by: Renee Boatwright | VP of Recruiting
I want to take the opportunity to respond a great comment a reader brought up in my previous post titled "Benefits of Hiring Employees that Fit." The concern was...."If a company bases their hiring decisions mostly on 'fit,' would this open up the company to possible discrimination lawsuits due to its subjective nature?"
I think this is a great point and one that I’m sure other readers would question as well. When speaking in terms of CORPORATE culture I disagree with the statement that “most people fit with other people in similar socio-economic and racial backgrounds”. When I refer to “fit,” I am speaking mostly of work ethics and factors such as office communication, work schedule, office layout, dress code, meeting frequency, screen savers, voice mails, emails, etc. Corporate culture would never be derived from sex, race, age or ethnicity. Similar work ethics and other common culture fit determinants can be found in organizations from China to US, Ireland to Chile, and from your minimum wage line-level positions to your six + figure C-level positions.
I do agree that discrimination can be an issue in determining culture fit if the process is not standardized and implemented in the same fashion for the company as a whole; not by department or division only. To control the culture fit process, organizations should compile and publish a standard list of interview questions to ensure that all candidates are given the opportunity to express their individual culture and ensure that discrimination is not an issue. The questions can be as simple as “Do you like to dress professionally or casually while at work?” or “Are you in favor of morning huddles?” Culture is so important that it would be a detriment not to ask the questions in fear that discrimination could be an issue.
Comments