Harboring a Closed Culture?

Recently,  I read an article that describes HR professionals as “stewards of organizational talent.” This means they are also stewards of organizational culture. An organization’s culture can be inviting and open, allowing people of divergent backgrounds to belong and thrive. On the other hand, an organization’s culture can be narrow and exclusive, accepting only those behaviors and ideas that fit the norm.  Worse still, organizational cultures can be so fragmented that each department has its own culture.  In my role as a consultant, I’ve seen this scenario many times.  It leaves disillusioned employees saying “I work for a great company, but I just don’t like the environment in my department.”  As a result, each department has its own reputation as well.  Accounting won’t work with customer service because the customer service department is seen is lazy.  Sales isn't interested in collaborating with Operations because Operations is seen as unfriendly.  Etc.    

For the fiscal and relational health of the organization, silos need to be broken. 
Professionals in talent acquisition often talk about finding candidates who fit in the organization culture.   That begs the question:  If we only hire those who “fit in” aren’t we guilty of perpetuating a “closed” culture?   This is not to suggest that recruiters should select candidates who contrast or oppose the company’s values and mission.  This could certainly lead to disengagement and ultimate failure. 

How, then, do we support cultural fit while embracing diversity? 

One way is to focus on competencies that are important to the organization – competencies such as creativity, initiative, leadership, or collaboration.  Further, make sure those competencies are not antiquated or ‘favors of the month.’  Instead hiring should be based on competencies that support the organization’s vision and goals.  If the organization, for example, has goals to increase market share by a certain percentage or increase community visibility, relationship building might be an important competency.  But, still, it probably isn’t essential for every position in the organization.   Therefore, hiring criteria should be job specific. 

Bottom line is, as companies acquire new talent, job fit and organizational fit must a part of the selection strategy.  This leads to achieving alignment; as well as individual and corporate success.