Cultural Fit Vs. Skills Fit: What Matters Most In Procurement Hiring?

The first person is a potential employee because of the cultural fit. But, when it comes to skills, the 2nd person is a better choice. You are torn between both options and unable to decide which of the two will be the right one for the vacant position. This type of dilemma is very common in procurement hiring as finding both these attributes in one person is not that easy and most of the time, you have to pick one over the other. 

Today, we will discuss how a procurement recruitment agency is able to make a wise choice as we are going to evaluate the role played by both these factors in the hiring process. 

Building Team Spirit and Creating Harmony With A Cultural Fit Work Force  

It is important to note that there is no way one can tell whether procurement recruitment agencies should be prioritising cultural fit or just pay more attention to skills fit for a particular recruiting process because we need to be aware of the role that the hired employee is expected to play in the organisation. Some organisations thrive on teamwork more than anything else. Their harmony, work culture, belief system and values as a business organisation are the secret behind their success. 

In that case, they will surely be picking someone who ticks this off as they believe that the skills can be enhanced by providing proper training and support to the new employee. However, their work ethic or the way in which they communicate cannot be changed overnight through training alone. Being a team player has to be an inborn quality and if the candidate is not good at contributing as a part of a big team, they will fail to rise to the expectations that are set for performing well in the job. 

Building A Workforce That Is Highly Skilled And Proficient By Focusing on Skill Fit 

This is actually the standard in supply chain recruitment and most agencies tend to select the candidates only if they are skilled enough to perform the tasks that are mentioned in the job description. If you look at IT sector jobs and other skill-oriented jobs, you will see that the employer will always place more emphasis on a candidate being skilled because the criteria for fulfilling the duties and responsibilities in such job positions comes down to one’s skills, knowledge and abilities.

Still, you cannot expect that an employee will be efficient just because their resume has a long list of the skills they acquired from various courses or other training programs. Someone who is not passionate or committed to their job will fail to deliver the desired output even if they have a lot of experience and expertise in the sector. They will end up becoming a misfit in the organisation if their personal goals don’t align with the vision of the establishment and thus cultural fit is also something to consider before making a final decision. 

However, the recruitment process cannot be entirely based on cultural fit alone as it is something more qualitative and also varies based on perception or situations. You can get an idea about the work ethic and communication skills of an employee by asking questions that shed light on the values that they believe in or even by researching their performance in previous workplaces. Still, it is hard to judge a book by its cover as all candidates will only reveal their best side during the hiring process.