Employment interviews often end in the same way. The employment manager asks himself: “Does this person fit here?” This is a common practice. According to the Human Resources Association, 84% of recruiters use “cultural fit” as an important employment factor.
But the question is: Recruitment managers are consistent with personality matching and confused values, says Crystina Brooks, partner at National Recruit Agent’s MICA Consulting Group. “Would I grab a beer with them?” and “Would they make me comfortable?” become an informal screening standard. This leads to employment for social comfort and identity rather than for real outcome skills.
Below, Brooks explains how the intended culture hampers team performance and how it adopts what advanced organizations do instead.
Culture can adapt employment in three ways
1. Create an echo chamber that kills fresh thoughts
The most dangerous part of the Echo Chambers is that the team never thinks of what they doubt, not what they say. When everyone shares the same professional background, they make the same assumptions about customers, markets, and solutions.
Brooks saw the play with a startup client who insisted on hiring only candidates from the industry. “We presented a fresh perspective to a diverse range of candidates, but they chose people who think exactly like them,” she explains. “And when the company tried to expand into a new market, it was a struggle. No one on the team understood the needs and cultural nuances of different customers.”
remove: “If a company doesn’t think about all the perspectives, it’s difficult to create, pitch, or innovate for people with (various) needs,” Brooks says.
2. Reinforces the bias of the unconscious in disguise
Beyond the creation of echo chambers, Culture Fit employment also provides discrimination coverage. “The “fit” is often a proxy for “comfort.” We are drawn to people who see, speak and act like we do,” Brooks warns. “This perpetuates bias across gender, race, socioeconomic background and communication styles.”
Even when companies try to diversify, they run into this pitfall. At one large consumer product company, leadership demanded women a marketing role. Brooks presented qualified candidates for all genders, but the company chose male candidates as “best.” Although employment worked well, this decision showed how subjective “conformity” ratings quietly override diversity intent.
remove: When you realize you prefer one candidate for subjective reasons, pause and ask. What are the specific skills that justify this choice? Does this person share our values? Will they bring us something new that will make us better? These questions will help you separate your true qualifications from unconscious bias.
3. It discourages healthy conflict
When everyone thinks the same way and prioritizes harmony, no one wants to challenge a flawed idea. But Brooks emphasizes, “it depends on respectful arguments (where the breakthrough relies on).
She refers to a product team who told the newcomers “to blend in” rather than “shaking the boat.” When junior analysts questioned the pricing model, leadership instead of investigating their concerns they sidelined. Six months later, the model cost millions of people to update the company.
remove: “We need people who aren’t afraid to hurt their emotions,” Brooks says. “It’s important to be respectful, but how can a company make progress without asking difficult questions?” Team members need a safe space to speak up.
How to build a more powerful, more innovative team
“Instead of “fit,” progressive organizations focus on adding culture, diversity and structured employment,” says Brooks.
Here’s how:
- Instead of “Cultural Fit”, we will hire you to “Add Culture”. First, define value as behavior (e.g. collaboration, customer obsession). Next, ask, “What is this candidate missing from the team that he can add? Which skill sets and behaviors work well in this team?”
- Use a structured interview. Create 2-3 behavioral questions for all candidates and rate them on a consistent rubric. For example, you might ask them to explain how long they opposed their team’s decisions, or how they handled projects that weren’t progressing as planned. The answer reveals how candidates actually work.
- Separate values from styles. It focuses on core behaviors such as honesty and curiosity, rather than personality preferences. “Someone might want to look at it and be a professional, but that can make (everyone) look different,” Brooks points out.
This shift requires discipline, but it pays off. “Organisations that welcome diverse thinkers and hire value-based organizations often see more innovation, lower turnover and better employment decisions,” emphasizes Brooks.
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