It’s a hope that many are familiar with. You hire someone with the right skills and qualifications but with a less-than-desirable personality, hoping that by being around their co-workers, their personality might change so they fit in better.
But can people really, truly change?
We can hope all we want, but you can’t always change someone’s makeup. For so many of us, our personality shows at an early age. Something so ingrained and such a huge part of ourselves is not easy to change. So, why are you continuing to hope it happens when you hire someone?
Hire for Culture to Build Your Dream Team
When you hire for culture, you hire someone for the things you like about them that you can’t change, even if they don’t have all the skills you are looking for. You might have to invest in some training, but the investment will be well worth it in the end. By training new employees in technical skills, you can mold their abilities to exactly what you want and you get someone who fits in with your current team. In fact, it’s an excellent way to build and create your dream team.
The Perks of Longevity
Moreover, when you hire for cultural fit, you get employees who stick around for longer. And can you blame an employee for handing in their two weeks’ notice when their personality doesn’t fit in? If there’s a bad cultural fit, most employees leave after only one to two years, meaning you’ll be spending more resources on hiring.
But when you hire for culture, employees stick around for much longer–on average it’s just over six years. Hiring for culture not only means you spend less on hiring, but it also means your current employees won’t feel demoralized by high turnover, which could lead even the most loyal employee to hand in their resignation.
The Mental Health Boost
They say money can’t buy happiness and it is a definite truth. There is no salary in the world that could keep an employee happy if they don’t fit in at the office, and the numbers prove it! Did you know that 8 in 10 employees report that working a job with a poor cultural fit had a negative impact on their mental well-being? Both happiness and sadness are contagious. When one or two workers are feeling depressed, burnt out, or anxious, the others on the team feel it too. Negative feelings can spread like wildfire around the office. But when you hire for culture, you’ll notice that not only is your team happier, but they take more pride in their work.
Creativity and Productivity Boom
Being happy at work isn’t just about warm and fuzzy feelings, though I can’t deny how important mental health is these days. A good cultural fit has also been shown to improve employee motivation, creativity, and productivity by leaps and bounds. This means that the work your employees do will add true value, contributing to the overall success of your company. And if there is a challenge your company needs to overcome, you’ll have employees who can come up with creative solutions to overcome that problem.
Bottom line: Technical skills can always be taught, but you can’t change people to fit your culture. So find the right people for your organization. Try the Workzinga Culture Fit Assessment today!
