Now here at Enhancv, we're huge fans of company culture. It's been one of our greatest strengths as we've grown. So this felt a bit like a shot across the bow. With that in mind, I responded to Larry Kim, defending our beloved culture fit.
Seeing how emphatic he was in his disagreement, I decided to do a little digging to see if I might be missing something. Next thing I knew, my understanding of culture fit was turned upside down. It slowly dawned on me: Larry Kim was onto something.
In the process, I realized that job applicants everywhere need to start keeping a keen eye out for people abusing the idea of culture fit. Later on, I'll share some tips on how to do this.
But culture fit is so awesome!
Having worked in places where I felt there was a strong company culture which I fit into as well as places where… let's say that wasn't the case (looking at you US House of Representatives), I can say there's a massive difference. There's the feeling of being part of a team, the joys of going on adventures as a company, and just getting to know your colleagues as an equal.
After joining Enhancv, this feeling was only reinforced. From the start, I've felt that the company culture here is Enhancv's greatest asset. There's an attitude of constructive criticism, optimism, and openness that I genuinely love. So what's the problem with hiring someone who fits into that culture?
So the answer to the above question is: potentially, a lot. As in… how much time do you have?
Clearly, the right company culture can be a tremendous benefit. But it also has the potential to build toxic, discriminatory monocultures. Question is, what can be done about it?
Obviously people doing the actual hiring need to change the way they consider culture fit, but I wanted to give some advice to job applicants regarding what they can do to make sure they don't face discrimination or get hired by a company that uses culture fit in the wrong way.
Take a look at the company's blog, social media presence, website, really anywhere with information about them. How do they represent themselves and their values? Is it something limiting like "we're all into extreme sports" or something more inclusive like "we're dedicated to maintaining a learner's mindset in everything we do"?
You can actually ask the person in charge of hiring whether they hire for culture fit and what that means to them. This is a great way to begin getting an idea of what a company believes about hiring and whether it might be a good place to work.
Alternatively, try asking what the company's employees have in common, what binds them together. You can also try asking what the company is looking to add to or change about their company culture.
If, however, you have an idea about what a company is looking to add to its culture before the interview stage, you should try adding elements to your resume to show how you will accomplish this.
Getting back to Larry Kim's tweet, while I've come to fully agree with him on how problematic culture fit can be, I still have a point of contention. Ultimately, I think the "culture fit" vs "culture add" debate is overly focused on semantics. Whichever label you use, the substance is what matters. So whatever word you use, make sure company culture is about inclusivity and building a better company. When we put our focus there, everyone wins.