Prioritizing Culture Fit in Your Hiring Process

Lots of times, poor hiring decisions aren’t the result of poor performance—they’re the result of mismatches in personality. Many people you hire may have the skills to perform their job well. Assessing the hard skills someone brings to your organization is often as simple as looking at their interview responses, work experience, and recommendations or referrals from others.

But measuring whether someone’s personality fits your workplace culture requires more complexity and nuance in your hiring decisions. Oftentimes, you learn important details about someone’s motivation style, creative process, and communication style after you bring them on—and there’s no guarantee your new hire’s way of interacting with your organization will be a good fit for you or them.

Hiring Mismatches Come with a High Cost

A person’s qualifications never replaces their ability to fit your company’s culture. Research shows culture fit is more important than people realize—For example, a Leadership IQ study found that 89% of hiring failures were the result of attitude and culture mismatches while only 11% had to do with technical skills. New hires often fail because they don’t fit with company culture.

Many businesses risk hurting themselves in the long run because they don’t consider how a candidate’s personality will affect their workplace. This leads to loss in workplace productivity and costs your business more money to recover from a bad hire—which on average, costs between $14,900–$17,000 for every bad hire.

Hiring for Culture Fit Increases Productivity 

When you give people a stable work environment, they’re more inclined to stay committed to your company. A study by the High5 Strengths Test shows companies that focus on a healthy workplace culture experience an 18% increase in productivity and up to an 85% increase in revenue. 

People in your organization spend much of their lives in their working environment. So, taking time to focus on your workplace culture boosts employee morale and overall performance which helps your business be more successful.

So, how do you make sure your hiring candidate will be a good match? It starts with asking the right questions about the person you’re considering.

3 Questions to Ask During the Hiring Process

1. Does This Person Add to the Strengths of Your Organization?

First, you need to be clear about the strengths of your workplace culture. Think about what you see in your organization that works really well. 

Maybe your team has a great way of communicating with each other—Or maybe people handle conflict in a way that’s healthy, open, and honest. 

Knowing your team’s strengths helps you know if a new hire will either add to those strengths—or hinder them.

Example: Let’s say people in your organization are motivated by the work they do and less by the people they work with. And this works for your team—your business runs well by giving people the freedom to work on multiple projects and get as many tasks done as possible. 

Well, someone who’s motivated primarily by relationships rather than tasks may struggle to fit in with your team. They’ll lose their drive to complete projects and end up frustrating both themselves and their coworkers. So, in this case, it’s better to hire someone who’s motivated by tasks rather than people—because that’s what helps your organization succeed.

Think about this: What’s working in your business? How do the people in your company add to that success? How will this potential new hire add to the strengths of your workplace?

2. How Does This Person Help Solve Problems in Your Organization?

On the other hand, lots of times you'll find that something's not working the way it should be, so it’s time for a change—And sometimes this requires bringing in someone who brings a different dynamic to your team.

This benefits you because it eliminates bias in your hiring process. When you get used to the way things are done, you may not see how certain behaviors actually hurt your business.

So, if your company needs a shift in perspective or a new way of doing things, one option is to hire people who will contribute to your company’s goals for improvement. 

Example: Let's say you have the same situation from before—your organization is motivated by work, and your potential new hire is motivated by people. And you've noticed there's a problem in your company where people become less productive when they work together—even when collaboration is essential to get the job done. In this situation, the candidate who’s motivated by people would be a great asset to your team and helps them stay engaged in times of collaboration.

Think about this: What do people struggle with when working in your organization? What does your company need to do to fix this problem? How will bringing on someone new improve the way your workplace operates?

3. What Red Flags Do You See in This Person?

Sometimes, a hiring candidate will only damage your organization, no matter their qualifications.

Common red flags of a potential new hire include poor communication, competitive conflict styles, or a lack of connection with your company’s values.

It’s easy to overlook these details because of impressive qualifications, experience, or referrals. And while all those things are important, you risk missing important details which help you determine whether or not someone's the right fit for your team. 

Example: A person you interviewed has high credentials, impressive work experience, and great interview answers. But what if you notice they're disrespectful during the interview process? What if they talk about their past work experiences but only focus on their own achievements and not much about how they worked with people?

No matter how qualified this person may be, you won't reap the benefits of their skills if they're going to disrupt your work place.

Think about this: Do you consider hard skills more important than soft skills in the hiring process? Do you overlook things like personality or communication style in favor of qualifications? Could this candidate’s behavior damage the health of your organization?

Conclusion

So, what can you do to make sure you’re making the best hiring decisions possible for your company?

Beyond asking the questions above, Story and Style Coaching offers tools to reduce turnover and keep retention rates high.

• The LivStyle Assessment — One of the most comprehensive personality assessments available. My coaching services include personalized personality portraits and guidance to help you understand your hiring candidates and anyone else in your company.
• Coaching Services — I work alongside your company, giving you insights into your workplace culture and offering concrete next steps to lead a healthy, successful work environment.

Schedule a free consultation with me, and we’ll talk about how I can help your organization run smoothly and make hiring decisions that won’t hurt you in the long run.