What is culture fit and why culture fit interview questions are important?
Before we get into why culture fit interview questions are important, we must first define culture fit. Culture fit refers to how a person’s work values align with that of the business. It also refers to how well someone will get along with coworkers and the office environment. When extending this idea to hiring new employees, culture fit refers to the likelihood that a job candidate will be able to conform and adapt to the core values and collective behaviour that make up an organization.
In more simple terms, culture fit is asking the question: will this candidate fit in with our organization? Though having the hard skills needed for a job is important, it may not indicate whether the candidate will be successful within your organization. In order to have employees that stay with a company for a long time, you need people who will feel comfortable in the office and get along with the rest of the staff. Even the most skilled candidate would not be able to stay for the long term if these criteria are not met.
For example, you are interviewing a candidate for an administration job within your organization and you see that they have plenty of relevant experience and every single skill you would need for the position. At one point in the interview, the candidate indicates that they prefer a quiet environment with no distractions to do work.
The office you run is very lively and conversations are heard throughout the office as your business values a relaxed working environment where people are free to chat while working. Since the office environment you have is the exact opposite of what the candidate indicates they prefer, they would not be a good culture fit and despite their skills and experience, they should probably not be hired.
In the above example, we see that asking the appropriate culture fit interview questions saved the organization from hiring someone they might have to replace sooner rather than later. This means that they would save a lot of time and money if they had simply stuck with hiring someone with the right skill set.
Related: 7 Techniques to Conduct an Effective Interview
How culture fit is determined
In order to understand how culture fit is determined, we must look at the organization’s company culture. Company culture is the sum of all your formal and informal systems, behaviours and values which create an experience for the employee. As in the previous example, the organization valued having a relaxed atmosphere for their employees to work in as they believed that this is how their employees were able to stay productive. That relaxed atmosphere would be part of what we would call their company’s culture.
Company culture comes from:
- how employees communicate with each other
- how decisions are made
- how people are hired
- how employees are recognized
- how employees celebrate their work and each other
Once you add up all these different aspects of how a company interacts with their employees, you get its company culture .
Once you have an idea of what the company culture is of your organization, you can then determine the type of criteria candidates would need to display in order to determine if they are the correct culture fit. This is where the importance of culture fit interview questions comes in as what you ask a candidate on an interview can help you determine if that person will be a good culture fit for your organization.
10 Culture fit interview questions
We’ve compiled 10 different culture fit interview questions that can help your organization determine if a candidate is right for the job.
- Can you describe your ideal work environment for me?
This is a good culture fit interview question as it will help you determine if the candidate will fit into the working environment of your office. You will be looking for someone to describe their ideal working environment that closely resembles your own.
- What gets you excited about coming to work?
By asking this question you will be able to determine the type of passion the candidate has for the job. If passion is one of the core values your organization considers important then you want to know if it is the job itself that gets the candidate excited or something completely different.
- What did you like most/least about your last company?
This culture fit interview question will show you what type of working environment the candidate is most likely to strive in. Pay attention to how long they stayed at this company as this will help you determine if the culture fit with their previous workplace was correct. You’ll be able to have a better understanding of how the working environment plays a role in the candidate’s ability to stick with a company.
- How could a manager best support you?
By asking this question you will be able to see what type of managerial style works for the candidate. You will be able to determine if the candidate is a good culture fit if they indicate the type of managerial style that the company already has.
- How do you handle stress or tight deadlines?
This question will help you determine if the candidate values teamwork. If the candidate says that they would discuss the issue with coworkers to get advice on how to handle the situation, then they have indicated that they value teamwork. If teamwork is something your organization values, then this candidate could be a good culture fit.
- Do you have any favourite podcasts or blogs you follow?
This type of culture fit interview question will help you determine if the candidate will get along with coworkers. If having employees that get along and have similar interests is important to you, then this question can help you decide if you should hire this candidate.
- What motivates you to do your best work?
By asking this culture fit interview question, you will be able to see if the types of things that motivate the candidate could be found within your company. For example, if you value teamwork and the candidate talks about working with a team as a motivation factor, then you know they will be a good culture fit.
- How do you prefer to communicate with coworkers?
This question will indicate the type of office environment the candidate will feel comfortable in. If your office uses a messaging system as their main way to communicate, then you would want someone who would also prefer this style.
- What would your ideal work schedule look like?
If your organization has a strict schedule of nine to five, in order to find someone with the proper culture fit, you would need someone who prefers to work this way. If they indicate any other type of schedule as being their preference, then you know that the candidate would not be the appropriate person to hire.
- Would you rather work alone or in a team?
This culture fit question can help you determine how well a candidate would do in an organization that values autonomy and individualism. If the candidate is uncomfortable working alone, they may not be successful in a company that requires them to be more independent.
The above ten examples of culture fit interview questions can be used by any company looking to hire someone who will fit into their organization and have a better probability of staying for a long time.
