Why We Hire for a “Culture Add,” not a “Culture Fit”

Earlier this month marked AbbVie’s second annual Celebration of Culture – a week dedicated to recognizing and amplifying our global culture and celebrating it on a local scale – and, last week, AbbVie was awarded #4 on the Great Place to Work World’s Best Workplaces list. Both of these events were a direct result of the high-performing, inclusive culture that we’ve worked hard to create over the past eight years, and especially over the past year and a half.

As I reflect on the impact of a positive culture, from recruitment to retention, many organizations and thought leaders talk about a good “culture fit” – finding and developing employees perceived to fit “perfectly” into a company’s already-established culture. Inspired by our long-standing partner, Great Place to Work, we look for “culture adds” – individuals who exemplify elements of the company’s culture to make it even better – delivering greater impact.

Rather than trying to fit every hire into the same box, we want to build a bigger box.

Why “Culture Add” vs. “Culture Fit” Matters

While an ideal “culture add” can represent the company’s culture, such as alignment to the company’s core principles and values, they should also challenge the team in new ways. This person can bring diversity of background, experience and thought to expand an organization’s perspectives, and make an already great culture even better.

And it’s a win-win for both the organization and the employee.

If employees can authentically bring their whole selves to work and share their special and unique approaches and ideas, it creates a richer environment of highly engaged employees that will help drive business performance.

What’s more, diversity is proven to elevate innovation within an organization. When you create a culture where employees feel accepted, they are happier, work harder and speak up more often, which directly impacts employee performance. By centering our culture on the steadfast belief that how we work with each other and achieve results matters, we foster a high-performing workforce that fuels our business performance. At AbbVie, that means delivering better outcomes for our patients and customers.

Our culture is built upon three fundamental guideposts - our Principles, Ways We Work and Talent Philosophy. Based on our most recent Employee Survey results, satisfaction with our culture is 80 percent, an increase of 20 percent from our very first employee survey in 2013.

Take A Different Approach to Talent

My best advice is for companies to be clear on what their culture is and isn’t, while leaving room for additional perspectives and skills. I am a strong advocate for remaining open-minded in our recruitment strategies.

At AbbVie, our recruiters bring data and insights to the discussion with hiring managers to show the pools of talent across multiple industries and how we can selectively target and connect with non-pharma talent through direct sourcing and marketing campaigns.

We recognize that you can teach and train someone on the ins and outs of an industry, but there are certain inherent traits – such as out-of-the-box thinking, resourcefulness and compassion – that are hardwired. Ultimately, it is important to identify traits that focus on the missing ingredients needed to round out a team.

Then, once employees are in the door, it’s essential to encourage them to be their authentic selves. We want every employee to feel ownership of the culture we have here at AbbVie – whether that’s through learning and development opportunities, events like Celebration of Culture or participation in one of our seven Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).

Grounded in our culture is our desire for a well-rounded employee experience at AbbVie. Our ERGs are that unique resource for employees who want to drive business results while also building a sense of community. We recently reported an increase of 53% in ERG membership across the organization in our 2020 Impact by the Numbers. With this increase came more opportunity for employees to be engaged, gain diverse perspectives and spark new ideas – all while enjoying that sense of community. After all, good ideas can come from anyone at any time.

Be open and willing to change

From day one, AbbVie’s culture has been a top business priority – and we understand the best cultures are those that establish and reinforce cultural elements while continuing to learn, grow and adapt. To make that happen, we established ourselves as our own company and created our Principles to serve as our guide. These are foundational and reflect our beliefs of how we want to attract talent and work together to make a remarkable impact on each other, our communities, our patients and our customers.

These elements are meant to be long-term, and years from now they should still ring true; that said, as our world continues to change, we know we must change along with it. By ingraining willingness to evolve within our culture, we’ve become more diverse – and we are better for it.

As you reflect on your own career journey, I encourage you to think about how you can add to your company’s culture, not just fit into it. And for business leaders, how can you create an environment where every person who walks through the door can be their true, authentic selves in order to truly add to the culture?

This post is approved by AbbVie.