Finding the Right Hire Beyond the Resume: The Importance of Soft Skills and Cultural Fit

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Have you run into this issue when hiring? 

You’ve found someone you think will make a great new employee. They tick all the boxes for the skills necessary to do the job well, and they have the experience to back it up. You’re thrilled to bring them on board!

However, now that they’ve been on the job for a while, you’re starting to see a problem: They aren’t meshing with your team. They’re completing their tasks well enough, but they’re leaving conflict and frustration in their wake.

You’ve just learned a valuable lesson: There’s so much more to finding a right-fit hire than what’s listed on a candidate’s resume.

The difference between a good employee and a truly great one often comes down to qualities that go beyond the resume: soft skills and cultural fit. Success hinges not just on what employees know, but how they work with others and adapt to your work environment.

In short, the importance of soft skills and cultural fit can’t be overstated. Let’s take a closer look at these qualities and how to assess them during your hiring process.

Soft Skills Are the Unsung Heroes of Small Business Success

Soft skills are core non-technical skills that affect how people work together, solve problems, and relate to one another. While technical skills tell you what tasks an employee is capable of doing, soft skills show you how they work. For example, a candidate’s soft skills can tell you how they communicate, work with or lead others, and adapt to change. 

While soft skills can be difficult to measure, they are crucial to a candidate’s success. They influence everything from productivity and innovation to employee satisfaction and trust. Soft skills are especially important in small teams, as each team member’s interpersonal skills have a greater impact on overall morale and productivity.

Understanding the soft skills needed for your open position will make it easier for you to find the best-fit candidate. 

Key Soft Skills To Prioritize

Communication (Verbal and Written)

Communication skills cover not only how well a person speaks, but also how well they listen, articulate their ideas, provide constructive feedback, and integrate into a new team. Good communicators are also more likely to learn new skills quickly and contribute to higher team productivity.

Adaptability and Flexibility

A candidate’s ability to adapt will help them navigate change with ease. They will be capable of evolving in their role or pivoting to a new position as needed, giving you greater flexibility as your business grows or changes. 

Problem Solving and Taking Initiative

An employee who is skilled in problem-solving and taking initiative is an employee who is capable of figuring things out independently. They are proactive, able to analyze a situation, identify the best solution, and take action without being told to do so.

Collaboration and Teamwork

If your team members don’t know how to collaborate, you won’t have much of a team! Even when a role is more independent, each employee still contributes to the overall health and success of the team. Every employee needs to know how to work toward a shared goal and collaborate with others to solve problems.

Resilience and Emotional Intelligence

An employee who is resilient and emotionally intelligent is one who can quickly bounce back from setbacks, manage stress, and work effectively in the midst of change. 

The ability of an employee to understand not only their own emotions, but those expressed by their team members, helps boost a team’s communication effectiveness and limit conflict. These skills also enable employees to work more effectively within a diverse team environment.

Cultural Fit Means More Than "Getting Along"

Cultural fit refers to how well a candidate aligns with your company culture—your values, attitudes, and behaviors. Far from simply helping your employees get along with one another in the workplace, company culture is what unites them as a team with a shared vision. 

Hiring new employees who fit your company culture can help improve team cohesion, increase employee retention, and build a positive work environment. Poor cultural fit, on the other hand, can lead to low morale, increased turnover, and decreased productivity.

Cultural fit is important to today’s job seekers as well. More and more, job seekers evaluate a company’s culture before they apply. They’re looking for purposeful work that aligns with their personal values, and they want to work in a positive, inclusive workplace.

Before you can determine if someone is a good fit for your company culture, you first need to understand and define your company’s values, work style, and mission. Is your workplace more collaborative or independent? Is your work methodical or fast-paced? Are you focused on sticking to a tried-and-true process, or are you more innovation-driven? 

Asking yourself questions like this can help you determine the type of employee who will thrive in your workplace. Then you’ll be ready to assess job candidates for cultural fit.

What To Look For in Candidates

Shared Values

Look for candidates whose personal values align with your company values. For example, if your company values integrity, transparency, innovation, and social responsibility, you’ll want to ensure the candidates you’re considering hold a similar view of those values and will exemplify them in their day-to-day work.

Work Style Alignment

This refers to how a candidate prefers to work. For example, do they prefer to work in teams or more independently? What kind of communication do they prefer (email, text, call, in-person meetings, etc)? Are they open to feedback? Do they like having a set work schedule, or are they looking for more flexibility?

Making sure your new hire has a work style that aligns with job expectations will help set them up for success.

Attitude and Enthusiasm

Attitude and enthusiasm for the job are highly underrated qualities in a job candidate. Look for candidates who seem genuinely excited to work for you and your company vs someone who’s just looking for any job. You want to find someone who is passionate about your mission and who can help you reach your goals.

Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is another important characteristic for a job candidate to have. Look for a candidate who is curious, eager to learn, and open to acquiring new skills and industry knowledge and taking on new responsibilities. An employee who is committed to continuous learning and growth is worth their weight in gold!

Practical Ways To Prioritize Soft Skills and Cultural Fit in the Hiring Process

Pre-Employment Assessments

Asking candidates to complete an assessment is one way to gain more insight into cultural fit. A pre-employment assessment will typically assess personality characteristics and/or cognitive or learning aptitudes, and should be used as a springboard to ask the candidate additional questions in the interview process. 

Schedule a "Meet the Team" Interview

If it’s feasible, consider including a coffee or a brief meeting with potential colleagues into your interview process. This type of informal meeting can give you valuable insight into how the candidate interacts with others and the social dynamics they will bring to the team. 

Note that if you do this, it’s important for team participants to be well-trained on your company’s hiring process and come prepared to ask appropriate interview questions.

Thoughtful Reference Checks

When checking references for potential new employees, it’s important to ask for reference names from the candidate and permission to contact them. In addition to verifying job specifics, ask specific questions that relate to soft skills and cultural contributions, as well as how they handled challenges in their past roles.

Social Media Insights

Take a peek at the candidate’s public professional social media profiles (such as LinkedIn). 

A best HR practice is to have someone other than the decision maker be a point person to access job-specific information on social media while avoiding information from their personal social media posts. The researcher then provides a report to the hiring manager that avoids potential discriminatory information such as birthdates or marital status. The goal here is to look for insight into a candidate’s professional brand, interests, and engagement with their industry. 

The Interview Itself

Questions To Ask

Asking the right questions in your interviews will help you find candidates who possess the skills and qualities you’re looking for. A successful interview can give you insight into how the person works and communicates with colleagues and customers. Here are some examples of questions you can ask to assess soft skills and cultural fit:

  • Tell me about a time you had to explain a complex idea to a non-technical person.

  • Describe when you successfully persuaded a manager to consider your opinion and advice.

  • Tell me about a time when you experienced an unexpected challenge. How did you handle it?

  • How would you deal with a project where the priorities changed mid-way through?

  • Describe how you would ensure a project was completed on time, even though a team member didn’t complete their share of the work for some reason?

  • Tell me about a project you initiated, how you improved a process, or a time you went above and beyond.

  • Tell me about a time you supported a colleague.

  • What would you say are important aspects of a successful team project?

  • How would you handle conflict among your team to ensure a project is still completed on time?

  • Tell me about a time you received difficult feedback and how you handled it.

  • Describe the kind of work environment where you feel the most productive and happy.

  • What are the most important qualities in a team environment?

  • Tell me about a time you disagreed with a manager or colleague and how you handled it.

  • What makes you excited to go to work?

  • How would your colleagues at your previous job describe working with you?

  • Which of our company’s core values do you most or least identify with, and why?

  • How do you feel about being friends with your colleagues? Or do you prefer a strictly professional environment?

Beyond the Questions

In addition to asking great questions, make sure to practice active listening and pay attention to the candidate’s body language, the questions they ask you, and the way they interact with others.

  • Active Listening: Pay attention not only to what a candidate says, but how they engage in conversation. Do they ramble? Are they concise?

  • Body Language: Look for non-verbal cues that convey confidence, engagement, and genuine interest.

  • Their Questions for You: Does the candidate ask thoughtful, insightful questions that show they've researched your company and are genuinely interested in the role and your business?

  • Observe Interactions: How do they interact with various team members during an interview loop? Are they polite to your administrative staff?

Identifying Red Flags

Throughout the hiring process, look for red flags like these:

  • Inconsistencies: Conflicting information between the candidate’s resume and their interview, vague answers, or gaps in employment (not always a red flag, but worth asking about).

  • Negative Talk About Past Employers: While past challenges are understandable, consistent negativity or blaming others can be a sign of a difficult employee.

  • Lack of Enthusiasm or Research: If the candidate shows disinterest in your specific company or the role, or doesn’t have any questions for you, that can be a red flag.

  • Entitlement or Demands: Making unreasonable demands early in the process or expressing an expectation of special treatment.

  • Poor Communication During the Hiring Process: Delays or missed appointments (especially without proper communication), unprofessional emails, or an inability to communicate clearly during the interview.

By now, you should have a better understanding of the importance of soft skills and cultural fit in finding the right new employee. Focusing on these areas throughout the hiring process can help you move beyond just looking for employees with the skills and experience to do the job, and instead find candidates who will truly thrive and become valuable long-term assets for your business.

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