Culture Fit…or Discrimination?
I've sat in on a lot of interview debriefs over the years. And I've noticed a pattern that shows up more often than most leaders would like to admit.
One candidate gets asked about their five-year plan, their leadership philosophy, what they're passionate about outside of work. The next candidate, gets asked if their lifestyle supports full-time work, long hours or what their spouse does. Nobody planned it that way. Nobody would say it out loud. But afterward, the feedback on that second candidate is some version of "not sure they'd fit in here."
What culture fit is supposed to mean
Culture fit should be about values. What does your company actually stand for? How do you define success? What does accountability look like when things go wrong? Those are answerable, objective questions, and a candidate can genuinely align or not align with them.
The problem is that most leaders never write those values down in a way that's usable in an interview. So "fit" quietly becomes a feeling instead of a standard. And whenever a decision is subjective, it becomes vulnerable to bias, because the gap gets filled by instinct instead of criteria.
Where the bias actually comes from
Here's the uncomfortable part. Most leaders who lean on "culture fit" are not trying to discriminate. I genuinely believe that. But bias doesn't need intention to do damage, it just needs an unguarded moment.
I was recently in a conversation, not with a client, where someone made blatantly prejudiced comments about a group of coworkers, the kind of generalizing, "they all" language that has no place anywhere. It stopped me in my tracks, because I knew that mindset doesn't stay contained to a private conversation. It shapes how that person talks about candidates. It shapes who gets the benefit of the doubt in an interview and who doesn't. It shapes hiring decisions, even when nobody involved would ever call it that.
This is how it happens more quietly, in workplaces every day: we're naturally warmer toward people who remind us of ourselves. Our tone shifts when someone shares our interests. We ask harder questions of people who feel unfamiliar and easier ones of people who feel familiar. Like hires like, not out of malice, but because it's the path of least resistance. And "culture fit" is the label that lets that pattern go unquestioned.
The risk isn't just an unfair outcome for one candidate. It's a workforce built entirely through one lens, one perspective, one version of "normal." I've worked with people across many nationalities, genders, and backgrounds, and the teams that function best are never the ones where everyone thinks alike. Sameness feels comfortable. It also makes you susceptible to blind spots you can't see precisely because no one in the room is positioned to catch them.
How to actually evaluate it objectively
If culture fit is really about values, then it can be assessed the same way you'd assess any other hiring criteria.
Start by defining your values in behavioral terms, not adjectives. Not "we value collaboration," but what collaboration actually looks like when a deadline is tight or a project goes sideways.
Ask every candidate the same core questions, in the same order, and hold the same standard for a strong answer regardless of who's giving it.
Involve more than one interviewer, and compare notes before anyone's gut feeling gets treated as a verdict. A single person's read on "fit" is one data point, not a decision.
Notice when you're about to pass on someone for a reason you can't quite articulate. That's usually the moment to slow down, not speed up.
Culture fit, done properly, makes your hiring stronger. Culture fit, done on instinct, is where good companies quietly get themselves into trouble.
Jody Bomhof is the Founder of Momentum Talent Solutions Inc., a boutique Canadian contract talent placement firm specializing in strategic placements for HR, Marketing, and AI professionals. When she’s not helping teams build hiring processes they can trust, she is out on the golf course or spending time with her daughter, where knowing when to stop talking is also, it turns out, a useful skill.
Ready to find a role where your communication style is actually an asset? Reach out at info@momentumtalent.ca. We would love to be in your corner.
