Fan of Arrested Development? Like to high five? Then you’re culturally fit for work

Forget perfect CVs and interview technique — now employers want you to have the right culture for a role, says Jasmine Gardner
6 August 2013

If you don’t feel a daily compulsion to hug and high-five your team at work, you might be in the wrong job. Your company may have no culture — or if it has, perhaps you’re just the cultural outcast on your bank of desks.

When Kate Bostock, former head of fashion at M&S, quit her new job at Asos in July after just six weeks in the post, Asos chief executive Nick Robertson said: “Culturally we are very different and perhaps that played a part in the decision.”

Particularly in the tech and start-up world, being the right cultural fit for a company has never been more important. Companies wish to be known for their strong culture, and in Silicon Valley there are even “Cultural-Fit-ology” competitions.

“The traditional recruitment model is broken. CVs and LinkedIn only tell you so much about someone and whether they’re going to be the right fit for your team,” says Kathryn Parsons, founder of Tech City company Decoded. “Smart employers care about this and are looking for more; magic, ‘cultural fit’ talent.”

Finding the workers who fit, says Parsons, “is the number one obsession for employers right now, from FTSE-100 CEOs to fledgling start-ups. There’s not a founder dinner or event I have been to where this is not the main topic of conversation.” They are finding innovative ways to do it.

Parsons herself is constantly asking CEOs what single question they ask interviewees to identify whether they will fit the company’s culture and is compiling a list. “The basis, potentially, of the ultimate set of interview questions.” It’s a “secret recipe” list she won’t reveal but, for example, interviewees might be asked about the last social event they attended or for the title they would give to an imaginary keynote speech.

Silicon Roundabout-based OpenSignal recently wrote on its blog that “it’s company policy that you have to love [US TV sitcom] Arrested Development. Many an aspiring engineer or marketing intern has been turned away for staring at us blankly when asked ‘Now what does the phrase — “I’ve made a huge mistake” mean to you?’” Although this is not really ‘company policy’, OpenSignal does say “it’s probably a better criterion than most for finding someone who’ll fit in.”

At Unruly Media, in Shoreditch, staff members have to be PANDAs. What exactly that means “is a company secret,” says Unruly’s chief people officer, Deana Murfitt. “PANDA is an acronym to describe how we work and the various qualities that we look for in a person before they join the company. We don’t let people know what the elements of PANDA are because we care about it so much, so we don’t want people to game the interview technique.”

Kam Star, head of Tech City gamification company PlayGen, says that to get a job at his company “Everyone has to complete an IQ test as part of their interview. Those who fail to achieve at least an IQ of 130 will only be considered if they have some other exceptional ability.

“We’re a clever lot here, and from experience anyone who doesn’t particularly enjoy solving difficult problems is just not going to fit in to our culture.”

But why is fitting in so important? “It’s a team killer if someone doesn’t fit culturally. It’s important to the motivation and happiness of the team that everyone is cut from the same cloth,” says Unruly’s Murfitt.

Parsons goes further. “A small team of talented people who share the same mission, vision, culture and values can achieve more than a team of thousands. It’s the difference between a company generating millions or filing for bankruptcy. And every individual matters,” she says.

A good example of this is at Finnish game developer Supercell, which created the hugely successful Clash of Clans game. One of its founders, Ilkka Paananen, told online games magazine Gamasutra that “at the centre of [our company culture] is the idea of small”. The founders deliberately resist growing their team because fast growth means investors, growth targets and eventually resistance to risk — but not necessarily better or more successful products. “Quite frankly, it’s not fun to work in those sorts of companies. They’re run by process and top-down management,” said Paananen.

This is also vital, since being part of the right or wrong culture can make the difference between loving or loathing your job.

Jason Goldberg, CEO of Fab, the Berlin-based design retail website, wrote a mission statement called The Fab Way to describe its values. Rules include “No assholes allowed. No one is tolerated just because they are smart or aggressive.” Finding people who are a “Fab Fit” works, says former employee Phoebe Luckhurst. “The more you like the people, the more you want to work hard — which everyone did,” she says.

If you find the right cultural fit, says Parsons, “suddenly work feels like play, your passions, skills and talents are recognised, appreciated, unleashed, developed and challenged ... If you can’t quite figure out what the culture of your company is, it may not have one. If it doesn’t, try to find one that does, because working for a company with a strong sense of identity and one that reflects yours will truly change your life.” In other words, high five, or get out.

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