Stop Hiring for Culture Fit

Patty McCord

<article-ideainbrief class="article-ideainbrief">
 <h4 class="ideainbrief-title">In Brief</h4>
 <div class="ideainbrief-contents">
  <h5>The Problem</h5>
  <p>Most companies approach hiring with faulty assumptions and poor practices. They believe talent is fixed rather than contextual. They fail to create real partnerships between recruiters and hiring managers. And they rely too much on salary surveys and rigid compensation formulas.</p>
  <h5>The Solution</h5>
  <p>Dig beneath the résumé. Ensure that recruiters deeply understand the business and are not viewed as support staff. Don’t obsess over “culture fit”; assess whether candidates can drive growth and address pressing challenges. Calculate the real value they can bring to the company and the comp package required to get them to sign on.</p>
 </div>
</article-ideainbrief><p>I really dislike the term “A player.” It implies a grading system that can determine who will be best for a position. HR people always ask how Netflix, where I served as chief talent officer from 1998 to 2012, managed to hire only A players. I say, “There’s an island populated exclusively by A players, but only some of us know where it is.”</p>

1B+AwZM2nPLnZXomidf+ROg3y27+L1gDvT7xEEnY62SsBpORPyHFZdrpMxGS8nEqeZ478IocyT3tgAggFiR0tS5Cbsmzwl5qov+4zpQzrUo=

<p>Most companies approach hiring with faulty assumptions and poor practices. They believe talent is fixed rather than contextual. They fail to create real partnerships between internal recruiters and hiring managers. And they rely too much on salary surveys and rigid compensation formulas.</p>
<p>The author shares what she learned about making and keeping great hires during her 14 years as the chief talent officer at Netflix. The process requires probing beneath the surface of people and their r&#233;sum&#233;s; engaging managers in every aspect of hiring; ensuring that recruiters deeply understand the business and are not viewed as support staff; adopting a mindset in which you&#8217;re always recruiting; and coming up with compensation that suits the performance you need and the future you aspire to.</p>
<p>These lessons may be especially relevant to fast-growing tech-based firms, whose rapid innovation means a continual need for new talent. But organizations of all types can benefit from taking a fresh look at their hiring and compensation practices.</p>

How to Hire

Most companies approach hiring with faulty assumptions and poor practices. They believe talent is fixed rather than contextual. They fail to create real partnerships between internal recruiters and hiring managers. And they rely too much on salary surveys and rigid compensation formulas. The author shares what she learned about making and keeping great hires during her 14 years as the chief talent officer at Netflix. The process requires probing beneath the surface of people and their résumés; engaging managers in every aspect of hiring; ensuring that recruiters deeply understand the business and are not viewed as support staff; adopting a mindset in which you’re always recruiting; and coming up with compensation that suits the performance you need and the future you aspire to. These lessons may be especially relevant to fast-growing tech-based firms, whose rapid innovation means a continual need for new talent. But organizations of all types can benefit from taking a fresh look at their hiring and compensation practices.

How to Hire

Summary.

Partner Center