...Do They Fit?

People are different. The broad variety of our personalities, attitudes, interests and values makes humanity and interesting species. From playtime, to family life, perception about life and other issues, our priorities vary widely and this significantly impacts who we are, and how we view and react to things. Every business needs to understand individual personality, life preferences, value set, background influences and future horizon when making the decision to hire employees so they can ensure that each employee will be interested, motivated and productive when they join the company.

Global labour mobility trends have increased the employees desire to find organisations that allow them to maximise their potential, earn more money, achieve a better work-life balance and enhance their sense of fulfilment. For some, all of these factors will be equally important, while others will prioritise them differently. Whatever our priorities, work affects different aspects of our lives – our self-identity, self-esteem, and opportunities for personal growth. If work was just about making money, it wouldn’t matter much where we worked – but for most of us, it is far more than that.

You can always train an employee to do their job better, but it is much harder to train a person to have the same values as the organisation or to behave I a certain way. Given the need to enhance the value of recruitment efforts and spend, getting the right answers to the question of fit becomes a critical consideration in the process. So.. what exactly is cultural fit and how do you determine and measure it?

I believe cultural fit is the point of equilibrium or congruence between the norms of an individual and those of the organisation. It is the point at which the individual sees himself in the organisation and the values of the organisation are fully reflected in the individual. Culture fit is the glue that holds an organisation together. That’s why it’s a key trait to look for when recruiting. Studies conducted at Harvard indicate that staff turnover attributed to poor culture fit costs organisations as much as 50 - 60% of the person’s annual salary so before the hiring team makes their decision, it is important to measure the cultural fit of the individual with the organisation and role. This can only be effectively done when we define and articulate the organisation’s culture – its values, goals, and acceptable practices — in the first place, and then weave this understanding into the hiring process.

The process of defining organisational culture can take many forms; from working with an external consultant to staff-driven focus groups and discussions. And the result could be a formal statement from the CEO defining the organisation’s culture or a list of operating cultural norms that govern the way staff interact with one another — or both. What is important is that hiring managers, interviewers, recruiters, and everyone at your company can identify critical characteristics that mesh well with that culture. An organisation that requires its employees to be innovative will watch out for people who are entrepreneurial and self starting in their disposition. Also, if collaboration is key to an organisation, people who share ideas willingly and are team players will be a better fit than those who are comfortable with emphasising their individual contribution.

This idea is sometimes referred to as "protecting the organisations DNA". A professional colleague who had been the CHRO in a large Nigerian Oil and Gas company for several years told me about how his company had experienced fast growth from start up through several acquisitions which meant new employees joined the business very frequently at both executive and strategic levels. He soon began to see a key aspect of his role at interviews as being able to give the right response to one critical question; "will this candidate strengthen or weaken our DNA”. Certainly, the more senior the role, the more critical it will be to get this question right.

I also recall another professional colleague attended a recent talk on recruiting where the speaker asked the audience the following question: “What is the biggest cost for a company?” Most attendees answered “people” and then the speaker disapproved by saying “it’s not the people, it’s the wrong people”, who are not aligned with your company’s values and culture!

Conversely, there has actually been a lot of discussion recently about how looking for culture fit could lead to inadvertently discriminating against candidates and promoting a lack of diversity and inclusiveness. Hiring for culture fit, focuses on traits such as behaviour, personality, preferences etc. and not on gender, age, race or other criteria that could easily lead to discrimination or a lack of diversity. When done properly, an orientation towards fit doesn’t mean hiring people who are all the same. The values and attributes that make up an organisational culture can and should be reflected in a richly diverse workforce.

Although, experience counts for much when judging a candidates culture fit when recruiting, it is advisable not to assume that your personal impulse will give you enough information about whether a candidate is likely to be a good fit. There are several quantifiable methods to help you establish compatibility with your organisation’s culture.

While coming to this right answer will have a lot of scientific input i.e behavioural interview questioning, psychometrics, assessment centers and personality profiling as well as using the social media to access much more candidate information, including information regarding his personal interests, social interactions and even previous work samples aside the limited information that candidates provide on their paper resumes .These are not exact sciences and at the end of the day, leaning on perceptive judgment acquired over years of professional experience, our people management exposure and its depth as well as our “eye for talent”, our understanding of the business, its needs and its peculiarities will fill the gaps and help us make the right decision.

Recruiting for fit also promotes longer term productivity of your employees. Employees who fit well with their organisation, co-workers, and supervisor had greater job satisfaction; identified more with their company; were more likely to remain with their organisation; were more committed; and showed superior job performance. This reflect a strong correlation between good cultural fit and job satisfaction and establishes the fact that good cultural fit is associated with many positive outcomes in an organisation.

It has also been found that a relationship exists between cultural fit and mental and physical health – so if your job fits your personality, you’re less likely to exhibit signs of depression, anxiety and the like, and you might live longer – a good enough reason on its own to take this seriously.

Aside from the numerous merits of an employer paying attention to identify candidates who are culturally fit for their workplace environment, values and aspirations, it is also crucial that a system that will not give room for an unfit candidate to stay in their organisation exists.

At Peoplesource Consulting, our view is that people thrive best in a workplace where they are valued and celebrated. As someone developing a career, beyond the pay and job specific content, you need to consider organisations where you will fit in naturally, where you will connect well with the people, where you will be well appreciated for your contributions and where you will be valued and esteemed as a person.

Sounds like a tall order finding a workplace that celebrates it people? Do they exist? Yes they do and we believe in this so much; we made it the undergirding principle that drives the employee experience at Peoplesource Consulting. We also seek to work with such organisations and to support all our clients to reflect this ethos.

If you've read this far, I guess this article has been well worth your time and attention. Hope you learnt a thing or two as well. Thinking of implementing these ideas in your recruitment process or considering strengthening the culture in your organisation? We are keen to explore them with you.

Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call on 08187756829, 08098216501 or 08052727684 for a conversation in confidence.

Have a good week