Cultural fit?

Worried about your new hire’s culture fit? You may be surprised.

When Norm Berryman joined the Crusaders in ‘98, people thought they’d gotten selection wrong.

Robbie Deans recalls, “I was managing when, when Normie Berryman came down and the most consistent message I got from people outside of our region at the time was, ‘Why are you picking him? He'll be a problem to you. He doesn't fit your culture.’”

The Crusaders saw things differently.

“It was the perfect marriage. Normie had elements that we needed. We lacked a bit of size, a bit of robustness, a bit of attitude. He brought that. And we had what he needed: the team element, that sense of belonging, that sense of caring by the people around him.”

“And he was such a powerful influence, not only in terms of his raw capability. At the end of his days he was preaching to new arrivals about what was important, because he could see himself in them.”