Culture fit is becoming a top priority for big companies. It is simply based on the idea of hiring synchronized individuals who share the same thought process as the company’s culture to create successful and productive teams. A recent study done by Cubic Survey indicates that “…Organizations whose employees fully embrace the culture, find it easier to navigate through tough economic times.” So what does culture fit mean and why is it becoming an important factor in hiring?

What is culture fit?

Organizational psychology guru Adrian Furnham defined cultural fit as “a fit where there is congruence between the norms and values of the organization and those of the person.” (“The Psychology of Behavior at Work”, 2nd Edition). A good culture fit candidate results in greater job satisfaction, a more productive work environment, stronger strategic alliances, greater success rate among teams and last but not least, higher employee retention.

 Why culture fit is important to the organizations?

Previously, recruitment was purely based upon the “job fit” (this still applies). Organizations like Google and Facebook are exploring the candidate’s cultural fit and its benefits. Here are several advantages from hiring a culture fit candidate.

• Employees will talk positively about the company
• The candidate will understand and adapt to the company culture faster
• A culture fit candidate will enhance the team dynamics
• Greater job satisfaction
• The candidate will be less likely to leave the organization
• Employees will be less stressed at work

 How does culture fit influence recruitment?

The main job of a recruiter is not just to hire candidates according to job fit, but to attract and select top candidates and retain them. Hiring the right candidates is only the beginning for HR; retaining the candidates and still making sure they are comfortable at work is a real challenge. Recruiting a wrong culture fit candidate could result in a waste of time and money. For example, if you hire an introvert employee in an open cultured organization, the chances of that employee leaving the company are much greater.

It’s important to understand that hiring for culture fit doesn’t mean hiring the same people. If you use culture fit throughout your recruitment process, you will hire professionals who will embrace the company culture and contribute to the company’s success.

 Is there any way to easily perform a culture fit analysis? 

Yes, in fact there are mainly two ways you can get the insights about the candidate’s personality: 1) Asking them questions 2) Using a cognitive analysis tool

1. Asking Them Questions– Let’s talk about this first: a savvy recruiter knows whether a candidate will be comfortable in the organization based on the culture of the candidate’s past organization. There are several questions you can ask candidates to understand their culture fit: i) What’s your ideal company? ii) What did you like most about your last employer? iii) Tell me about your previous work experience. Were you satisfied with your job? Why or why not?”
2. Online Recruitment Tool– As the importance of culture fit candidates rises, employers can use tools that can help them analyze the candidate’s personality.CareersUnbound’s instaTalent Culture-Fit is an excellent example of such tools. It is an IBM Watson powered product that beautifully presents the charts of each candidate’s highlighted personality traits. It also provides a comparison table of the candidate’s skill-fit and culture-fit.

Get your own Culture-Fit application here.