For most employers, a key objective is to hire the people with the skills that will help their organisation achieve results and stand out from the competition. Wanting to find and hire top-notch candidates is a given. But it’s important not to lose sight of a very important quality — cultural fit.
Like any other group, a company has its own culture. Typically, this culture aligns with the company’s internal values. For example, culture can encompass hard work, commitment, honesty and innovation. It can also mean that your team has a “work hard, play hard” mentality, or perhaps a more studious, serious disposition across teams.
Regardless, each company has a unique culture and nurturing that culture in a positive, inclusive way is important to the cohesiveness of an organisation. Company culture and cultural fit are also key considerations when it comes to hiring.
Building the team culture
As an employer, when you build your team, you want to create a harmonious environment where people will be able to work together productively to solve problems and achieve great things within the framework of the organisation.
This does not mean that all employees must share the same background. Far from it! In fact, we know that a more diverse workplace is a more dynamic and successful workplace: according to the World Economic Forum, between 2007-2009 while the S&P declined by 35.5%, companies who employed diversity amongst race, gender, sexual orientation and age within their hiring practices posted a 14.4% gain.
Clearly, there’s a lot to be gained from having a diverse workplace. So it would not behove an employer to hire the same types of people in the name of “cultural fit.”
Instead, when we talk about company culture, what we are referring to is building a team that, while diverse, can work together harmoniously to uphold those lofty company values.
The question then becomes, “How can we most effectively hire the right people to advance our company’s vision and mission?” This is where the need for soft skills comes into play.
Soft skills versus hard skills
Traditional recruitment processes make employers think their next hire has to be a “X specialist” with “X years of experience,” when actually, those specifications can be restrictive.
Specifications that include education and experience are known as “hard skills”. They are quantifiable and finite and fit nicely on a piece of paper.
Indeed, hard skills are important, however, they shouldn’t be the only element that informs the hiring process. Another set of skills are equally as important as hard skills are “soft skills.” These skills include more intangible qualities such as social skills, communication style, adaptability, and a positive attitude.
Soft skills are just as important to hiring the right candidate for an organisation. This is because when you combine hard skills (the necessary prerequisite skills for the role) with soft skills (the additional qualities an individual possesses), it results in a well-rounded view of the candidate that allows employers to ensure that their new hire has not only the technical knowledge, but also the right social fit that is in line with the company’s values and broader corporate culture.
Taking a holistic view of the candidate with SmartMe™
At PitchMe, our SmartMe™ profile is able to capture a candidate’s hard and soft skills for a more comprehensive view of the candidate. WIth SmartMe™, candidates are able to use other digital sources, such as GitHub or Behance, to add to their hard skills and bring in the soft skills component of their profile. This way, employers and candidates who are well suited to one another can more easily connect.
Candidates can sign up here to create their own SmartMe™ profile in just minutes to see just how powerful soft skills can be getting hired for the role that’s an ideal fit.
Employers can sign up here to find candidates with both the hard and soft skills that are the right fit for their organisation.