????你了解你夢寐以求的那位求職者嗎？他擁有出眾的個人履歷以及名牌大學學歷。為了從競爭對手那里挖墻腳，各大公司爭相給出誘人的薪酬和福利待遇。但是，當他在合同上簽完字，坐到自己獨立的辦公室，并把兩腳搭在紅木辦公桌上時，原先那個無可挑剔的求職者，此時已經變成了公司的噩夢。

????大部分企業依然在人際關系網LinkedIn上篩選簡歷，想要找到經驗最豐富，并且擁有名牌大學學歷的求職者。但是，人才招聘企業和研究人員逐漸意識到，在許多行業，那些最符合條件的求職者，如果無法融入企業文化，通常會對企業造成損害。

????沃頓商學院（The Wharton School）管理學專業副教授南希?羅斯巴德表示：“求職者要想充分發揮自己的才能，文化契合度至關重要。你的技能會給企業帶來好處；但是，如果存在文化方面的沖突，這一好處將完全被抵消。”

????文化契合度可以包含各種特征，但是羅斯巴德以及其他人均認為，最終，招聘經理需要面對的問題是，求職者的價值觀是否與企業的價值觀一致，他們工作與生活如何平衡，企業的使命甚至包括如何處理客戶來電。

????2009年，羅斯巴德與另外兩位作者在《組織科學》（Organization Science）上發表了一篇論文。在這篇名為《審視工作經驗：職業背景如何影響工作表現》（Unpacking Prior Experience: How Career History Affects Job Performance）的論文中，他們對一家保險企業的招聘方法進行了研究。研究人員預計，無法較好地融入企業文化，將會妨礙新進員工取得成功，但是最終結果卻讓他們大吃一驚：糟糕的文化契合度，完全抵消了工作經驗帶來的所有優勢。

????研究發現，不同企業的文化存在較大差異，即便最有經驗的新進員工，也需要進行再培訓，才能在新企業繼續他們從事多年的工作。

????一位高級人事經理對研究人員表示：“我們花了大價錢，從競爭對手那里聘用經驗豐富的員工。但是[我們聘用的人]卻極少能取得成功。”

????羅斯巴德認為，一名員工已有的經驗和技能，可能妨礙他在新公司的發展。比如，他在一家保險公司形成了就理賠討價還價的習慣，那么在另一家收取高額保費、但更注重為客戶提供卓越服務的保險公司，他的發展可能會受到束縛。

????這些問題并不僅僅限于保險行業。公司執行委員會（Corporate Executive Board）常務董事布萊恩?克魯普認為，在許多行業中，與經驗相比，企業更注重個人品性。

????他表示：“高盛（Goldman Sachs）與美國富國銀行（Wells Fargo）在公司文化方面存在較大差異。雖然他們都屬于金融服務企業，業務也基本類似，但是他們的員工工作方式卻完全不同。”

????他在研究中發現，員工能否在入職后18個月內獲得成功，約有一半的原因在于他能否和組織內其他人員融洽相處，而另一半則取決于他是否具備勝任這個工作的能力。

????再就業咨詢公司挑戰者公司（Challenger, Gray & Christmas）首席執行官約翰?A?基林格表示，任職資格是可以培養的，但文化契合度這種難以量化的指標，對于求職者能否取得成功卻是至關重要的。

????基林格認為，求職者的個人品性與企業的文化要保持一致。空缺的職位越高，這一點越是應該得到確保。

????他表示：“對于更高級別的職位，你需要和老板甚至和職員們一起，對求職者進行多次面試。你與求職者有什么樣的聯系？他是不是有點像我們現在團隊中的某個人？”

????對于招聘人員來說，回答這個問題可能是最大的挑戰。由于文化契合度無法通過有形的方式進行測試，所以最好從多個角度來完成這個任務。

????克魯普認為：“面試問題無法有效的預測這一點。”

????克魯普認為，在正式的面試程序中，求職者會迎合面試官，調整自己的回答，只說他們認為面試官愛聽的話。

????克魯普表示，通過心理智能測驗，計量求職者的契合度的方法日益普遍，尤其是在歐洲地區。對于那些實際上難以計量的因素，這種測驗是一種更加科學的計量方法。

????雇主們也在挑選一些更加詳盡的職位描述，作為另外一種策略。許多職位描述里充滿了陳詞濫調，并沒有突出特定的工作職責，以及企業希望獲得的任職資格。

????但克魯普表示，在一些企業的職位要求中，他們提供了詳細的企業及其文化方面的信息。他們希望，求職者能夠通過將其中的關鍵字與自己進行對比，自己做出篩選。如果求職者希望一周工作40個小時，而公司要求更長的工作時間，那么他就會打消求職的念頭。而更擅長團隊環境的求職者，則會自動略過要求大量獨立工作的招聘廣告。

????克魯普表示：“公司可以提前將他們的要求明確地提出來，這樣求職者就可以明白他們是否適合這份工作，而不需要公司進行評估。”

????但依靠自我選擇的劣勢在于，在當前的就業環境下，即便知道自己并不適合這份工作，求職者也可能進行嘗試，并相信自己能夠改變。

????要找到最適合一個企業的求職者，最有效的方法是從企業內部著手。依靠員工的人脈，聘用他們了解的人，這是一種符合成本效益的方法，并且更能保證團隊的其他成員愿意與新員工共事。

????內部推薦還有額外的好處，那就是向員工授權，讓他們感到自己是公司的主人，并有機會挑選自己的同事。

????克魯普表示：“最好的方法并不是進行測試。人們通常喜歡與志趣相投的人呆在一起。這是關系網該起作用的地方。”

????You know that dream job candidate? The one with the pristine resume and Ivy League credentials. The one that companies try to steal from their competitors by offering generous salaries and lavish benefits. The same dream candidate that can just as easily turn into a nightmare by the time he signs his contract and props his feet up on the mahogany desk in his corner office.

????While most businesses continue to scour resumes and lurk on LinkedIn for the person with the most experience and degrees from the best schools, hiring firms and researchers are beginning to realize that in many industries, the most qualified candidates often do damage to a firm when they don't jibe with the firm's culture.

????"Cultural fit is incredibly important on a candidate's abilities to use his skills," says Nancy Rothbard, an associate professor of management at The Wharton School. "You have a positive effect through skills, but culture completely cancels that out."

????Cultural fit can cover a variety of characteristics, but ultimately, Rothbard and others say, the question hiring managers should be looking to answer is, does this candidate's values align with those of the company, be they work-life balance, corporate mission or how to handle a customer phone call.

????Rothbard and two co-authors published a paper, "Unpacking Prior Experience: How Career History Affects Job Performance," in Organization Science in 2009 that examined the hiring practices at an insurance firm. They expected that poor fit would be detrimental in the success of new employees, but in fact, the results were a surprise to researchers: poor cultural fit completely eliminated all the good that came from experience.

????Culture varied so vastly from company to company in the study that some of the most experienced hires appeared to need retraining to complete tasks they had been doing for years.

????"We tried to hire from our competitors and paid a premium for the experience, but [those hires] were the least successful," a senior human resources manager told the researchers.

????The learned skills that an employee honed, such as haggling over claims at one insurance company, hindered that employee's development at another organization that charged high premiums but provided excellent customer service, Rothbard says.

????These issues are not restricted to the insurance industry. Brian Kropp, a managing director at Corporate Executive Board, says that companies value personality over experience in a range of industries.

????"The culture of Goldman Sachs is very different from the culture of Wells Fargo," he says. "Both are financial services firms and do similar things, but their employees behave very differently."

????In his studies, he has found that almost half of an employee's success in the first 18 months on the job can be attributed to how the employee fits in with others in the organization while the rest of his success depends on whether he can do the job.

????John A. Challenger, CEO of outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, says that qualifications are malleable, but fitting in -- a less quantifiable measure -- should make or break a candidate.

????The more senior the open position, the more a company ought to ensure that a candidate's personality is in line with the organizational culture, Challenger says.

????"At higher levels, you need to conduct multiple interviews across the chain, with employers and employees," he says. "What kind of connection do you feel to the candidate? Does this person seem like one of us?"

????Answering those questions can be the greatest hiring challenge. There is no one concrete way to test for cultural fit, so it's best to approach the task from several directions.

????"Interview questions tend not to be great predictors," Kropp says.

????During formal processes like interviews, Kropp says, candidates tend to tailor their answers to what they think the interviewer wants to hear.

????The use of psychometric tests to gauge a candidate's fit continues to increase in popularity, especially in Europe, Kropp says. These tests are a somewhat more scientific way to measure something that is, in reality, immeasurable.

????Employers are also drafting more detailed job descriptions as another strategy. Many job descriptions are filled with platitudes and clichés, instead of focusing on the specific tasks and qualifications that a firm is looking for.

????Instead, Kropp says, some companies are providing detailed information about the company and its culture in the postings. The hope is that candidates will screen themselves out when they see keywords that don't align with their lifestyles. Someone looking for a 40-hour week will likely be discouraged by a listing that advertises long hours, while a job seeker who thrives in a team environment would skip an ad that requires lots of independent work.

????"Rather than have the organization do an assessment, they can make it much clearer, and clearer earlier, what they are looking for, so job candidates can figure if it's a bad fit," Kropp says.

????The downside of relying on self-selection is that, in the current job market, applicants may try for jobs that they know won't fit them, convincing themselves that they can change.

????The most effective way to find a candidate that belongs to the group may be to look within the group. Relying on employees' networks to recruit people they know is cost-effective and creates a higher level of assurance that the rest of the team will want to work with the new person.

????Referrals have the added benefit of empowering employees, giving them a sense of ownership and the opportunity to pick their coworkers.

????"The best way is not to test," Kropp says. "Like people like to spend time with like people. That is where networks come in."