Labcast: Why You Should Always Hire for Cultural Fit

In this week’s Labcast, HR expert William Tincup discusses the impact that developing a strong company culture can have on an organization’s growth and success, and explains why and how the best companies hire for cultural fit.

If you work for an expansion-stage technology company, chances are you have heard of Rackspace, the San Antonio-based company that is a service leader in cloud computing.
You are probably also familiar with OpenStack^®, the open source cloud platform the company founded. But beyond the company’s innovative technology there is another interesting — and completely distinct — aspect to Rackspace that is perhaps equally responsible for the company’s success: its company culture.
Rackspace stands out as a company committed to creating an exceptional culture for its employees, who are affectionately referred to as “rackers”. The company proudly states on its website that “Rackspace doesn’t really want [rackers] to have a job, they want you to have a life.”
That declaration plays out in a lot of interesting ways at Rackspace. Its impact is particularly striking on the company’s employee-run blog, rackertalent.com. Take the time to check it out and you will discover what Rackspace’s employees are up to right now, what challenges they face, and even what their biggest gripe about the company is. The blog is effectively a fully transparent portal into the company, giving prospective employees the opportunity to assess what working there is like. The amazing thing is that the blog is completely employee run — there is absolutely no executive or HR oversight.
Establishing and maintaining a thriving company culture is clearly a priority for companies like Rackspace, but how does that priority play out against the ongoing search for top talent?
In this week’s Labcast, HR expert William Tincup, co-host of the popular daily podcast DriveThruHR and regular contributor to Fistful of Talent, discusses the importance of hiring for cultural fit and why it often, if not always, trumps hiring someone for their skills alone. Some of the topics Tincup covers are:

• What the advantages of hiring for cultural fit are and what can go wrong when you fail to do so.
• How to screen for cultural fit and why you should always do so
• Whether or not cultural fit will continue to be important as more people begin working virtually from remote locations.

 
To learn more, listen to the full podcast by clicking on the link below.
Labcast 102_ William Tincup on Why You Should Always Hire for Cultural Fit