Quirky, awkward…or downright dislikable? Sometimes the people who don’t blend into the background (for all the wrong reasons) make the best hires! Not convinced?
Here, we’ll look into the emerging business trend of hiring people you don’t like, putting hard skills and offbeat thinking ahead of culture fit. YOONO you’re curious…so let’s dive in!
There’s something that Netflix, Apple and Google all have in common—they hire people for the problems they can solve, and not whether they’ll be a good Friday drinks companion. In many ways the workplace is not all that different from high school—you’ve got the popular people and then you’ve got the loners, the geeks and the freaks. The problem is that most companies have adopted a sanitised approach to hiring that excludes the unusual types, leading to a lack of diversity, original thought and inability to evolve further.
Many of the most pioneering businesses, particularly in the tech sector, are starting to take a completely different approach—hiring people who are great at their jobs (and bring something extra to boot), but not so great at playing the role of a simple cog in the wheel. In an era of business transparency, it is of course important to hold people who behave irresponsibly to account, but this seems to have been at the expense of hiring people who simply don’t fit the usual mould.
So, should you hire someone you don’t like? Or even more risky, someone who is controversial? Of course, we’re talking the lower end of the controversy scale, someone with an unpopular manner or unusual working methods, rather than controversial views (no need to call HR with this guide in hand). You might be surprised at how this simple idea can change the way you interview, hire and develop your business.
Let’s get our teeth into it.
Why controversial people (can) make great hires
Do you consider yourself to be a toe-the-line sort of person, or more of an outsider? We all want to feel like we’re part of something, and to be accepted socially by our peers, but these ingrained human desires can prevent us from seeking out fresh business solutions. It feels safer to surround ourselves with people we like (and who we think like us back), but it can be a riskier hiring strategy in the long-term.
Culture fit is important for fostering a sense of community and togetherness within an organisation, but it can also lead to an introverted ‘echo chamber’ effect in which all employees share similar thoughts, opinions and working styles. This can actually have a hugely detrimental effect on the rate at which the business can evolve, with culture fit companies tending to suffer from a wide range of problems, including stagnation, lack of diversity and lack of innovation.
It’s often at this stagnation stage that companies start thinking about bringing in people who are different to the cultural norm, but this can come at too late a stage, causing a shock effect that can easily backfire. Much better to build cultural diversity into your workforce from the outset, which also helps to prevent the development of a toxic work culture.
So is there something to be said for taking a risk, and hiring unlikeable people? Controversial people, who may have little interest in developing good social relationships with others, may also hold different ideas about how a company should operate and not be afraid to share them in the way that others might.
Controversial hires may be more direct, feeling able to speak out on issues that are holding the company back, however unpopular this might make them with their colleagues. Perhaps they sit in the RED corner of psychologist Elias Porter’s personalities-at-work system, making them more likely to come across as hyper-assertive, or perhaps they have less social tact when dealing with other people.
Some of the most successful CEOs also happen to be some of the most controversial people in business. See Larry Page (Google’s co-founder, who was once described as an ‘egomaniacal asshole’), Meta’s founder Mark Zuckerberg (“You can be unethical and still be legal; that’s the way I live my life.”) and now political Senior Advisor Elon Musk, who’s certainly no stranger to controversy. While these individuals lie at the extreme end of controversy in business, perhaps we can learn something from the fact that the companies they run tend to be so successful. Can we equate controversy with a fresh outlook? Or is rubbing people up the wrong way a shortcut to a revolving door of disgruntled employees?
Whether you choose to stay in lane, hiring culture fit candidates who won’t ruffle feathers, or take the risk by hiring controversial or unlikeable people who may bring innovative ideas to the table, it’s certainly a psychological experiment, but one that certain companies in the tech sector seem to be willing to take on.
Should you hire someone you don’t like?
We often seem determined to hire people we simply get on with better, sometimes over people we know would do a better job…but feel less warmly towards. At interview, employers tend to look for signs that the individual will gel well with the existing team, or share more similarities with themselves. In fact, a 2024 survey found that 54% of hiring managers prioritise ‘soft skills’ over qualifications or past employment credentials in job candidates. Adzuna also picked up on the importance of personality-driven skills in crafting a CV that gets picked up by employers. The most desirable personality traits picked up by CV scanners include friendliness, confidence, enthusiasm, reliability and motivation.
So, if you’re not a likeable person, is it impossible to get hired? Well not exactly, but it is a whole lot harder. The issue is that hirers are really missing out if they simply hire on the basis of culture fit, or at an even more basic level, personality fit.
There’s something to be said in hiring someone you don’t like on a personal level; they may be just the ticket for injecting fresh thinking into your business. Avoid falling into the trap of hiring for culture fit by thinking outside the box and trying to understand why someone who is dislikable, awkward, or even downright difficult might actually be just what your business needs.
Patty McCord, former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix, is an expert at hiring people who are great matches, albeit unexpected ones, for the tech giants of Silicon Valley. She recalls an interview with Christian Kaiser, who went on to be the (very successful) VP of Platform Engineering at the streaming company:
‘Christian wasn’t what I’d expected. He had a thick German accent, and he stuttered. This was the great communicator? On top of that, he was clearly nervous. Our conversation was painful for him and for me. But when I asked him to explain, in simple terms, the technical work he was doing, he was transformed. He still stuttered, but he gave me a riveting explanation, and I realised, That’s it! He’s great at making really complicated things understandable. We hired him, and he’s been an amazing team builder.’
It was clear to Patty that Christian would understand and be able to communicate the technical requirements of Netflix better than anyone, which completely trumped his awkward interview style.
What makes a person unpopular or somewhat of a loner at work can actually be indicative of a different interest and motivation to others. Many people spend a huge amount of energy and time in building strong relationships at work, sometimes at the expense of their actual productivity and output. Those with more introverted personalities may not come across as ‘team players’ but can bring a huge amount of value to a business in a different capacity.
What employers have to decide is where the line between dislikability and ‘lone genius’ lie, and what they’re willing to put up with. If someone is difficult in a way that is likely to have a significant impact on the morale of other team members, it might not be worth hiring them, however fantastic they are at engineering, strategy or other hard skills.
Think eccentric outsider, not complete a**hole, and you’re on the right track!
The 5 traits controversial hires can bring into your business (for better or worse)
We’re not saying that you should hire x or y, despite the fact you got a really bad feeling about them in interview. No employer should recruit on the basis of a trend; after all the business owner knows their company best!
If, however, you think a fresh approach is worth considering, and you might like to expand your hiring horizons, we’ve identified five traits that controversial hires often bring into a business. Do they sound tolerable? OK, cool. Actually quite exciting? Even better!
See this as a checklist for your next interview line-up. Controversial hires are often:
01 - Loners, introverts or socially set apart.
They’re likely to be too engrossed in their own job role to be concerned with office politics. They might go out of their way to avoid social situations, like team days or social lunches.
02 - Really direct…like, uncomfortably straight-up.
People who are unpopular aren’t usually concerned about what other people think of them. They may have less of a barrier for sharing their opinion, even if that’s a bold view about how your company should be run differently.
03 - Super intelligent.
Unusual hires at a high level haven’t got to this point with their people skills. Eccentric candidates are often extremely intelligent, and have likely channelled their energies into intellectual interests and hobbies, rather than people, over the years. They can bring valuable insights and smart, innovative thinking into a business.
04 - Excluded by others.
Eccentric employees can attract attention, whether wanted or unwanted, and be the subject of purposeful exclusion for the fact that they stand out from the crowd. To avoid too much segregation of one dislikable or unusual individual (them versus the clique), it’s much better to bring in several unique hires to create a more balanced working environment.
05 - Not the best employees to have in every situation.
While your controversial hire might be perfectly placed for shaking things up, they’re not always going to be the right fit for certain contexts at work. For sensitive situations, involving personal concerns or conflict, those with a high EQ (emotional intelligence) are often better adapted to offer diplomatic people skills than those who court controversy.
How do YOONO if they’re worth the risk?
Whether they’re eccentric, offbeat or dancing to their own tune, unusual hires can work for any business with the right know-how in place.
The first step in bringing anyone into your business is really knowing who they are. That way, their eccentricities won’t take you by surprise.
With a YOONO report, you can find out everything you need to know about a potential hire, giving you the knowledge to make the best move. With a single search you can see their complete employment history, background, online persona, related people and much more. So now YOONO!
