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O P I N I O N
Courtesy of Perkins + Will, Yukari Yamahiro
Cultural fit vs. cultural add
Shared values among staff are certainly important, but if a good fit is all you’re looking for, your firm could go stale.
Editor’s note: This post first appeared on the Perkins + Will blog at blog.perkinswill.com I n today’s global hunt for talent, company leaders (the smart ones, anyway) are making a crucial shift. It’s no longer about getting people who are a “cultural fit.” The right hire is one who makes a cultural addition. Facebook, for example, created a more inclusive hiring process by barring interviewers from using phrases related to “fitting” when providing feedback on candidates. They found that requiring interviewers to give more specific feedback compels them to address unconscious biases and keep inclusivity paramount.
Yukari Yamahiro GUEST SPEAKER
companies’ goals. Those such as Facebook, Atlassian, and Goldman Sachs continue to reinvent recruitment practices, hiring employees “Finding people who fit culturally may be an easy way out, but the real reward is in finding and sustaining an office of people who add something special, even unique.”
The more you think about fitting in, the less sense it makes. Few people really want to be a part of a groupthink session, or to line up exactly with existing employees and company norms. Evidence shows that companies that hire on or emphasize cultural fit struggle to innovate and change. Finding people who fit culturally may be an easy way out, but the real reward is in finding and sustaining an office of people who add something special, even unique.
Concepts like “cultural add” or “cultural contribution” better reflect competitive
See YUKARI YAMAHIRO, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER April 23, 2018, ISSUE 1245
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