Hiring Managers: Consider Hiring for Culture Add Instead of Culture Fit

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 14:52:06 Z

Thoughtfully growing a team is crucial for any hiring manager, but it can be a challenging task. A bad hire costs a company money, time, and resources. Businesses and leaders must be willing to do things differently to grow and expand successfully.

As a hiring manager, it’s easy to fall into the mindset of hiring for “culture fit”, however, I challenge you to reframe this thinking. Hiring solely for culture fit restricts a company’s potential. Businesses and leaders who continue to hire for fit and seek to maintain the status quo, are missing out on impactful contributors who bring unique and fresh perspectives, backgrounds, and skills.

It's time to say goodbye to cultural fit and embrace cultural add!

Candidates who are cultural additions offer these unique qualities that drive innovation and bridge business gaps. Embracing cultural adds can propel business growth, support the acquisition of new customers, and facilitate entry into diverse markets and industries.

Fay Wilberforce, Ivanti’s Director, Recruitment in EMEA began the journey of hiring for cultural addition rather than fit many years ago at a previous company when she had an enlightening experience that underscored the importance of considering cultural add candidates.

“I was working with a hiring manager who was looking to fill a critical role on their team. The initial tendency was to find someone who would seamlessly blend into the existing team dynamic and hit the ground running —essentially, a perfect culture fit. While these are valid considerations, I shared insights on how diverse perspectives and experiences can drive innovation and open new avenues for growth.

I presented a candidate who, on paper, might not have seemed like an immediate fit. They had taken an unusual path into our industry and had recently taken some time out of the workplace to raise a young family. They also had a unique approach to problem-solving, but I knew from our interview that this person had real potential. Initially, there was some hesitation from the hiring manager, but I encouraged them to consider how this candidate’s background could bring fresh ideas and new strategies to the team.

We decided to move forward with an interview, and throughout the interview process, it became clear that this candidate offered innovative solutions and had a track record of successfully navigating challenges that our team hadn’t yet faced.

In the end, the hiring manager recognized the immense value this candidate could bring and decided to offer them the position. Since joining, this new team member not only integrated well but introduced several new initiatives, processes, and expanded their market reach. The employee went on to be promoted within a year.

This experience reinforced my belief that hiring for cultural addition, rather than just for fit, truly enhances a team’s capabilities and drives our business forward.”

If a company's employees aren’t representative of our diverse society, how can they truly connect with and serve customers from various backgrounds? At Ivanti, we’re committed to hiring individuals who can enrich our culture and contribute to our vibrant and diverse workforce. We recognize that hiring for culture fit often means bringing in people with similar experiences and backgrounds, which can inadvertently limit overall diversity and innovation.

Instead of backfilling roles with replica hires, we’ve taken a different approach to hiring, designing positions with success in mind, focusing on how a person can add to our culture, and welcoming fresh ideas and new perspectives. We believe that this approach not only strengthens our company but also helps us better serve our diverse customer base.

Hiring for cultural add may feel like a risk at first, but don’t let that stop you from building a stronger, smarter, and more diverse team!

Volunteer Time Off: HR Employee Teaches High Schoolers How to Ace a Job Interview

Wed, 22 May 2019 20:00:47 Z

Ivanti recently implemented an unlimited Volunteer Time Off policy which enables employees to take as much time as they want to volunteer in support of a good cause. Employees from all departments have taken advantage of this policy, including technical writer Elaine Atkinson. In this post we hear how talent sourcer, Paige Dunshee, spent her volunteer time off.

Last month I utilized Ivanti’s unlimited VTO program and spent an entire work day speaking to around 150 high school sophomores at the Utah County Academy of Sciences down in Orem about job interview etiquette. As a recruiter and HR professional, I’m passionate about sharing my knowledge of interviewing dos and don’ts since I’ve seen my fair share of faux pas in my career so far.

In preparation, I created a PowerPoint presentation covering topics I felt would be the most beneficial for students who would be applying to their first jobs, such as lifeguard, babysitting, food service, etc. My goal was to help the students gain confidence in themselves and feel prepared for upcoming interviews. I remembered when I was in high school when we’d have speakers come present and they struggled to connect, and students often tuned out. I hoped I’d be able to at least keep their attention and teach them something they didn’t know so they’d remember long term.

I thought back to what I wish someone had told me when I began looking and applying for my first job. The main portion of my presentation covered the STAR Method which is a helpful guide to answering behavioral based interview questions. When I think back to my first few interviews, I remember how intimidating these types of questions were because I didn’t really understand them or why they were being asked. Now, being on the other side of the interview, I can see the point behind asking these questions to candidates and I wanted to reiterate it to the students.

The STAR Method breaks down the questions and ensures a clear and concise answer.

Situation: Set the scene and give the necessary details of your example.
Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation.
Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it.
Result: Share what outcomes your actions achieved.

As a group we reviewed several of the most common behavioral based questions such as “tell me about a time when...” and worked together to answer them using this method. After a few rounds, the students were connecting the dots and able to successfully respond with appropriate detailed answers.

Another topic I touched on was sending a thank you note or email post interview. While this is less of an option and more of a standard for me, most of the students mentioned they would have never thought to follow up and express gratitude for the interviewer’s time. I encouraged the students that even if they felt that their interview didn’t go as well as they’d hoped, that sending a follow up thank you is a great opportunity to restate their interest in the position and expand on a question that they might have stumbled on.

I was surprised that at the end of each of the five presentations when the students asked sincere and thoughtful questions. I enjoyed having this opportunity to make a positive impact on such a large group of students who were just getting started in their careers. I hope that when they’re preparing for future interviews that they’ll remember what they learned and feel good about themselves. The cherry on top of the entire day was coming home to over a hundred thank you follow up emails from the students. They must have learned something, right?

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Hiring Managers: Consider Hiring for Culture Add Instead of Culture Fit

Volunteer Time Off: HR Employee Teaches High Schoolers How to Ace a Job Interview