In a Utopian world, we would have candidates with all the necessary skills to slot into a vacant position in a company, plus they would have the same cultural ethics as the company. However, the perfect candidate is a rarity. The ‘cultural fit’ ethos currently favoured in hiring has unfortunately become prey to bias.

Instead of the new employee reflecting the company’s cultural values, decision-makers on the hiring team can skew the cultural fit towards ‘fitting in’ with current employees, thinking this will be sufficient for everyone to work harmoniously. The risk is that supporting the same team or enjoying the same beverages can take precedence over more complex abilities such as highly developed emotional and social intelligence.

Developed intelligences could make an employee infinitely more valuable to a company when contracts need to be negotiated, deadlines met, and team members coordinated towards achieving a common goal rather than searching for personal glory.

The merits of cultural fit versus skills

There is still something to be said for cultural fit if it is approached correctly.

Aligning with the company’s ethos is vital because it is relatively easy to train a new employee in systems but not so easy to change their social and emotional intelligence, values, and chameleon-like ability to blend in with the team.

When you have a person with social and emotional skills who embodies the company values, you have found a winning candidate on the cultural fit side. Of course, you still need someone with the skill set for the job.

A skill set is easy to define. “I see you studied civil engineering at XYZ university and have four years of experience in road and bridge construction. You’re experienced with the same software systems we use for our projects.” That means the HR manager knows the person can do the job, and assessing these skills is easy.

What is more difficult to discern is whether the candidate will treat fellow employees and clients the way the company expects. Do they align with the company’s values, or are they paying lip service to the company ethos to gain the appointment?

Hiring a person for cultural fit becomes more about adding value to a team and organisation rather than simply fitting in.

Adding cultural value to a team means that the team can complete tasks within the set time frames because members are focussed on the outcome and do not become side-tracked by power struggles within the organisation.

A survey conducted by Clear Company found that the vast majority (97%) of both executives and employees believed that the outcome of a project would be negatively affected by a lack of alignment within a team.

Finding the balance between skill set and cultural fit can only be achieved when precision tools are used to assess the candidates’ qualities. Project management consultancy services that provide training and development solutions for engineers and project managers can help by using specific tools developed to ensure the chosen candidate is the right fit for your organisation.