91% of managers say cultural fit is more important than skills or experience. Conversely, only about 1 in 4 managers say they understand what their culture is. Say what?

For many, culture is like porn. Well, in the sense that one Supreme Court justice put it years ago, “I know it when I see it.” Culture can be nebulous. Hard to put any handles on. Ethereal. The ghost in the workplace.

The numbers above bug me. If you think about it, then what many managers are, in essence, saying is that something they haven’t figured out how to measure is way more important than the things they can easily measure from an applicant’s CV.

Whether you are an employer or an employee, being inarticulate when it comes to culture can get us into trouble. Take the interview. This is one of the chief opportunities to learn about the culture and assess “fit.” What happens? We spend too much time talking about skills and experience.

Bottom line. If culture matters, and it does, then this is a riddle worth solving. Allocate the time to figure out how to articulate your culture. By doing so, your chances of finding people who fit into and extend that culture will become much easier.