Hiring for Culture and Team Strength

Have you ever hired someone who was a perfect match for technical expertise but not for the culture of the company or team? That scenario doesn’t generally end well. Why? Because people can learn new skills (we all have, that’s how we’ve got to where we are now, right?) but it’s hard if not impossible to change who we are as people. Is it easier to teach people hard skills like java or soft skills like EQ, active listening or conflict resolution? I have found it more challenging to teach those soft skills.

More and more companies these days are shifting from hiring for skills towards hiring for culture fit, knowing smart people who are motivated by their surroundings will learn the skills they’re missing that they need for the job. One of my favorite examples is Zappos, which bases evaluations for candidates 50% on culture, 50% on skills. They also confirm the choice at the end of the first week for every new employee by offering them $2,000 to quit. Now that’s one way to make sure you’ve got the right people!

Hiring for current culture is one option but most organizations are working on shifting their cultures, so consider hiring for the culture you’re looking for. New people can help you get there.

What are the aspects of your culture that are important when you hire? Here are the aspects of our culture that we look to hire at VMG:

· Collaborative

· Innovative

· Diverse people and opinions

· Continuous learning

· Passion for our company purpose

· Able to deal with conflict head-on

· Trust and respect even when approaches differ

· Taking accountability

Beware that hiring for culture can result in hiring people that are homogeneous to who you’ve already got on your team. Being purposeful about diversity of people and thoughts is important to ensure you don’t build a team that falls into group-think.

Consider what behavioral strengths you’re missing on your team. The DISC model is a simple behavioral model – humans can be described as primarily falling into one of these categories:

· Driven decision maker (D)

· Interactive, persuasive extravert (I)

· Stable, patient, empathetic listener (S)

· Cautious rule follower who loves details (C)

To strengthen your team, look for cultural fit but also what aspect(s) of DISC you’re missing. If you’ve got a team full of drivers but no details people, that team can move fast, but in the wrong direction. If you’ve got a team full of persuasive extraverts, it can be a non-stop party, but no one to drive the team to actually get stuff done.

Hiring is often a long and expensive process for companies. Hiring the right people the first time can save you time, money and help build your organization into the one you want to be!