Before we dive into why hiring for cultural fit is critical to building successful teams, let’s start with a little game (the reason for this will become much clearer as you start reading).
Here it is…
Where’s Wally in this photo?
Can you find Wally?
Took you a while to find him, huh? Me too.
This is what the candidate market looks like for employers. And maybe you too.
They are drowning in applications.
A sea of resumes.
Endless streams of cover letters.
And a bunch of buzzwords that blur into one mindless, impersonal page of text.
No one can connect to that.
Can you?
This is the major problem companies face in recruiting — discerning which candidate is the best fit for their workplace amidst hundreds of identical resumes.
Solving this problem first starts with identifying why hiring for cultural fit is the critical first step.
Hiring for Cultural Fit
Experience + Skills → Personality ≠ Cultural Fit
This is the equation employers have traditionally used in their recruitment process. However, it’s inherently flawed. Prioritising skills and experience before personality can lead to poor cultural fit and misalignment between team, which can lead to employees leaving.
When you’re looking to hire, it’s natural to focus on qualifications and experience. Don’t get us wrong, there is logic to the notion that employing someone with a high-level of experience in the position will enable them to hit the ground running and bring impressive results, fast. However, when you’re hiring for the long term, knowledge can be learnt, skills can be acquired but personality is unchangeable.
It’s time to flip the narrative and alter the equation!
Personality first… enhances Cultural Fit → Skills + Experience
Cultural fit is highly critical when building successful teams, and it’s built from finding the right personalities to have in your team. When cultural fit is aligned, employees feel safe, supported and satisfied in their job. Enabling them to thrive in their work environment.
Skills can always be learnt and shaped further down the track, but hostile colleagues will only create downward progress.
Ben Rubenstein touches on the future of hiring and its direction towards valuing work ethic and personal compatibility over resumes.
The advantages of making sure employee personalities and ideals align with your workplace are significant. Why?
- Increased job satisfaction: When employees’ personalities and ideals align with the workplace, they are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, leading to increased job performance, reduced stress and employee retention.
- Better team dynamics and communication: When employees’ personalities align with the workplace, they are more likely to work well with their colleagues and communicate effectively, which can lead to better team dynamics, collaboration and increased productivity.
- Increased innovation: When employees feel that they fit well in their workplace, they are more likely to feel comfortable expressing their ideas and taking risks, which can lead to increased innovation and creativity in the workplace.
In a traditional hiring process a recruiter will assess a resume, looking at experience and skills and then screen candidates through interviews to discover whether their personality is a fit. However this cuts out a large portion of candidates who may have the personality you’re looking for but not the skills or experience.
This brings us to our next problem…
How do you assess cultural fit in the hiring process?
Most employers would say through the interview. But how do you know who to bring in for the interview?
You can’t get cultural fit and personality from a resume.
If only there was a way to evaluate the personality of a candidate first…
Introducing → UseVerb, an online recruitment app, allowing employers to gain a glimpse into the personality of candidates through Verb Videos. They give job seekers a chance to show their personality, introduce themselves and make a first impression. Employers can put a face to the name, and assess their character. From there, they can then decide who to invest their time in going forward. This saves hours wasted interviewing people who are clearly not a fit for the culture.
Suddenly, finding Wally becomes much easier 👇
If you think UseVerb could help you find your next hire, take a look here.
Thanks for reading!
- Ella and Niamh
