Culture Fit or Culture Add—Can We (Really) Hire for Both?

Organizations describe their cultures during shareholders calls, in annual reports, and on recruiting websites. They attribute financial success to their cultures and try to change them when revenues drop, competition increases, and innovation slows.

A way to do this is to deviate from the usual “culture fit” hiring strategy, instead injecting the organization with “culture adds”—individuals from different backgrounds who bring different perspectives and different experiences.

A 2020 blog published by the The Enterprisers Project, describes the difference between the culture fit and culture-add approaches:

“In contrast to the culture fit mindset, which seeks to hire and retain more of what is already working for you, culture add focuses on gaining valuable elements that your culture lacks. In other words, culture fit preserves comfort and familiarity, while culture add looks for people who value an organization’s standards and culture, but also bring something different that positively contributes to your company.”

Early in my career, I was hired by an organization’s human resources (HR) department as a culture add. I was told the leaders wanted human resources to become more business-savvy and more consultative so they hired MBA-trained former management consultants like me. My cohort stood out among those hired for comfort and familiarity, but we were valued for bringing that “something different.”

Until we weren’t. (More on that later.)

Can We (Really) Hire for Both?

When I asked this question to an audience at a large 2024 HR conference, the answer was mixed, with examples of successes and failures. My own answer—having hired culture adds and been an add myself—is a qualified “yes.” Let’s explore the benefits, risks, and strategies for strengthening this “yes” in your organizations.

Why Hire for Culture Add?

Culture refresh is tempting. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft since 2014, wrote in his 2017 book Hit Refresh, “Every person, organizaion, and even society reaches a point at which they owe it to themselves to hit refresh—to reenergize, renew, reframe, and rethink their purpose.”

Hiring individuals who bring something different can support this desired refresh by helping organizations:

• Challenge to “we’ve always done it this way”—disruption of stagnation.

• Enhance creativity, innovation, and problem solving.

• Increase ability to understand and market to diverse audiences.

• Expand available skill sets, capabilities, and expertise.

• Strengthen ability to hire more adds to build the organization’s reputation as inclusive and willing to evolve.

The Risk of Culture Add

With reward usually comes risk. It is critical for talent leaders to be aware of potential pitfalls—and to educate the businesses you support. These risks may include but are not limited to:

• Short-term disruptions to workflows

• Interpersonal conflicts and inclusivity risks

• Fluctuating engagement and morale (from the adds and the incumbent employees)

• Turnover of adds and/or incumbents

• Dilution of organization’s guiding principles/pillars

The HR leaders at that financial services organization realized that by hiring me and my fellow adds they were inviting questions about why things were done in certain ways and suggestions for how to make processes more consultative. For personal and professional reasons, the leaders weren’t ready to make these changes. They learned the meaning of the well-known phrase “be careful what you wish for.”

How to Mitigate the Risk

So, how can organizations find the balance, reaping the benefits of refreshing and reenergizing culture while not disrupting what works? When coaching hiring managers eager to culture add, help them manage the risk through a four-pronged strategy:

• Commitment

• Clarification

• Check-ins

• Clearing (of roadblocks)

Ensure Commitment at Senior Levels

Before the business even starts recruiting, help your organization ensure buy-in for this culture-add role. Encourage hiring managers to explain to senior leaders the why behind their add requests and the benefits to the organization. Ask the hiring managers to regularly check in with their leaders to provide updates and reiterate the need for support and to keep you educated along the way so you can best support them.

Clarify the Situation—See It For What It Is

Get real with managers about the need for stepped-up leadership and their need to explain the culture-add why, what, and how to their current teams. Encourage managers to involve these incumbent employees (the ones affected by and in positions to support the adds) in the hiring process. Should you have a role in recruiting, get real with candidates about the opportunities and challenges and the benefits and the pitfalls that await on the path toward culture refresh.

Conduct Regular Check-Ins

Encourage managers to co-create 30-60-90-day goals with their new adds to set up short-term success and position longer-term achievements. As talent leaders, keep your own ears to the ground, listening for feedback from incumbent employees and the adds themselves. Is the enthusiasm for what’s possible outweighing frustration with the change process? The add may ultimately not be the best/right/right-now add. Don’t wait until the situation explodes or everyone threatens resignation to encourage action.

Clear Roadblocks

Remind managers to act upon insights from their check-ins, to make their adds feel heard and valued, and to address concerns from all stakeholders. Successful change requires resilience, patience, and a willingness to adapt. It also requires the insight to know when to push forward and the courage to pull back and regroup. Encourage managers to communicate and celebrate wins to maintain morale and momentum.

A Qualified “Yes”

My own experience as a culture add at that financial services organization ended after 14 months. I’m grateful for the experience, as it led to an opportunity at a small tech company in which my quirky add qualities were more fit than clash. I would do it all again, but knowing what I know now as an experienced talent development professional, I’d share this advice with the organization’s HR executives:

• Start small and experiment by adding slowly.

• What one culture element is the org ready and willing to evolve?

• Set up the hiring manager for success.

• Does this leader have the courage to advocate for change?

• Hire for patience, collaboration, and ability to bring others along.

• Celebrate, appreciate, and reward those talents in the add.

• Onboard to optimize.

• You may have limited time with this add.

• Monitor and proactively offer support.

• Check in with both manager and the add.

We can have it all, if we’re willing to do the work.