How to Employ a Team That Shapes Your Company Culture Cultural fit matters while hiring and creating a business culture that supports innovation and success.
By Syed Balkhi Edited by Chelsea Brown
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
I run a 100% remotely run company that employs more than 200 people. Many of them are from places all around the world. We run our business completely online. As a company, we meet mostly once a year, and even that has been disrupted because of the pandemic.
Even though there's virtually no face-to-face communication, we have over a dozen products running well. And they're not just running well, but they're leading as top products when it comes to marketing tools on WordPress.
So, what's making this work? If you've read the title, you already know what the short answer is: We hire for cultural fit.
In this post, I'll expand on why we do this, and how hiring people who match and support your business culture can help you in your business.
Why hire for culture fit?
Right off the bat, there are some major benefits to hiring people who fit your business's culture:
People who are a match with your business culture onboard faster and become part of your team sooner.
They tend to feel happier in their jobs and stay longer with your business.
They start contributing faster.
Communication is easier when people fit your business culture.
Some people even become brand ambassadors.
Related: Company Culture Is Everything
In my own business, I've found all of these things to be true. In fact, a huge reason why my business functions as well as it does is because we hire people who do well with working on their own.
They also take responsibility for their work, speak up when they have problems and even suggest better ways to work.
People who fit the business culture help other new employees settle in faster. It's also easier to manage remote teams successfully when people have similar work ethics.
Related: How to Build a Company Culture That Retains Loyal Employees
How to hire for cultural fit
The first step is to figure out your company culture and verbalize it. Ask yourself what sets your business apart from others? This will be your "culture" and the values your company stands for.
It's important that you know what your own business culture is and can vocalize it. Not only that, your company's values and ways of working need to flow through every aspect of your organization.
For example, your company career pages and the job postings you create should have language that shares what your company culture is like. Also, make sure that you create expectations in job postings themselves for the degree of autonomy, communication and other behavior you expect in your business.
When you have an interview, you have the opportunity to reference your company values and talk about how your business runs.
In the end, it's not possible to guarantee that you get a great cultural fit just from interviews and writing good job postings. You also have to use the onboarding period as a time to assess if your new hire is a good fit.
In my business, most of our new hires tend to be great fits. But the three-month probationary period gives both parties the chance to work out any issues and decide if there's a match in expectations. There will always be a few people who don't work out, and very often, they realize this on their own, which makes parting easier.
Related: 4 Ways to Test 'Cultural Fit' During the Hiring Process
The Cons of Hiring for Cultural Fit
Widening the search for talent can be more challenging. The process of hiring for cultural fit takes more time and effort. It's also more costly (in the short run) to hire for cultural fit.
While the benefits of hiring for cultural fit are clear, there are a few potential drawbacks to consider as well:
Hiring for cultural fit can mean that you miss out on some great talent.
If you're not careful, hiring for cultural fit can lead to groupthink and a lack of diversity in your team.
You end up avoiding the work of training people in your company's culture and losing the opportunity to grow people if you only hire people who are a natural fit.
You also miss out on the chance to document how your business works, which can create problems when your business grows, and you can't be hands-on with training and onboarding.
It's important to be aware of these potential drawbacks and take steps to mitigate them. For example, you can widen the search for talent or make sure that you have processes in place to ensure that a variety of voices are heard.
Related: Are You Hiring a Cultural Fit? Do You Actually Want To?
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, I do think that hiring the right people is critical if you want to shape your company culture.
As a business grows, it becomes impossible for a single leader or small team of leaders to keep the culture alive. The responsibility falls into the hands of every person in the business. So, hiring people who match the company culture becomes critical.
However, that won't be enough. As a leader, you need to step in and show people what is acceptable in your business.
In my own company, I often try to share thoughts and ideas in our Slack team channels. I also make an effort to answer questions people have. Just a few actions like these show that we value communication and being proactive at work.
It's also worth taking time and creating resources for your workspace where people can absorb and learn about your company culture through reading material and interactions. You'll help your team understand how your business works and create a positive work environment.
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