The Association Blog

Want a team that sustains and supports new energy and ideas? The Senior Director of HR for Humane Society Silicon Valley suggests a shift in perspective

The concept of “culture fit” has been used by people managers and organizations for a long time. Traditionally, when a company hires for culture fit, they look for candidates with beliefs, values, personalities, and behaviors that align with those of the employer and other employees.

This hiring philosophy can imply that having similar people to ourselves, with the same views and perspectives, makes the best organization. But does it really?

What about a different way of thinking? “Culture add,” on the other hand, leans on a different kind of alignment with the culture, in which an employee brings new perspectives, skills and ideas that can productively contribute to your organization. This hiring philosophy values diversity and each person’s unique and individual contributions.

At HSSV, we apply this approach to both hiring and managing teams. When considering a potential candidate, teams are encouraged to reflect on:

• Can the individual make a positive contribution to the future of HSSV’s culture?
• Does the individual’s values and principles have common ground/alignment with HSSV?
• What can me, the team, and the organization learn from this person?

Culture fit places an emphasis on familiarity and comfort, which may not always prioritize an individual’s skills or experience. On the flip side, culture add focuses on the skills and experiences that will help you and the team deliver on goals and strategic priorities in a relevant and powerful way.

Removing bias can allow us to see more around the value of culture add. When we make employment-related decisions, it’s important to understand unconscious bias, as it could lead to a focus on culture fit versus culture add. For hiring, when we open ourselves up to considering candidates from a different perspective, we widen the candidate pool and benefit from bringing in new viewpoints. Success comes from diversity and multiple viewpoints, so I encourage you to look for alignment, but not fit. For HSSV, hiring for culture add supports our internal working agreement of champion unity and belonging.

Challenge yourself and your organization. If you want your team to grow, it’s sometimes going to take new perspectives to get there. Instead of hiring for culture fit, hire for culture add to drive new energy and ideas into your team.

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Graphic: LaFawn Davis, “Culture fit is outdated. It’s time to think about culture add.”, Washington Post