A great company culture is the lifeblood of an organization. It brings together a business’s most valuable resource– its people– under a solitary mission to help the organization and the individuals succeed and reach their goals. It’s because of this consideration that hiring the wrong people can be so detrimental.

Even the most skilled human resources professionals make mistakes during the hiring process. This leads to decreased productivity and increased turnover as everyone struggles to find their place within the company culture. Here are the main hiring mistakes to avoid when hiring someone to foster a great company culture.

Rushing Through the Process

Having a missing employee can be extremely challenging for an organization. Employees are forced to take on more of a workload to make up for the missing person, productivity wanes, and projects hit a standstill. These considerations often compel hiring managers to rush through the recruiting process, rather than taking the time to find the perfect person for the job.

Take the time to properly screen candidates and find the right person who will not only do the job well but will add value to the overall company culture.

Sticking to the Job Description

To find the best people to fit in with the organizational culture, treat the job description as guidelines rather than rules. If you see that a potential candidate may not be as skilled in some areas as the competition, but has a lot of supplementary skills in other areas that could be incorporated into their role, they deserve more consideration.

For example, if your organization is hiring someone for the marketing team and discover that one candidate has experience in accounting, it’s worth looking at how that experience could benefit the marketing team. Perhaps their analytical and forecasting skills could assist with new product development, while their understanding of invoicing templates (get a free photography invoice template from FreshBooks) could help with budgeting and expense tracking.

Focusing on the Resume

A candidate’s resume is a great summary of their past experience and how their education and career thus far will impact their capability to do the job for which they’re applying. However, it doesn’t capture who a person truly is and how they’ll fit into the company culture. Hiring managers need to look beyond the resume and consider the candidate’s driving motivations and goal path.

If a candidate’s values are not in alignment with the organization’s, it’s only a matter of time before conflict arises or they move onto a different company that is more congruent with their beliefs.

Not Checking References

A lot of companies are shifting away from checking references on an application. The idea behind this is that in most cases, a candidate will only include people they know will shine a positive light on them. However, sometimes a candidate’s belief of how they were perceived is not accurate. While someone may look great on paper, they could be difficult to manage and unwilling to work in collaborative environments.

Don’t just check the references that are given. Do some reconnaissance and call past employers who weren’t listed as references to get a better depiction of someone’s quality of work and ability to fit in.

Not Pre-Screening Candidates

Not pre-screening candidates often stems from trying to rush the process. There are a lot more recruiting processes to assist in the hiring process than the simple resume review and interview. Consider pre-screening your candidates by administering psychological and skills tests. This will help you evaluate if they fit in beyond the resume.

Psychological tests are the key to figuring out if someone will blend in and contribute to an excellent company culture. They also help identify potential areas of growth and strengths that may not have been adequately covered or explored on the application.

A strong company culture contributes to the longevity and success of an organization. As most people spend a significant portion of their lives working, everything a business can do to show their appreciation for that is monumental.