The latest research from recruitment technology firm ThriveMap has shown thatorganisationsand their HR leaders are fully aware of the benefits and need for a cultural fit when recruiting. Indeed, a significant 96% of the 200 HR directors and managers responsible for talent and recruitment surveyed said that they prioritise a good cultural fit to assist with finding the perfect candidate.
This is certainly good news as recruiting a candidate with the same cultural fit as your organisation and who works in a complementary way to their team can make a significant difference to the company’s bottom line. In particular, the research highlights that 89% of failed recruits are down to cultural reasons, rather than a capability to do the job.
Plus, choosing a candidate with a cultural fit with your organisation has also been shown to have a positive effect by making an employee more committed and productive as it improves their job satisfaction and ultimately makes work a more fun place to be for everyone.
In addition, cultural fit can have major significance to an organisation’s attempts to be an employer of choice as candidates are becoming more and more aware and prioritise those employers who share their values. When these don’t match, candidates in today’s world of social media are quick to share their disappointment which can have a major impact on an organisation’s brand and reputation.
It is therefore so important for organisations to get it right and to ensure that candidates fit in with the company culture that they have created, however the research highlights a major area of concern.
Worryingly, although those surveyed highlighted their priority to match cultural fit, 89% wanted to improve their recruitment processes in this regard, just over 77% of companies admitted to using ‘gut feel’ when assessing candidates, potentially opening themselves up to inconsistencies and bias in their recruitment processes and ultimately a poor candidate match.
In a world where diverse and unbiased recruiting is so important, unconscious and conscious biases can result in an organisation just recruiting more and more people who are like the majority and with the end result being that they miss out on crucial talent and end up with poor levels of diversity and inclusion, impacting their position as an employer of choice.
Ultimately, the goal has to be to recruit based on a shared set of values and to also focus on recruiting a diverse workforce for experience, potential and skills.