3 Factors of Recruiting for the Right Fit

Culture fit, personality fit, company culture—whichever term you prefer—it’s important. It affects your team’s productivity, new hire satisfaction and your overall employer brand. Your entire recruiting operation hinges on being able to find new hires that will make an impact within the existing team. You want candidates who will make positive change but also work together as part of the team you have already created.

This is equally—if not more—relevant for agency recruiters. Hiring managers at your clients will be more likely to accept a candidate (and get you your placement fee!) if they know that the candidate will be the right fit with their current employees. A happy hiring manager means good business for your organization.

1. Managerial Style

You want an employee who will complement your team’s skills while still offering a unique perspective on projects. Managers often hire people they like or people they perceive are like them. However, liking someone is not enough to ensure that they will be the right fit for your team.

A team member who thrives when given the freedom to work on projects at his/her own pace will not necessarily succeed in a more regimented, strict managerial environment. Conversely, some employees work best when given strict rules and directions on how to accomplish tasks. In both of these examples, a candidate who succeeded at one organization may not succeed at another simply due to how their working style fits with the team.

2. Stress and Comfort

By putting employees in position to succeed, it obviously makes them more productive. But by recruiting for the right fit, you create a cycle of success by making the employee comfortable. This leads to a less stressful work environment conducive to productivity.

While no amount of team-building will completely remove stress, placing employees within a support system and a good fit will allow them to do their best. This will help you as a recruiter get proper feedback on the type of people that you are recruiting for that position and once again complete a cycle of success.

3. Diversity

A positive side-effect of recruiting for the right fit is that your focus on personality traits that build a quality team will promote a diverse workforce with diverse perspectives. The talented folks that fit with your team will come from diverse backgrounds and help your organization reach its goals.

While some see recruiting for personality traits a barrier to diversity, if you truly focus recruiting for the characteristics that lead to a successful and productive employee, you will find candidates from diverse backgrounds.

InterviewStream Hire helps your team to recruit for the right fit by replacing traditional phone screening with pre-recorded video. This allows your team to distribute employer branding material such as company overview videos that will help attract the candidates you seek. As a bonus, candidates who may fit the technical qualifications but may not be a good fit for the team can learn that earlier in the process and self-select out of the recruitment process. This will save your recruiting team time and allow you to focus on the best candidates for the position.

In addition to the distribution of employment brand materials, pre-recorded video also gives you more insight into the candidates’ personality earlier in the recruiting process through nonverbal communication. While this will never replace the value of an in-person interview, you can get a better sense of whether a candidate is the right fit for your team during the initial screening process.

No single hiring or recruiting process or tool will guarantee that every new recruit will be a good fit within your team. But with the right tools and intelligence, your team can assess the data and make well-informed decisions earlier in the recruitment process.