Recruiting Square Pegs

Look for people who fit your corporate culture

If your corporate culture is collaborative and familial, it’s best not to hire loners who don’t work and play well with others.

If your culture is a good fit for self-reliant self-starters, don’t hire the friendly and collaborative person.

Fish are great at being fish, but terrible at climbing trees, and squirrels drown underwater. Some adaptation is healthy and appropriate, but don’t expect a shy introvert to adapt well to business development or a charismatic extrovert to adapt to solitary hours of number-crunching. It’s not going to be a good fit, so their time in that role has a shelf-life.

People get hired for what is on their resume, but many quit or are asked to leave because of interpersonal factors. You can work with most people in the short-term, but if you are looking to build a deep bench of experience in your firm, bring in people who are smart, willing to learn, and a good fit for the people and the culture you want to build up.

(Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash)