AVOID HIRING FOR CULTURE FIT!

Hiring for culture fit is among the most widespread and exclusionary hiring practices today. When you're hiring for a fit—given that most companies in Western countries are led by white men—by default, you're hiring for sameness. "Culture fit" is an unspoken code that people have around what's acceptable and what's not within an organisation, or even in society.

Rather than focusing on culture fit, organisation leaders must concentrate on culture add to be inclusive. A plethora of research shows that harnessing the power of diverse teams leads to better outcomes, such as less groupthink, more innovative solutions, and overall more profitability. My favourite data point, though, is how culture add can lead to justice and fairness.

Think back to the last time that you talked about someone being a fit or not. The more trouble you have articulating why a candidate is not a culture fit, the more likely your judgment is biased. Instead, seek to hire people you don't already have represented, whether by race and gender, educational background and experience, country of origin and languages spoken, or other identities.

Hiring practices that revolve around assessing for culture fit result in bias. One such example? Black women are earning degrees at record high, although remain underrepresented and underpaid in corporate workplaces, with low access to leadership opportunities, as most workplaces still hire for a fit with Eurocentric culture normalities..

Structural racism can’t be dismantled overnight, although declaring that your workplace is no longer seeking a culture fit for new roles and disrupting peers when they reject a candidate for not being a culture fit is a quick win. Hence, is creating a workplace environment where diversity and inclusion are valued, and culture add is celebrated.

Ensure that your organisation prioritizes the hiring of a diverse range of employees, especially women of colour. This isn't only HR's job; it is every leader's responsibility.