10 Great Interview Questions to Help Hiring Managers Assess a Candidate's Cultural Fit

by Steven Wade, Managing Partner, Group W Partners Executive Search

Employee cultural fit is important in any company, but is especially important for small and medium size businesses that need versatile people with a hunger to succeed and an ability to hit the ground running. Personality clashes tend to have a bigger impact in smaller companies because one unhappy person in a 20-person team already means that 5% of the company is dysfunctional. However, poor culture fit in any company drains organizational effectiveness, kills employee morale and hampers creativity.

The bottom line is that employees who aren’t fully engaged with your company culture won’t give their best on the job. And, their performance could start to negatively impact other employees. Additionally, with the cost of a bad hire estimated at 50% to 150% of salary, poor cultural alignment can get quite expensive.

Here are the screening questions we use to help us go beyond skills assessment and help match candidates to our client’s culture:

1. Describe the work environment in the company where you were most happy and productive.
2. Describe the work environment in the company where you were the most unhappy and least productive.
3. If you could change five things about your current position or boss, what changes would you make?
4. Who was the best boss you ever had? Why?
5. Do you usually play by the rules or do you like to take some risk? Was this behavior rewarded or discouraged by the company (ask for examples).
6. Do you promote change or just accept it? (ask for examples)
7. Do you prefer to work on a team or by yourself? Why?
8. When you work on a team, describe the role you are mostly likely to play on the team. Why?
9. What are the three to five most important expectations you have of senior leaders in an organization where you expect to excel?
10. Describe a decision you made that was based primarily on customer needs and input.

Other questions can be developed to address:

• Accountability
• Belief in and commitment to Core Values
• Competitiveness
• Conflict Resolution
• Creativity and Innovation
• Decision-making process
• Employee Support and Growth

 About Group W Partners (www.groupwpartners.com) – Since 1999 GWP has specialized in recruiting top sales and marketing talent for leading companies in the payments and retail eCommerce industries including organizations American Express, BillMeLater, PayPal, Green Dot, Blackhawk, ACI Worldwide, Vyze, Tipalti, Radial, Proposal Software, Forter, InGo Money and many more. For more information, please contact Steven Wade at 817-770-4322.