Businesses have a personality just like people. It’s known as business culture. HR managers and business leaders are increasingly recognising the importance of hiring people with business and personality attributes to match the attitudes, beliefs, and values upheld in their organisations. The following is a discussion of what cultural fit means and why it is important for business.
What Is Cultural Fit?
Cultural fit refers to matching people with business culture.
It’s first important to define ‘business culture’. A company’s culture is essentially the beliefs and values of the founders of a company through the interactions between staff and management, the collective force of employees, as well as the environment in which they work.
Just as there are variations in the personalities of individuals, business culture varies from one company to the next. It’s why some people fit into a particular working environment and one set of business values but not in others.
It might seem simple but, you should know that cultural-fit hiring does not mean hiring identical individuals. The cultural fit must never be used to discriminate against diversity. Great company culture often reflects a diverse workforce.
The underlying hallmark of an organization should ideally be embraced by employees. If a business has a highly collaborative approach to working, then an individual that works well on their own might not be the best fit. To enrich company culture, however, you should build teams with people that all look, think, and act the same way.
Great cultural fit is based on the fact that employees that feel connected to the value of the organization and click naturally with its nuances are more likely to be successful.
Why Is Cultural Fit Important?
In the business world, there is some confusion regarding how cultural fit hiring should be done, but the vast majority of HR leaders agree that it is important to hire for cultural fit. Here are the top five reasons why:
Staff Retention
Considering the fact that we spend over a third of our lifetimes in the workplace, it’s important to ensure that employees feel connected and happy in the workplace. Cultural fit is a very important aspect of employee retention. Employees that don’t mesh well with the values of your organization won’t be satisfied in their jobs and could potentially cause a toxic work environment. They will also be more likely to leave.
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Employee Engagement
If the beliefs and values of employees are in tune with those of the organization they work for, they are more likely to be committed to the organization, work hard, and even go above and beyond. People whose jobs match their personalities tend to be more competent and confident. This level of employee engagement is essential to the success of any business.
Productivity and Performance
Organisations with a strong culture and employees that believe in the values and goals of the business tend to be more productive.
Cohesion
A team that works together with similar core values will function better and will be aligned with similar goals than a team with disjointed priorities. Personal and professional differences are usually much easier to resolve in teams where employees are committed to similar values.
Communication
Organisations with a strong culture are usually interested in collaborative working processes as well as open communication. If values are aligned, the employees will naturally find communication much easier.
Company culture often drives success in business. It’s the secret to employee performance, engagement, and productivity. Employees that identify more with their company experience greater job satisfaction, are happier, perform better, are more committed, and are more likely to stay with their organisation. That’s why cultural fit is so important.