You Know You Should Hire for Culture. But How?

The research makes it clear: Hiring for culture is good for business.

Employees aligned with company culture are especially productive¹. Less likely to quit. Happier². They hang around, work hard, and deliver.

On the flip side, a poor culture fit costs businesses on average between 50 and 60% of that employee’s annual salary in turnover costs, according to research by The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) a few years back³.

And more and more, culture fit isn’t something only businesses are after; it’s a must-have among candidates themselves. Add skill shortages predicted for 2024⁴ and job hopping still at an all-time high, and it’s clear that hiring for culture fit is a wise business move.

Which is all well and good, but leaves many businesses wondering – how? Defining and agreeing on company culture is challenging enough. Finding talent to match and/or add to it is a tougher matter altogether.

We have some tips. But first, let’s talk about that ever-nebulous word: Culture.

What exactly is company culture?

To some, culture is synonymous with vibe, or the point where a business falls on the spectrum of permissiveness (whether team members wear jeans or business attire, for example, or whether company happy hour is acceptable).

Others think a company’s culture is whatever its stated mission and values statements say.

Neither of these are wrong. However, they don’t paint a complete picture.

While hard to quantify (and more art than science), company culture is generally agreed to be the beliefs, values, behaviors, and norms of a company in practice⁵. How do your employees regularly interact and engage? What behavior is rewarded? What’s interpersonally accepted? This is the true culture of your company.

Still not sure about your culture? Meetings tend to be a great company culture litmus test – today especially, when virtual meetings are sometimes a team’s only shared touchpoint. Does everyone give their full attention? Is feedback valued? Is open dialogue the norm? If so, how can you ensure that your next hire won’t scroll on their smartphone while someone else is presenting, or deter others from speaking up? An influence like this would put many things – relationships, productivity, employee morale – at risk. When talking about hires at the manager level, the risk is even higher given their influence.

So while company culture should ideally align with a company’s written mission and values, culture is really found in the day to day. If a new hire doesn’t align with company culture, it will show up quickly and rock the boat – which is why we’ll talk below about gauging a job candidate’s culture fit quotient before making an offer.

Hiring for culture 101

Hiring is a high-stakes, often intensive process. Keep your eye on the goal: How do you determine whether a candidate, if hired, will understand, believe in, and accentuate the essence of your larger team?

It starts with mentally differentiating culture fit from aptitude and skills. Aptitude and skills are likely outlined in a job description, culture much less so, if at all. From there:

• Drill down on departmental specifics. Before a job is even posted, it’s important to be clear on the hiring manager’s expectations around skills and culture expectations. Culture can differ a bit from one department to the next. Get specific on how success in the role will be measured, on communication expectations, and interpersonal hopes for the hire. Incorporate these departmental nuances into the job posting and description and further customize interview questions accordingly.
  
  
• Avoid talking “culture.” The first rule of hiring for culture: Don’t spend too much time asking candidates explicitly about “culture!” Instead, find ways for the candidate to show you – as opposed to telling you – where their values, style, and tendencies lie. Here are some examples of questions myHR Partner often asks candidates to accomplish this.
  
  
  • What’s your ideal work environment?
  • What do you need or expect from a manager?
  • What’s the last bit of feedback you received – and how did you respond to it?
  • How have your values aligned with your previous roles and how do you believe they’ll align with ours?
  • When you think back to a truly great day you had at work, why was it great?
  • Outside of your day-to-day responsibilities and goals, what's something you're proud to have contributed to a past workplace? 

• Frontload culture-related assessment. Don’t wait to gauge culture-specific non-negotiables. For example, if finding an exceptional listener is truly important to your culture, start assessing this trait at the very beginning of the hiring process – and advance and eliminate job seekers accordingly.

Not just culture fit but culture add

One note of caution: Check yourself to make sure you’re not inadvertently using culture fit to only hire people just like you – a tendency known as affinity bias⁶.

A tool for avoiding this: Ask yourself, what is our team missing? Could we benefit from a “devil’s advocate” team member who asks more constructive questions in meetings? Someone downright playful? Is someone relocating from a different market? Without sacrificing culture fit, look for opportunities for culture add⁷. Bonus: Culture adds are known to foster business growth.

Next steps

At myHR Partner, we’re no stranger to the complexities of hiring for culture fit – and are proud of our reputation for delivering. In the hands of our hiring professionals, organizations of all sizes regularly hire right-fit candidates who check boxes for aptitude and culture fit, dramatically benefitting business in the long run. Learn more about the edge our hiring services provide and contact us for a free myHR Partner consultation.

1 https://www.business.com/articles/hire-for-cultural-fit/
2 https://www.qualee.com/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-cultural-fit#:~:text=If%20the%20person%20understands%20the,re%20likely%20to%20be%20disengaged.
3 https://hbr.org/2015/07/recruiting-for-cultural-fit
4 https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2023/12/14/2024-labor-market-outlook-skills-shortages-and-flexibility/
5 https://www.qualee.com/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-cultural-fit#:~:text=If%20the%20person%20understands%20the,re%20likely%20to%20be%20disengaged.
6 https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/diversity-inclusion-belonging/why-you-shouldnt-hire-for-culture-fit
7 https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/diversity-inclusion-belonging/why-you-shouldnt-hire-for-culture-fit