更换员工的成本大约是公司员工年薪的 33%。这只是直接成本。高流动率还会影响生产力和公司士气。这就是为什么员工留住高效员工的指标可以很好地反映每个人，而不仅仅是人力资源。

我们也更清楚地理解了强烈的文化契合度和员工保留率之间的联系。发表在《人事心理学》 （2005 年夏季）上的一项关于个人工作适应度问题的元分析发现，他们的组织承诺水平与员工的组织适应度相关性最强。就组织承诺而言，组织契合度甚至比员工对工作、团队或主管的契合度更重要。

影响员工留任的因素有很多。成功的起点是招聘好员工，这意味着评估候选人在组织内的文化契合度应该与匹配工作技能一样重要。

文化契合并不意味着缺乏多样性

工作文化不是个人文化。认为公司可以通过只雇用具有共同个人文化的人来缩短寻找组织文化契合度的过程是错误的。人比这复杂得多。无论如何，这种招聘方法很容易为非法招聘行为造成责任。

文化契合也不意味着您雇用的每个人都以相同的方式甚至以相同的方式思考。如果每个人的想法都一样，就没有创新的空间。公司长期以来一直欣赏内向者和外向者各自带来的不同技能和特征。公司也开始意识到神经多样性招聘的竞争优势。

如果您想使用有意义的文化契合度评估来招聘，请遵循这个三点计划。

定义您的组织文化

组织文化不仅仅是您的使命或价值观声明。显然，您希望员工认同您的公司使命。您需要确定操作规范和态度。文化如何雇员的工作和交流，而不是为什么，是有问题的文化，当谈到留住员工。

要了解公司文化，您可以进行员工调查、直接与员工交谈、参加会议并在办公室内走动以注意人们的互动方式。以下是您想要发现的一些特征：

• 人们如何交流？面对面还是通过聊天应用程序和电子邮件？在团队会议期间是否鼓励进行热烈的辩论，或者大多数人是否安静？

• 友情的水平和性质是什么？人们是否主动协助他们的队友甚至其他部门的人？如果有一种更具竞争性的氛围，它会促进积极的竞争还是破坏性的竞争？员工之间的人际关系如何？

• 如何设定期望以及如何管理问责制？您的组织在管理上是非常自上而下的，还是有更扁平的组织结构图？人们是否愿意向高级管理人员寻求和提问，或者是否有严格的界限？是高压气氛还是更轻松？

如果您不首先清楚了解您的文化是什么，您就不能因文化契合而招聘。

向候选人提出问题，揭示他们的工作文化假设

当你问候选人为什么离开上一个职位时，包括有关该公司文化的问题：

• 您如何描述贵公司的文化？

• 你喜欢那种文化的什么地方？

• 如果有的话，这种文化在你离开的决定中扮演了什么角色？

• 你会改变那家公司的文化吗？

您还应该询问他们对您公司文化的印象。不要与他们分享您正在寻找的内容，以免影响他们的回答。

• 到目前为止，您对我们公司文化的印象如何？你会如何描述它？

• 您如何看待自己适应这样的环境？哪些部分会很容易，哪些部分需要适应？

您还可以提出直接涉及您的文化的问题，而无需分享您的组织文化。

• 您更喜欢亲自还是通过书面报告获得反馈？

• 你如何让你的主管知道事情没有按计划进行？

这种类型的问题可以挖掘出候选人真正的工作文化风格，而不会将他们推向特定的答案。

与与他们共事的人交谈

候选人可能并不总是准确了解他们在工作场所中的身份。与推荐人和前雇主交谈对于可靠地了解候选人的工作方式至关重要。  

使用上面的问题列表，但要调整它。例如，让他们描述他们的文化以及候选人是否适合（或不适合）。文化不匹配在决定与候选人分开时有什么作用？无论公司是否认同您的文化，这都是有价值的信息。

良好的文化契合可以强化您的文化

聘用具有良好文化契合度的候选人不仅仅是为了提高员工保留率。这也是关于加强和鼓励您想要的组织文化。俗话说，“文化吃策略当早餐”。拥有一支具有共同工作文化的有凝聚力的员工队伍，可以更轻松地执行业务目标，从而为每个人营造积极的工作环境。

costs a company roughly 33% of the employee's annual salary. That’s only the direct cost. High turnover also costs in terms of productivity and company morale. That’s why employee retention of productive employees is a metric that reflects well on everyone, not just human resources.

We’re also understanding more clearly the connection between a strong cultural fit and employee retention. A meta-analysis published in Personnel Psychology (Summer 2005) on the issue of an  individual’s fit at work found that an their level of organizational commitment correlated most strongly with the employee’s organization fit. In terms of organizational commitment, organization fit was even more important than an employee’s sense of fit in their job, with their team, or with their supervisor.

Many factors influence employee retention. The starting point for success is making a good hire, which means that assessing a candidate’s cultural fit within your organization should be as important a part of your recruiting process as matching job skills.

Culture fit does not mean lack of diversity

Work culture isn’t personal culture. It’s a mistake to think a company can shortcut the process of finding an organizational cultural fit by only hiring people with a shared personal culture. People are more complex than that. In any case, that hiring approach could easily create liability for unlawful hiring practices.

Nor does cultural fit mean that everyone you hire thinks the same or even in the same way. There’s no room for innovation if everyone thinks the same. Companies have long appreciated the different skills and characteristics introverts and extroverts each bring. Companies are also starting to appreciate the competitive advantage of neurodiversity hiring.

Follow this three-point plan if you want to hire using a meaningful cultural fit assessment.

Define your organizational culture

Organizational culture is more than your mission or values statement. Obviously, you want hires to buy into your company mission. You need to identify the operational norms and attitudes. The culture of how employees work and communicate, not the why, is the culture in question when it comes to employee retention.

To uncover company culture, you can take an employee survey, talk directly with employees, attend meetings, and walk through the offices to notice how people interact. Here are some of the traits you want to uncover:

• How do people communicate? Face to face or via chat apps and email? Is lively debate encouraged or are most people quiet during team meetings?

• What’s the level and nature of the camaraderie? Do people proactively assist their teammates or even people in other departments? If there’s a more competitive atmosphere, is it one that fosters a positive competition or destructive one? How are the personal connections among employees?

• How are expectations set and how is accountability managed? Is your organization very top-down in management, or does it have a flatter org chart? Are people comfortable seeking out and asking questions of senior management, or are there strict boundaries? Is it a high-pressure atmosphere or more relaxed?

You can’t hire for cultural fit if you don’t first have a clear picture of what your culture is.

Ask candidates questions that reveal their work cultural assumptions

When you ask candidates why they left their last position, include questions about the culture of that company:

• How would you describe your company’s culture?

• What did you like about that culture?

• What role, if any, did that culture play in your decision to leave?

• What would you change about that company’s culture?

You should also ask about their impressions of your company’s culture. Don’t share with them what you’re looking for, so you don’t influence their answers.

• What are your impressions of our company culture so far? How would you describe it?

• How do you see yourself fitting into such an environment? What parts would be easy and what would require some getting used to?

You can also ask questions that touch directly on your culture, without sharing what your organizational culture is.

• Do you prefer getting feedback in person or via written report?

• How do you let your supervisor know that something isn’t going according to plan?

This type of question can ferret out a candidate’s genuine work cultural style without pushing them towards a specific answer.

Talk to the people who’ve worked with them

Candidates may not always have an accurate picture of who they are in the workplace. Talking to references and former employers is vital to getting a reliable sense of how a candidate works.  

Use the list of questions above, but adjust it. For example, ask them to describe their culture and how well (or not) the candidate fit into it. What role did cultural mismatch have in the decision to separate from the candidate? Regardless of whether the company shares your culture, this is valuable information.

Good cultural fits reinforce your culture

Hiring candidates who are good cultural fits isn’t just about improving employee retention. It’s also about reinforcing and encouraging the organizational culture you want. As the saying goes, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Having a cohesive workforce that shares a common work culture makes executing business goals easier, which in turn fosters a positive work environment for everyone.