Hiring: Unraveling the culture mystery.

Are We Really Selecting for the Right Culture Fit? When everyone is assessed based on a shared, concrete framework, financial prosperity is the logical outcome.

Too often, hiring decisions hinge on each interviewer's personal interpretation of "culture fit"—which can be vague, subjective, and inconsistent.

Here’s how we can reduce that randomness:

• Map your company culture. Start by identifying where your team stands on key cultural dimensions like communication style, decision-making, leadership, feedback, and collaboration.
• Align your interviewers. Share this culture map with everyone involved in hiring. This ensures interviewers are aligned on what "fit" truly means within your organization.
• Make assessments intentional. Ask interviewers to evaluate candidates against these specific cultural markers—not based on gut feeling or personal preference.

This idea builds on the global expansion framework in Erin Meyer’s Culture Map; applied internally within an organization. For example, ask employees to rate their experience across dimensions like:

• Communication: Transparent vs. Guarded
• Feedback: Candid vs. Diplomatic
• Decision-Making: Distributed vs. Centralized
• Leadership: Empowering vs. Directive
• Trust Basis: Performance vs. Loyalty
• Risk: Experimental vs. Risk-Averse
• Collaboration: Cross-functional vs. Siloed
• Work Tempo: Sprint-Oriented vs. Sustainable

By aggregating responses, you create a real-time snapshot of your culture—a culture map. Use it wisely!