Right skills v right fit: What’s more important in the workplace?

Job candidates with the appropriate skill set are being increasingly overlooked in favour of potential employees who exhibit the right “cultural fit” within an organisation.

Recent insights from recruitment firm Hays show a growing trendof favouring cultural potential over candidateswith a deeper skill setacross a wide range of industries, including highly-skilled roles like project management.

RedBalloon Corporate Engagement Specialist James Wright agreed with this shift, adding that “RedBalloon has always placed the highest emphasis on cultural fit when assessing candidates, which stems from the fact that our values inform everything we do as a business.”

“Ideally you want a candidate who has great skills and the right attitude, but if I was asked to choose between two candidates, one more highly-skilled and one who demonstrated values and an attitude reflective of the organisation, I would choose on the basis of the latter in almost every instance.”

"It’s my experience that employers are increasingly looking to the values of their company for guidance, and how a candidate will live and breathe these in the everyday fulfilment of their role. The impact of a “bad fit” cannot be overestimated.”

The importance of culture is reflected in the 2012 RedBalloon/AltusQ Employee Engagement Capabilities report, which for the second year running puts culture on a pedestal when it comes to creating and maintaining a happy workforce.

The report shows that organisations with a highly engaged workforce have the highest capability scores when it comes to culture, because employees deliver when their environment gives them the space and means to flourish.

But what are the core ingredients that deliver this Holy Grail of a great workplace culture?

According to the report, the core ingredients for engagement success are flexible working arrangements, recognition programs, non-cash rewards/incentives, training and development programs, paid parental leave and time off for study.

“These are the basics required to deliver on expectations and start to engage a workforce. They are the base of the pyramid, so if you don’t get them right, the whole structure will topple,” Mr Wright said.

“Organisations need to shift the way they think about the standard work day, and how they expect employees to work their hours and meet their goals because incorporating flexible work options and mindsets can go a long way to creating a happy and healthy employee experience and increased engagement. And that can only be a positive thing for business.”

Carolyn Maloney, people and development director at acknowledged 'Dream Employer' and RedBalloon corporate client OMD, knows the role culture can play in an organisation.

“At OMD, we believe that demonstrating a culture where work-life balance is embraced and staff are adequately resourced to deliver the best work is fundamental to enticing the best talent.”

“Fun really, really matters - our staff love contributing to the unique, infectious culture that defines OMD.”

Culture also starred in the 2011 Insync Surveys and RedBalloon Dream Employers survey of 7100 respondents, which ranked company culture as the third most important factor in a person choosing their ‘dream employer’. So it seems employers and employees are placing a similar amount of weight on the question of culture.

In fact, according to Hays Director Nick Deligiannistheir Quarterly Report revealed that employees are increasingly choosing jobs based on how they see the culture of an organisation.

“We’ve seen several cases of candidates turning down job offers because they didn’t feel the company culture reflected their long-term career goals,” Mr Deligiannis said.

You can read more on what employees want or if you'd prefer why not get in touch with one of our team on 1300 850 940.