This topic is a fun one, because it will usually ruffle some feathers and it’s USUALLY (not always) people, that don’t value a healthy culture. They are more focused on bottom line, just getting the job done and the immediate outcomes. Those people won’t be able to see the long term damage someone that is a poor culture fit, could actually overtime put the project/product/company at risk.
Why would a top performer be anything but a positive for a project/product/company? When they are a poor culture fit, it can stunt the growth of the people around the top performer. It can make people leave, which creates high churn in the team, which puts you as a leader at risk…because if the top performer decides to move on, you are now left with a bunch of people that are either brand new, or have been there for a long time, but have checked out to stay out of the way of the poor culture fit.
The absolute worst case, the poor culture fit actually changes the direction of the culture of your teams. Then it makes it difficult to get people into the company and the few people that do join, will be fast to leave. It’s up to you as a leader to protect your culture at all costs…that doesn’t mean immediately cut a poor culture fit. It’s a coaching opportuntiy and you should be stepping up and coaching the poor culture fit. If you coach well and they don’t turn, then it’s your job to move them out.
This is a very volatile topic and even people in your company will argue to keep a top performer at all costs…but the reality is, in the long run…if they won’t change, it’s better to move them on.
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