Inspired Inclusion - Beyond “Fitting In”: Hiring for Belonging: An Inspired Reflection by Chris McLaughlin, MSW, LCSW

In the world of hiring and organizational development, the word “fit” gets used a lot. Heck, I’ve even used it myself in the past. It’s the kind of word that seems harmless, almost innocuous, even. We want new team members to “fit” our culture, to “fit” with the team dynamic, to “fit” into the way we do things around here.

But here’s the truth that I’ve come to learn that we don’t say out loud enough: When we hire for “fit,” we often hire for sameness.

When "Fit" Becomes a Code Word

In many hiring conversations, “fit” becomes a kind of shorthand. It’s a vague, unexamined feeling of whether someone seems like “our kind of person.” But what does that really mean?

For many organizations, especially those operating within predominantly white, cisgender, able-bodied, heteronormative frameworks, “fit” becomes synonymous with familiarity, comfort, and cultural conformity. Without realizing it, interviewers may gravitate toward candidates who mirror their communication style, educational background, or career path. Research even shows that there may be unconscious preferences for those candidates who share some of the same or similar physical traits to us. Interviewers may prize surface level similarities over real or potential talent, and both sides lose out when this happens.
“Fit” has now become a gatekeeper. “Fit” can close the door to diverse candidates who may not share dominant culture norms but who bring fresh insights, vital perspectives, and innovative leadership potential.

From “Culture Fit” to “Culture Add”

If we believe in building organizations where everyone feels like they belong—truly belong—then we need to move away from the idea of “culture fit” and instead embrace the idea of culture add.

Culture add means asking different questions during the hiring process:

• What perspectives are missing from this team?
• How will this candidate stretch our thinking, not just reinforce it?
• What new lenses might this person bring to our work?
• How can we prepare our team to grow with this new addition, rather than expecting the new hire to adapt to us?

These questions challenge us to move from comfort to courage. They require us to interrogate the assumptions we make about “professionalism,” “readiness,” or “leadership potential”, assumptions that are often steeped in unspoken bias.

Decentering Whiteness & Cisgender/Heteronormativity in Interviewing

Let’s be clear: Decentering whiteness and cisgender/heteronormativity doesn’t mean vilifying white, cis, or heterosexual team members or leadership. It means examining the ways in which dominant cultural norms, especially those tied to communication, conflict, ambition, emotional expression, and hierarchy, often go unquestioned and are seen as “standard” or “neutral.”

When those norms are embedded into how we conduct interviews, evaluate resumes, or structure onboarding, we risk creating exclusionary systems. In exclusionary systems, candidates with nontraditional backgrounds, unique presentations, different accents, community-based experience, or non-linear career paths are automatically viewed as “less than” or “not a fit.”

Decentering dominant identities in the hiring process means:

• Valuing lived experience alongside formal education
• Diversifying who sits at the interview table
• Asking behavioral questions that allow multiple ways of demonstrating competence
• Holding space for different communication styles and cultural cues
• Actively naming and disrupting bias in how we interpret candidate responses

Intersectionality and the Responsibility of Leadership

As leaders, we’re tasked with holding the complexities of people and recognizing that every candidate brings with them a unique combination of identities, histories, strengths, and vulnerabilities. Interviewing and onboarding must take into account intersectionality: the way race, gender identity, sexuality, disability, neurodiversity, age, class, and more intersect to shape someone’s experience in the workplace. When we don’t lead with this lens, we risk replicating harm, even when we have the best of intentions.

If your team claims to value belonging, then you’re not just hiring to fill a seat. You’re hiring with the understanding that you are building the culture with this new person—not asking them to shrink to fit the one you already have.

Let’s Redefine What We’re Looking For

Let’s challenge the idea that the best hire is the one who will hit the ground running with minimal disruption. Sometimes, disruption is exactly what we need.

Let’s embrace the candidate who helps us see our blind spots, who reflects the communities we claim to serve, who calls us into better alignment with our values.

Let’s redefine “fit” not as how well someone conforms but how boldly someone can show up as their authentic, and how ready we are to make space for that.

Reflection Questions for Hiring Teams

If you're leading or sitting on a hiring panel, consider reflecting on these prompts as part of your process:

1. What does “fit” mean to us, and who defines it?
2. How might our definition of professionalism be rooted in dominant culture norms?
3. Who gets centered in our interview questions, and who gets sidelined?
4. What training or conversations has our team had about implicit bias, equity, or cultural humility?
5. What systems do we have in place to support the success of someone who doesn’t share the same background or identities as the current team?

Final Thought

Belonging doesn’t just happen. We build it. Hiring is one of the most powerful tools we have for shaping inclusive, thriving workplaces. Let’s make sure we’re using that tool to expand—not limit—what’s possible. As always, Inspired Consulting Group is here to support your efforts in elevating your interviewing and hiring processes and bringing the best qualified team members to your organization.

In community,

Chris McLaughlin, MSW, LCSW
Owner & Lead Consultant
Inspired Consulting Group, LLC