Why cultural fit is one of the most important factors in hiring

Businesses are like people, they have personalities. During the last couple of years companies have been beginning to realize, that fitting the culture is not merely a “nice to have”, but one of the most elemental factors, right up there with the candidates technical abilities. We will examine, why the perception has changed and what important factors you have to look at in a candidate.

Staff retention

If you want to retain employees, having them fit your culture is absolutely essential. We spend more than 30% of our life at our workplace and keeping people happy is therefore absolutely essential. If an employee doesn’t fit well in the environment he will want to leave, no matter the salary. When speaking to a candidate try to imagine how they would fit into your team. Will is personality mesh well with your current employees? Is he a shirt & tie guy and everybody in your office comes to work wearing flip-flops? I recommend imagining if you can have an enjoyable weekend with him. If you think you would be happy to spend some of your free time with the person that is a good indicator he would fit well with your team!

Productivity

Different work environments fit different people. Try to find out if the candidate you are speaking with fits yours! Will he work hard under pressure, is he a team player or great better at working alone? Can he deliver what you need in times of pressure? We at Hibernian recommend asking “either or questions” like for example, do you prefer working with others or are you extremely self-motivated and work great individually? Do you prefer working flexible hours, but having to stay late sometimes, or are you more of a 9-5 type person? This gets candidates to give you their honest opinion without thinking they have to say they are great at everything!

If you use these simple tricks, finding & retaining staff should not be a problem!