Dive Brief:

• Articles at Harvard Business Review and Knowledge@Wharton offer slightly different views of the concept of "cultural fit" in recruiting talent, which has generated a lot of HR buzz of late.
• The Knowledge@Wharton article posits whether "culture fit" is too vague a term and can actually result in hiring bias.
• The HBR article discusses how cultural fit is the "glue that holds an organization together. That’s why it’s a key trait to look for when recruiting." But it also warns about it backfiring in discrimatory hiring practices if not done right.

Dive Insight:

While the two articles do not disagree completely on cultural fit, the more extensive Knowledge@Wharton piece explains that it's a very tough concept to gauge. 

“It is an incredibly vague term, and it’s a vague term often based on gut instinct,” Wharton management professor Katherine Klein, vice dean of the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, told Knowledge@Wharton. “The biggest problem is that while we invoke cultural fit as a reason to hire someone, it is far more common to use it to not hire someone.”

The HBR article is generally more positive about cultural fit, but writer Katie Bouton, founder and president of a national executive search firm for nonprofits, notes valid criticisms of the practice -- including issues with diversity. Boutin writes that it’s important to understand that hiring for culture fit doesn’t mean hiring people who are all the same. The values and attributes that make up an organizational culture can and should be reflected in a richly diverse workforce.

Though very different at the outset, both articles offer some sound advice to HR leaders who are thinking about how cultural fit can be part of their overall talent recruiting strategy.