Importance of Cultural Fit in Contingent Staffing

While aiming for several other factors, such as educational background, skills and competencies, and work experience of candidates, hiring teams often miss out on a crucial factor, that is, cultural fit, which underscores the balance between the candidates’ beliefs and values and the organization’s core values, business processes, and practices. Though employers of today attempt to refine their hiring process through a skill-based approach to judge candidates based on their skills instead of experience, a gap still arises in the process when they overlook the aspect of cultural fit.

In this article, we will comprehend the essence of cultural fit in contingent staffing, focusing on its key benefits for employers. However, before that, let’s understand the context of cultural fit in staffing.

How to define cultural fit in organizations

Cultural fit is something that cannot be defined in a universal sentence as its perception tends to differ for every organization. Basically, the term ‘cultural fit’ determines the extent to which an employee’s core beliefs, values, and behavioral traits mesh with the overall culture of an organization. It does not mean that an employee needs to agree with the team members every time, even though he has a different opinion. It also does not mean that all the employees ought to have the same personality, behavior, and beliefs.

If you want to create a diverse and inclusive workplace to foster innovation, then you should be prepared to face a diverse range of perspectives, opinions, and ways of working. For instance, one employee may prefer to follow a rigid work schedule to complete tasks beforehand, while another may find it convenient to follow a flexible schedule to prioritize the work-life balance. If you, as an employer, value flexible work norms, you would not have a problem with any of these work styles. However, if you follow a conventional work culture prioritizing strict working hours, you would find the first employee to have a good cultural fit with your organization and not the second one. 

The soft skills of employees, such as communication and collaboration abilities, decision-making skills, critical thinking competencies, emotional intelligence, etc, primarily determine their cultural fit in organizations. For instance, if you are hiring members for your marketing team, you would need individuals with strong communication skills alongside creative thinking abilities. Individuals who do not have these soft skills would be a mismatch for the team. Similarly, organizations operating in the IT industry usually demand individuals who can easily accept and adapt to change and innovation. The ones who lack adaptability, flexibility, and willingness to learn cannot fit into the culture of IT organizations. Even if an individual possesses extraordinary skills and expertise, the lack of cultural fit may make him a mis-hire for your business.

Why cultural fit is essential in contingent staffing

When you opt to engage diverse contingent workers in your business, you bring in an array of talents from all over the world. As such, to ensure that you do not miss out on skilled and competent talents while fostering a positive work culture, it is important to hire culturally fit candidates. Given below are the core reasons why cultural fit in contingent staffing is crucial.

1. Elevates engagement of both contingent and full-time teams; boosts productivity

While blending contingent talents with your existing, full-time teams is a strategic imperative for businesses to remain agile and competitive, it can bring in challenges if the contingent workforce lacks cultural fit. When the values, beliefs, and behaviors of globally hired contingent workers perfectly align with the organizational culture, a sense of belonging will be nourished in them, thus making them feel more valued, inspired, and engaged. At the same time, it would be easier for them to collaborate with full-time teams, share a positive bond, and thrive in a diverse work culture. This will improve the productivity levels of the teams, eliminate the chances of conflicts, and improve team dynamics.

2. Decreases chances of mis-hires; brings down turnover rate

It is highly important to judge a candidate based on the cultural fit from the very beginning of the hiring process. This helps the hiring teams save time, money, and energy invested in screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates repeatedly due to mis-hires. For instance, you have hired a top-grade engineering professional who is skilled, experienced, and qualified for a construction project. The project demands bureaucratic work structures with tight deadlines, but the hired professional believes in following flexible work norms and, thus, fails to abide by the project demand. The result is that he leaves the job soon after joining, causing the hiring team to start over the candidate hunt process.

Cultural fit in contingent staffing not only eliminates the chances of mis-hires but also cuts off the turnover rate. On the point of feeling valued and engaged, the chances of culturally fit contingent employees leaving the organization get reduced. Not only contingent workers but your full-time staff will also seek the opportunity to work with a diverse group of professionals, enriching themselves with fresh and innovative ideas and perspectives much needed for their career growth and development. 

3. Fosters a cohesive culture with shared norms and values

Collaboration is one of the key components for building a dynamic and effective workforce. With both contingent workers and full-time staff, there would surely be differences in opinions, practices, and work styles. However, as long as your contingent workers, alongside the full-time employees, remain culturally fit with your organizational goals, mission, and culture, you can enjoy a cohesive work environment. Despite varied perspectives, notions, and cultural backgrounds, culturally fit contingent workers will efficiently communicate and work in tandem with the full-time workforce, making it easier for you to attain your core business goals and objectives.

4. Enhances opportunities for innovation and change

By undertaking a dedicated approach to adhere to your organization’s goals and values, culturally fit contingent workers will step beyond that extra mile to support change and innovation. As stated earlier, by hiring contingent workers across the globe, employers embrace a diverse pool of talent with fresh and innovative thoughts and ideas. Such thoughts and ideas tend to be highly fruitful in fostering innovation and change in businesses. 

For instance, you are running a food and beverage service business where the demands for items change based on seasons, and you want to enter new international markets for expansion. To gain a competitive edge in those international markets, you would need specialized chefs who can cook local dishes and meet seasonal demands. By opting for contingent staffing, you can efficiently release and re-hire chefs based on seasonal demands. Now, when the chefs that you hire are culturally fit, they will embrace your business needs and try bringing in innovative dishes to satisfy your customers. On the contrary, if you hire a skilled and experienced chef who lacks cultural fit, he may not give you the desired results, ending up affecting your business mission.

Conclusion

Cultural fit in contingent staffing is a central factor that employers and hiring teams need to consider along with the other factors of skills, qualifications, and experience. With culturally fit contingent workers, you can elevate the engagement of your staff, boost productivity, reduce turnover, promote a cohesive culture, and channel the path for innovation and change.

Want to build a contingent workforce with culturally fit individuals? Connect with Denken Solutions!