WHY YOU NEED TO RECRUIT FOR
CULTURAL FIT
If a team member doesn ’ t fit your club ’ s culture , they will cause you continual problems . By investing the effort to recruit for cultural fit , your business will reap dividends .
WORDS : LEISL KLAEBE
T hroughout my group fitness management career I have
been asked countless times how I have achieved such a high team member retention rate , particularly as most of my group exercise instructors are contractors who are full or part time workers with another career , full or part time students or full time parents . For most group exercise instructors this is their second job , so how do you cultivate a team who are loyal , dedicated , skilled and a good fit with your company culture , when teaching fitness takes a secondary focus to other priorities in their lives ?
The glue that holds an organisation together
Cultural fit is the likelihood of someone comfortably sharing , or being able to adapt to , your company vision , core values , beliefs , attitudes and the collective behaviours that make up your club culture . If you don ’ t articulate this clearly at the recruitment stage , how can you expect those you get onboard to be a cultural fit with your company ?
In July 2015 Katie Bouton published an article in the Harvard Business Review titled ‘ Recruiting for Cultural Fit ’. Bouton is founder and president of Koya Leadership Partners , an executive search firm committed to recruiting and retaining exceptionally talented and diverse professionals who can make a lasting impact .
In the article Bouton writes : ‘ Culture fit is the glue that holds an organisation together . That ’ s why it ’ s a key trait to look for when recruiting . The result of poor culture fit due to turnover can cost an organisation between 50-60 per cent of the person ’ s annual salary , according to the Society for Human Resource Management ( SHRM ). But before the hiring team starts measuring candidates ’ culture fit , they need to be able to define and articulate the organisation ’ s culture – its values , goals , and practices — and then weave this understanding into the hiring process .’
The impact of bad hiring choices
Unless your team members are the right fit for the culture of your organisation , you will continually have issues with that person , which will create more work for you , as their leader / manager . One bad fit in a team can take up more of your time than the rest of the team put together . One toxic person can corrupt other team members , and club members , generating ill feeling that can spread and cause a lot of damage . Managing the fallout and the repercussions , and initiating appropriate follow-up action can be a hugely timeconsuming exercise .
Having the wrong people in your business can also be a huge financial cost . According to a 2012 poll conducted by CareerBuilder ,
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