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When Culture Truly Fits, Values Match

7/7/2015

Recent research reveals that 80 percent of employers name “cultural fit” as a top priority when hiring. However, a recent New York Times article suggests that when so-called fit is evaluated in snap judgments, it can result in managers hiring only people who are personally similar to them, while excluding those who are not.

Lauren Rivera, an associate professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management researched the hiring practices of the country’s top investment banks, management consultancies, and law firms, interviewing 120 decision makers. She concluded that interviewers commonly rely on subjective measures like personal chemistry to make hiring decisions. They were also prone to hire applicants whose “hobbies, hometowns and biographies matched their own.” The obvious downside: “It is easy to mistake rapport for skill.” Highly qualified job seekers who do not hail from the same social strata can be left out completely.

We first published our Organizational Culture Survey and research in 1988 and it has been used by researchers and practitioners around the globe to measure and manage cultures. We acknowledge the importance of fit because employees who resonate with an organization’s goals and strategies will be more productive and stay longer. But we also agree with Professor Rivera that “fit” should reflect organization values, not personal preferences.

We want to hear: How would you describe your organizational culture, and how does your organization measure organizational fit? To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.

6 Comments

ann

7/7/2015 05:56:57 am

This is a very intriguing question. I don't have an answer for it; however, I hope somebody does. I wonder whether letters of reference might be one important instrument for measuring organizational values? Also, when I was a research assistant, part of my job interview was a role play of me interviewing someone. Role plays may be one such measure. Recently, I was at Apple computers, and I was very impressed by the team work, technical competence, and communication skills exhibited by every team member with whom I interacted. I asked one of the employees whether they receive any communication training. She told me that Apple hires people with good "people skills." They train people on the computer work. So I would surmise that Apple's organizational values are very much rooted in interpersonal competence, which they know how to measure during a job interview. It would be interesting to know what their interviews involve.

Susan

7/8/2015 01:30:38 am

Thanks, Ann. Wonder if your Apple experience is a reflection of hiring around communication. Some consistent research from a national organization of hiring managers that confirms: communication skills are the #1 hiring priority for organizations of various sizes and types. Guess if hiring is based on communication, it would b easier to create a strong communication culture!

Deb Robinette

7/7/2015 07:08:56 am

I believe my organizational culture is anemic at this juncture...we have evaluated, streamlined, engineered leaner processes, and ventured into Glaser Communication strategies as a community of practice from the top down.

We have become anemic (as I see things) due to the lack of iterative continuous improvement -- we really need to honor the vision and time/money invested by continuing to pump in energy and gain healthy initiatives that will lead us to team work, increase morale, inforamtion flow and employee involvement to a greater extent. Right now, I am not seeing the organizational measuring organizational fit - we are in a state of reaction and it seems this leads us to 'put out the fire at all cost'.

This thought process leads me to ask "what is it that I can do to prompt this process at my level?"

7/8/2015 01:40:38 am

What an important question you ask Deb! The maintenance of a strong culture --like a strong relationship--requires focused attention in an ongoing way. When change becomes the new normal and people are scrambling to learn the 'new way' then too often the communication approaches that would improve work flow as well as culture are often left behind and forgotten. One thing you can do is to find ways to incorporate what you know to be the communication moves required in any given situation. Perhaps this would help people remember what it is they value and be more consistent. In the end communication is a habit. Any habit is hard to create until you do -- then it maintains almost on its own.

Stephanie Negriff

9/11/2017 01:14:47 pm

Thank you for your always relevant communications capsules. Regarding hiring practices that align culture with values, I think it is necessary for an organization to also evaluate how it may want its culture to change in order to better match its corporate values. As an example, when the Motion Pictures Academy wanted to change its culture which marginalized diversity in the movies that it recognized, it selected members who were able to change that culture. Understanding the inevitability of change is key to an organization's viability and those making hiring decisions would be well served to consider how prospective employees who possess the right skills would potentially influence its culture's directional flow.

susan

9/14/2017 05:52:46 am

Thank you for this insight Stephanie. Of course, you are right: Cultures need to change in order to align to the values they seek -- not just bring people in to support the status quo. Appreciate your sharing your thoughts with our community. Thanks again.

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When Culture Truly Fits, Values Match

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