As regular readers of this blog will appreciate, I’m far from a fan of the recruitment process, with its poor ability to locate and recruit the best candidates significantly undermining organizations that thrive on the talents of their staff.

We have seen attempts to provide realistic virtual environments to allow recruiters to test out candidates in work settings during the interview process.

Whilst that may explore their practical capabilities, it does little to assess their cultural fit with the organization they hope to join.

The importance of cultural fit

According to recent studies, cultural fit is believed to cost between 50-60% of the person’s annual salary.  So a recent project that attempts to provide a detailed assessment of the cultural fit of prospective candidates is certainly interesting.

The venture, known as Saberr, begins by profiling the existing employees in an organization to build up a cultural profile of the company.

This consists of a 70 question survey that’s designed to unpick the key facets of a person’s personality.  Employees answer each question, and also give those questions a weighting based upon their importance to them.  At the end of the survey, a score is then given to them for things such as creativity and organization.

When that organization is recruiting, candidates are given the same survey to undertake, with the apps algorithm then determining the cultural fit between the candidate and the organization, and indeed between the candidate and key members of the team they will be joining.

With studies showing that employees who have a strong cultural fit with their new employer, its coworkers and their boss report significantly higher levels of job satisfaction and job performance, it’s undoubtedly a venture that has its merits.

It will be interesting to track and explore just how valuable it is in ensuring new hires are the right hires (and vice versa).