Why is a ‘cultural fit’ so important?

A salary you are comfortable with? Check. A reasonable commute? Check. The roles and responsibilities you want? Check, check and check again! This seems like the job concoction that dreams are made of.

Sometimes, they’re so appealing that you overlook other aspects of a job role and forget why a cultural fit is so important. Will the environment, the people and the company values resonate with you? If not, you might find yourself quickly demotivated by your surroundings and at a loss of what to do about it.

On the other side of the coin, are you the person hiring? You find someone who has the qualifications and the experience, but something isn’t quite 100%. You need to consider the idea of the ‘cultural fit’ too. Fear not, the depandable lot at cranberry towers are here to help with some cool tips!

Cultural fit consideration #1: the team approach

The pandas offered their thoughts on how you would adapt in terms of a start-up environment against the day to day running of a corporate business. “A start up environment is fast paced and high pressured with an expectation to throw EVERYTHING into the business – is this something you would thrive in? If it was a slower paced and less agile corporate business, would that frustrate you or are you happy with a methodical approach to the daily routine?”  

Some interesting thoughts to consider; sometimes it’s not just about how you work, but how the entire company approach the end goal. A proactive start-up would definitely have a bigger sense of ‘team’, as everyone pulls together to get the product off the ground. An established company might have a departmental structure that means there is less interaction with the team as a whole. Do you work better with team comradery or getting on with your tasks in your own way? “Find a company that fits your attitude, that really helps – usually companies ‘breed’ the same type of culture in a business concerning the common interest…the company itself!”

Cultural fit consideration #2: social aspects 

“Are you hugely sociable and looking for an environment to spend time with colleagues outside work – Friday night drinks etc.” You want to know your colleagues are on the same page as you. We’re not saying you should demand a huge beer drenched party, but if you like socialising with the people you work with you should ask what the dynamic is. What if they prefer to leave the daily work day behind once they finish their day? You might feel deflated when no one wants to build team morale with a few drinks on Friday night.

This of course works both ways. If keeping your work life separate to your social life is important, you will feel awkward every time you turn down a team outing invite. So, the key thing to do is find out about the social aspects of the team! “Look at what they’re up to socially; that usually gives a good idea of how they operate and what type of ‘personality’ they have. This can be done by checking out the social media of the company.”

Are you hiring a new employee?

If you are, there are some things you’ll want to consider too! The pandas say:

• “You want someone who will stay with the company a long time and if they feel like they don’t ‘fit in’, or they don’t enjoy coming to work, or they don’t feel comfortable enough to challenge themselves and grow, then, chances are that they’ll leave and look for new opportunities elsewhere.” Finding a new employee is stressful, so you don’t want to go through the process for them to decide it’s not for them. Especially due to the cost and time taken in the recruitment/training process! You’ll be very deflated to go through that for nothing.
• “You want the existing team members to work well with the new team member too. Everyone needs to be working towards the same goals and supporting one another so if people really dislike each other, it makes everyone’s life difficult …”

Remember, a person can learn the skills and aspects of the industry on the job…but the same can’t be said for a cultural fit.

Ready to start searching for a new role?

Keep these tips in mind & feast your eyes on the latest ecommerce jobs!