How to Assess the 3 Factors that Determine Cultural Fit
In this video I contend that that are three factors that form the foundation of a company's culture: the company's growth rate, the degree of structure in the job, and how well the hiring manager's and new hire's style mesh. These are not controllable by the CEO or any edict, mission or value statement. Surprisingly, few companies formally consider these factors when measuring cultural fit.
While there are other factors that determine fit, including collaborative skills, work ethic and interest in the actual job, ignoring the impact of these three core factors is a recipe for making a serious hiring mistake.
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Lou Adler (@LouA) is the CEO of The Adler Group, a consulting and training firm helping companies implement Performance-based Hiring. He's also a regular columnist for Inc. Magazine and BusinessInsider. His latest book, The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired (Workbench, 2013), provides hands-on advice for job-seekers, hiring managers and recruiters on how to find the best job and hire the best people. You can continue the conversation on LinkedIn's Essential Guide for Hiring Discussion Group.
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9yHallo Lou, thank you for sharing this perspective, good points. I like the dimension "degree of structure in the job" in particular. It is measurable on the job side as well as on the person side and it is very relevant. Do you think of other dimensions, probably some which might be more difficult to measure? And what would you think about complexity, the demand to link and combine information? Or the time frame one is working in? Like research in the pharmaceutical industry can go on for years, selling simple things with short sales cycles is completely different. Or would you have included this in the growth rate? If so which corresponding person characteristics would you see? I would very much appreciate your thoughts on that. Regards Harald
Talent Acquisition / Corporate Recruiter / Human Resources
9yLou Adler, I usually strongly agree with most of your views, but I see your 3 factors representing a micro-culture within each dept., NOT company-wide culture. I think that most would agree that company culture would be defined by the business' values and mission statement, as well as the realistic work environment behaviors led from upper management down to the bottom. For example, company culture could be described by the level of bureaucracy, laid-back vs. conversative professional, entrepreneurial spirit, high-pressure micromanagement vs. positive reinforcement to achieve goals with training, toxicity & office politics, values of high integrity, extreme customer focus, etc.
Higher Education Industry
9yThe term, and more importantly the concept, should be struck from our vocabulary and paradigm. All too often it is used to let go of people who do not fit a mold or are not liked by someone with hiring/firing authority. "Not a cultural fit" screams of discrimination at worst or a manager feeling threatened at best. Both are poor reasons to let someone go. I like your indicators...but those are indicators of success or failure, not if someone will "fit" in one organizational culture, often defined differently by different people.
President
9yLou Adler has some great points here. But as a talent seeker and team promoter, a big part of our success - is the elimination of EGO and the promise of open, honest communication and complete transparency.
I find it short sighted to think that there are only 3 factors in determining a cultural fit,