Culture fit' - can this be the enemy of diversity and performance when hiring?

Diversity is a big subject and covers many important variables beyond personality. Whatever the variable, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, ideologies or preference - for many, 'different' is not 'familiar', and this is a seed of the diversity challenge.  While many will not see the statement 'they don't fit our culture' as the (sometimes unintentional) catch-all for keeping out 'different,' this approach is a real risk to diversity.

“they don't fit our culture”

Much of the work we do considers what we've come to call 'The Empty Chair'. Or in other words, the behaviours and mindset that a team have least natural preference. One of the aim of this is to give individuals and teams self-awareness to support tactical hiring that increases behaviour and mindset diversity, reducing the trap of hiring (more 'familiar') people like them. 

For example, this team has a high dominance of Green Empathic, their line manager is a Green Empathic, and the line manager's line manager is also Green Empathic - a team of 'familiar'.

So ‘familiar’ that, at times, it may risk showing a lack of humility, curiosity and tolerance of Red Forceful behaviours - the potential impact of this is a lack of diversity, low levels of adaptability and frustration that not enough gets done.

However, when it comes to interviewing, the cultural perspective can often drive hiring managers without insight to look for what is 'familiar' and hire more of the same.

The result there’s a lack of appreciation for the strengths that a ‘different’ perspective can bring.

“We see the world not as it is… We see it as we are.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Diversity brings a multi-faceted view of the world, a perspective that challenges the norm and gives teams the ingredients to overcome challenges and grow. The benefits are countless; here are our top five.

1. Different perspectives to feed creativity and innovation
2. Better meshing across a client base
3. Better decision-making and problem-solving
4. Greater team engagement
5. Increased efficiency and profits

So, how do we create the awareness to create a more diverse team that perform

We help our clients and their teams to develop their self-awareness and understand the dynamics of their teams. Our methods and tools facilitate and quantify dynamics in a safe and friendly environment. Using relatable frameworks, we not only encourage individuals and groups to understand their own ‘familiar’ strengths, but we also encourage them to flex and get curious about the ‘different’ strengths of others.

Firstly, this supports personal movement, allowing our participants to get the best out of themselves and others. Secondly, it supports humility, curiosity and tolerance, opening the door to ‘different’ and diversity, whether in an interview, with clients or with each other.

Our work focuses on driving individual and team performance at all levels, all of which can be done in person, virtually or a blend of the two.

We provide game-changing performance insight that creates performance habits that stick!

Get in touch to find out more.