What do I do if an employee is ‘great’ at sales but doesn’t ‘fit’ the culture?

Sound familiar? A ‘good’, maybe even ‘great’, salesperson is recruited and hits the ground running, kicking sales goals in the new role, however within a short space of time they have alienated their team, decided that the role is not for them and left the organisation. As we know the cost of this selection is huge and begs the question, why did this ‘great’ salesperson not work out?

While there are many possible scenarios and reasons, we often find that a major contributor is the cultural ‘fit’ between the individual and the organisation. In recent times there has been a great deal written about organisational culture, and while there is no one definition, many share common themes such as collective experience, beliefs, goals, norms, values, traditions, systems and routines.

It is commonly agreed that organisational culture is deeply rooted and often difficult for those inside to articulate and see with clarity. Cultural ‘fit’ is the compatibility between an individual’s and organisation’s values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. It is often overlooked when making recruitment decisions because organisations either do not know how to include it or do not see the importance of it.

Why cultural ‘fit’ is important?

Culture is everywhere in an organisation and is behind what happens… and what doesn’t happen in your organisation. Culture is strongly related to group values, and in turn group values are heavily influenced by what organisations and leaders prefer and encourage. As such, cultures have the power to attract people or expel them, and assessing values affords powerful insights.

Values are beliefs about what is important or desirable. Extensive research has shown compelling reasons for matching people with organisational culture and how it adds bottom-line value:

• Firstly, it is important that employees’ values match those of the organisation in order to create a cohesive and supportive environment.
• Secondly, a close value match between individuals and the organisation means the individual experiences significantly greater job satisfaction.
• Thirdly, where the organisation’s values and those of the individual align, employees stay longer and are more likely to adjust to the environment.
• Finally, the most productive organisations are those where employees stay and enjoy the job.

So, how do you measure cultural ‘fit’?

While there are many methods to gain insight into cultural ‘fit’, an effective way is through Psychometric Assessments and consulting. There are Psychometric Assessments that specifically provide insight into motives and values and identify the following key areas:

• Determine the existing culture and values system.
• Strengths and weaknesses within the organisation, including areas to leverage and ‘gaps’ the may hinder future success.
• Information about specific areas such as current potential for innovation and creativity- identifying individuals who naturally ‘have it’ and how to leverage this, as well as how to encourage those who do not.
• Information about the existing team to assist in recruiting new people into the business to ensure they ‘fit’.

Think about your organisational culture and what is promoted, encouraged and rewarded out of the following areas:

Aesthetics: attention to style, appearance, quality, work surroundings and ‘good taste’.
Affiliation: collaboration and social interaction.
Altruistic: concern for the welfare and wellbeing of others and their environment.
Commerce: business, money and bottom-line focus.
Hedonism: fun, entertaining and enjoyable workplace.
Power: success, accomplishment, status, competition and control.
Recognition: public recognition, approval and praise.
Scientific: data, knowledge, new and advanced technologies, and curiosity about how things work.
Security: certainty, predictability, order and stability.
Tradition: dedication to the status quo and old-fashioned virtues.

Now let’s use these frameworks to reconsider the ‘great’ salesperson and imagine that we had Psychometrically Assessed the salesperson and the organisation prior to them starting. The Assessment revealed that the organisational culture promotes high levels of interaction and working closely with team members (affiliation), encourages concern for wellbeing (altruism) and rewards appearance and quality rather than substance (aesthetics).

The Assessment also revealed that our ‘great’ salesperson prefers a workplace that promotes a money driven, bottom-line approach (commerce), encourages competition between team members and status (power) and rewards factual, data driven performance (science).

Can you see any potential areas of conflict or misfits between the individual and the organisation?

We hope that has given you a new way to articulate what it is promoted, encouraged and rewarded in your organisation, remembering that it will sometimes be intentional and other times intrinsic. While there are numerous methods, from our experience these Psychometric Assessments are the most efficient, effective and accurate methods to gain a true understanding of the motives and values of the individual and the organisation. However, it is also important to remember that Psychometric Assessments are only one piece of the recruitment process and best results are achieved from a multi-pronged approach.

We hope that this will help avoid the common mistake many of us have made of hiring sales people on ‘skill’ and then firing them on ‘fit’.

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Sue Barrett is a Thought Leader on 21st century sales training, sales coaching, sales leadership, sales capability and sales culture. She practices as a coach, advisor, speaker, facilitator, consultant and writer and works across all market segments with her skilful team at BARRETT.  They help people from many different careers become aware of their sales capabilities and enable them to take the steps to becoming effective, and productive when it comes to selling, sales coaching or sales leadership. Sue and her team are your first and best reference when it comes to forging out a successful career as a competent sales professional and leader . If you have an idea, capability, product, service or opportunity that can benefit another and make their life better in some way then Sue says you need to be able to sell – ethically, honourably, and effectively.  To hone your sales skills or learn how to sell go to www.barrett.com.au.