Should You Hire for Culture Fit or Culture Add?

Posted by The HT Group on February 27th, 2020

Culture fit has become such a common hiring priority that most job postings include at least some mention of company culture. The trend makes sense: Culture fit can be an incredibly important trait when it comes to employee retention and productivity, which are keys to a business’s overall success.

Recently, however, there has been a backlash against the concept of culture fit. The critics of culture fit argue that it creates exclusionary hiring practices and that employers should hire for “culture add” instead. How can this tension between culture fit and culture add be resolved? Culture can be a tricky topic to navigate, but partnering with a reputable staffing agency Austin can help businesses understand how to communicate their culture, and their needs, to applicants.

The Benefits of Culture Fit

Culture fit is the innate quality a candidate possesses that makes them a good match with the people they work with, as well as the company’s values and policies. A “good fit” is thought to demonstrate a similarity of communication style, temperament, values, and philosophies to the company’s culture. That fit, in turn, is believed to contribute to a productive, content workplace. On its face, it makes sense to cultivate culture fit. Team members who don’t get along won’t work as efficiently as possible.

The Drawbacks of Culture Fit

What could be wrong about hiring candidates with complementary personalities to the company culture? Hiring for culture fit can, unfortunately, mean engaging in preferential hiring that ends up excluding anyone that isn’t similar to current employees. This practice can result in biased hiring, a homogenous culture, and a lack of diversity that contributes to stagnation. One study shows that diversity can be extremely profitable for companies, in addition to being vital for a healthy society. Uniformity of culture is not great news for modern businesses.

Culture Add vs. Culture Fit

The antidote for homogeneity of culture and lack of diversity in hiring is to look for culture add. Culture add means focusing on hiring candidates who will add to, diversify, and enrich the company culture, rather than contribute to more of the same. The question then becomes how to ensure that a new employee is going to click with the rest of the team if they haven’t been vetted for culture fit. It’s important to remember that differences often complement one another. Look for candidates with cultural traits that, while not identical, are transferable. That means, when done right, culture add is culture fit. That can be easier said than done.

How to Hire for Culture Ad and Culture Fit

Whether you’re hiring for temp workers or C-suite executive positions, partner with a professional temp agency Austin or executive recruiting firm. The right firm will offer industry expertise and insight, thorough sourcing and recruitment processes, and an independent perspective on a company’s culture. An external view from experts in placing quality talent can provide insight into your company culture, and how to source candidates that will add to it. A skilled recruiting firm can build a broad candidate shortlist that includes diverse backgrounds and skill sets that will add to a company’s culture and productivity.

About The HT Group

Since their 2001 founding, The HT Group has provided efficient, results-focused staffing and placement expertise with a foundation of relationship-building with their partners. Throughout South Austin, North Austin, and Beaumont, Texas The HT Group is lauded for its comprehensive recruitment processes that have made them an invaluable staffing partner. Specializing in technical recruiting, temporary and temp-to-hire staffing, and executive recruiting, The HT Group is changing lives for the better with every placement. If you’re on the lookout for top talent, reach out to The HT Group, a premier executive, temp, and IT staffing Austin agency.

Learn for yourself how The HT Group can help you hire exceptional talent at Thehtgroup.com

Original Source: http://bit.ly/32uGEZW