How to Make Sure Your Candidate Is a Cultural Fit

Every company has its own unique culture and identity. The values, behaviors and expectations that shape your workplace can have a significant impact on employee engagement, collaboration, productivity and retention. That’s why hiring for cultural fit is an important part of building a successful team. You don’t want to rush the hiring decision because a bad hire can be more costly than an open position.

Company culture is a combination of the values, history, beliefs and behaviors that shape how an organization operates. When recruiting new employees, it’s important to look beyond whether a candidate has the right skills and experience. You also want to understand whether they are likely to thrive in your work environment and contribute positively to your employee culture.

However, cultural fit doesn’t mean hiring people who all think, communicate or work exactly the same way. A strong workplace culture can include a variety of personalities, backgrounds and perspectives. The goal is to find candidates whose values and behaviors align with your organization while still bringing something new to the team.

If you’re unsure whether a candidate is the right cultural fit for your company, try these strategies.

First, Assess Your Organization’s Culture

Before you can determine whether someone is a cultural fit, you need to understand your own culture. Take a close look at how your organization actually operates, rather than relying solely on what’s written in your mission statement or employee handbook. What behaviors are rewarded? How do managers communicate with employees? How are decisions made? What qualities do your most successful employees have in common?

You can begin assessing your company’s culture through:

• Employee surveys and anonymous feedback
• Focus groups and employee discussions
• Behavioral observation
• Employee retention and turnover rates
• Absenteeism trends
• Promotion and advancement patterns
• Exit interviews

Create a Cultural Fit Rubric

Once you have identified the values and behaviors that matter most to your organization, turn them into a practical evaluation tool. Create a rubric based on your documented company values and provide it to everyone involved in the hiring process. For example, if collaboration is important to your organization, identify the specific behaviors that demonstrate collaboration. If your workplace emphasizes accountability, determine what accountability looks like in day-to-day work.

A cultural fit rubric might evaluate areas such as:

• Communication
• Collaboration
• Adaptability
• Accountability
• Customer focus
• Problem-solving
• Leadership
• Work ethic
• Alignment with company values

Using the same criteria for every candidate can help make the hiring process more consistent and reduce the likelihood that a hiring decision will be based simply on whether an interviewer “likes” someone.

Ask the Right Questions During an Interview

It’s imperative to ask the right interview questions if you want to understand a candidate’s values, work style, and potential cultural fit. The challenge is that candidates often research companies before an interview. They may already have a good idea of the qualities an employer is looking for and prepare answers that they believe will impress the hiring team.

That doesn’t mean you should try to catch candidates off guard. Instead, ask questions that encourage them to provide specific examples and explain how they think and behave in real workplace situations. Consider these approaches:

Ask About Situations Specific to Your Company

Present a realistic situation that an employee might encounter in your organization and ask the candidate how they would handle it. For example, if your workplace requires employees to collaborate across departments, ask how they would respond if another department disagreed with their approach to a project.

Ask About Professional Values and Goals

Questions about a candidate’s professional values can help you determine what motivates them and what they expect from an employer. You might ask:

• What type of management style brings out your best work?
• What does a successful work environment look like to you?
• What motivates you to do your best work?
• What are you looking for in your next position?
• Why should we hire you?

Use Behavioral Interview Questions

Behavioral interview questions ask candidates to describe how they handled situations in the past rather than simply explaining what they would do. For example:

• Tell me about a time you disagreed with a coworker. How did you handle it?
• Describe a time you received difficult feedback. What did you do with it?
• Describe a situation in which you made a mistake. How did you address it?

Past behavior can provide useful insight into how a candidate may approach similar situations in the future.

Use Storytelling Prompts

Give candidates an opportunity to tell a story rather than answer a question with a simple yes or no. Ask them to describe a difficult project, workplace conflict, unexpected change, or professional setback. Pay attention not only to what happened but also to how they describe their role in the situation. Do they take responsibility? Do they give credit to others? Do they focus on finding solutions? Do they describe what they learned?

Observe Interactions Beyond the Interview

Your assessment of candidate culture shouldn’t begin and end with the formal interview. Pay attention to how the candidate interacts with people throughout the interview process. How do they treat the receptionist or administrative staff? Are they courteous to employees who aren’t involved in the hiring decision? Do they listen when others speak? How do they respond when something doesn't go according to plan?

You can also ask other employees who interacted with the candidate for their observations. These interactions shouldn't become a popularity contest. Instead, they can provide additional insight into a candidate's communication style, professionalism and interpersonal skills.

Give Candidates an Opportunity to Experience Your Culture

Cultural fit works both ways. Candidates are evaluating your company just as much as you are evaluating them. A candidate may look perfect on paper but decide the position isn't right for them after learning more about the workplace.

Whenever possible, give candidates a realistic picture of the job and your employee culture. Introduce them to potential teammates, explain how the team works together and be honest about the expectations of the position.

For some positions, a job shadow, team meeting or realistic job preview can help candidates better understand what working for your company will actually be like. Being transparent can also help prevent a common problem: hiring someone who discovers after starting the job that the workplace is very different from what they expected.

Consider Assessments Carefully

Personality and behavioral assessments can provide another source of information during the hiring process. They may help you understand a candidate’s communication preferences, problem-solving approach or work style. However, assessments should be used as one piece of the hiring process, not as the deciding factor.

No personality test can tell you whether someone will be a successful employee with absolute certainty. And a candidate who has a different personality or work style from the rest of your team isn't necessarily a poor cultural fit. Use assessments alongside interviews, skills evaluations, references and other job-related information to develop a more complete picture of the candidate.

Hire for Culture Fit but Don’t Hire Clones

One of the biggest risks of hiring for cultural fit is creating a team where everyone looks, thinks and works alike. A candidate doesn't have to share the same personality as your existing employees to be a good fit. In fact, different perspectives can strengthen a team by encouraging new ideas and challenging assumptions.

Instead of asking, “Would this person fit in with our team?”, consider asking: “Will this person contribute positively to our culture while bringing valuable skills and perspectives to the team?” That subtle shift can help you focus on shared values and behaviors rather than personal similarities.

Use a Staffing Agency

Finding candidates who have the right skills and experience is challenging enough. Determining whether those candidates will thrive in your workplace can make the hiring process even more complicated. A staffing partner can help you identify qualified candidates while learning about your organization, your hiring needs and the type of employee you're looking for.

At Nesco Resource, we work to understand both our clients and candidates so we can make strong matches based on skills, experience and workplace needs. Whether you're looking for temporary employees, contract talent, or direct-hire candidates, we can help you find people who are positioned to succeed.

Ready to find the right candidates for your team? Contact Nesco Resource to learn more. 

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