Why Hiring for Cultural Fit is so Important in IT Staffing!
Stephen Nesbitt | IT Recruiter | Twitter | LinkedIn
IT Staffing and Cultural Fit
A big buzzword in the IT staffing industry today is “Cultural Fit”. More and more companies decide on who to hire based on Cultural Fit. Should this staffing strategy be followed? Surely skills are more important? This blog seeks to examine the reasons/benefits why hiring for a cultural fit trumps hiring solely based on skills.
Cultural fit is ubiquitous. Not only is cultural fit hugely important in the world of IT staffing, it is vital in sports too. For example, in English football Wayne Rooney seems to believe he is bigger than his club Manchester United. It looks like he will soon be looking for a new employer.
Keeping your Employees Happy
The biggest concern when bringing a new employee on board is how they will work with the rest of the team. I’m sure almost everyone has been in a situation where a new employee has joined your team and immediately made your life much more difficult. Everyone has different ideas about what works and what doesn’t but as long as the same end goal is in mind debate should be encouraged!
The problem emerges when personalities begin to clash. Business today couldn’t be more different than at any other point in history. Companies and their staff are becoming more laid back and goal orientated. The idea that you come in, do your 9 – 5 and leave is becoming less relevant. Here in Toronto we have such a vibrant start-up scene which requires employees to do whatever is necessary to get ahead and get your projects done on time. Employees need to be more flexible and teamwork is key to the success of your project.
With work becoming more demanding, even if the hours are shorter, employees want to work and spend time with people who they would hang out with in their free time. The reasons for this are pretty obvious, when you spend time with people you like you are more relaxed, open to brainstorming, not self-conscious about what others think of your ideas and generally more productive!
Staff Retention
I recently read an interesting blog by Erika Andersen discussing the most important reason people fail in their job. She mentions that up to 89% of people fail due to cultural fit. That doesn’t surprise me really, the world has become completely socially focused over the last 10 years. Sharing and collaboration is encouraged in all aspects of life, especially the workplace! So if an employee can’t get along with his peers and contribute to the overall goal of the project then that employee will not work out!
Closer to Home
Ward Technology Talent believes that cultural fit is vital in the IT staffing industry. We believe in hiring for cultural fit, aptitude, and attitude and so far it has worked extremely well. Our CEO Jonathan Ward is a disciple of the thought that skills can be cultivated but the right fit, aptitude and attitude can be very hard to find. Once we identify these skills we actually prefer to hire people internally with little or no experience because we can be confident they will absorb our processes and standards. We set a high standard, have specific processes that are consistent throughout the company, no matter who you speak with. Every employee is a brand ambassador, so once these attributes are in place the required skills can be taught and tweaked over time.
Financial Importance
Wendy at 7Geese wrote a great blog outlining why cultural fit is important and how to go about it which included some great statistics like ‘41% of participating companies had experienced a cost of at least $25,000 per single bad hire, while 24% had incurred $50,000 for a single bad hire.’ As well as this ‘67% of employees were considered bad hires due to their ability to produce proper quality work (lack of competency and job fit), while 60% did not work well with other employees (lack cultural fit).’ This shows the financial importance of hiring the right person first time around, not only do costs rise but productivity amongst existing employees drops.
Skills Versus Fit
In the IT staffing industry more and more of our clients are asking us to find not only skilled IT professionals but also those who will fit with their current ethos. While skills are no doubt crucial in the IT industry we have found that with candidates of the same skill level, the candidate that gets hired is usually the one that is the best cultural match for the client.
In the past we have hired experienced people at Ward Tech Talent but found that they did not work out because they wanted to do things their way, instead of following the direction the company wanted to go in. While these were undoubtedly skilled people they did not share the same goals, drive or team spirit that the rest of the staff exuded on a daily basis.
When it comes to IT staffing and staffing in general, remember – skills can be taught, but cultural fit cannot!
Has cultural fit been an issue for you or your company?
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