Hire, Fire, and Hold Accountable: Building a Team Anchored in Core Values
If you want to build a business that doesn’t just survive but thrives — it starts with your core values.
Too often, companies invest time and money into crafting mission statements, logos, and flashy marketing, but they neglect the most powerful tool for long-term success: core values that are real, actionable, and used daily to guide hiring, firing, and employee accountability.
Without this foundation, even the best strategies will crumble. Teams will drift. Cultures will become toxic. Leaders will find themselves constantly putting out fires instead of moving forward.
But when you hire, fire, and lead based on your core values? You build an organization that’s resilient, unified, and primed for growth.
In this article, we’ll dive into how you can align every stage of the employee lifecycle — from recruiting to retention — with your company’s core values to create a high-performing, people-centered workplace.
Why Core Values Should Be at the Heart of Your People Strategy
Core values aren’t just buzzwords for the break room poster. Done right, they:
Attract the right candidates who believe what you believe
Create clear expectations for how people show up every day
Serve as objective benchmarks for performance and behavior
Protect and strengthen your culture as you scale
When core values are truly woven into your processes, they become your company's "true north." They help you make hard decisions with clarity and confidence — especially around the most critical aspects of HR: hiring, firing, and holding people accountable.
Hiring by Core Values: Finding the Right Fit from Day One
Hiring is one of the most important decisions you’ll make as a leader. And yet, many organizations still hire based on resumes and technical skills alone — without digging into whether a candidate actually aligns with the organization’s DNA.
Here’s how to hire by core values:
Integrate your core values into the job description. Paint the picture of not just what the job is, but who will thrive in it based on your culture.
Ask values-based interview questions. Instead of asking only about skills, design behavioral interview questions that uncover alignment.
Example: If one of your values is "ownership," ask, "Tell me about a time you owned a project that didn’t go as planned. How did you handle it?"
Evaluate candidates with a values lens. During debriefs, assess candidates on two axes: can they do the job, and do they live the values?
Hiring by core values isn’t about finding "perfect" candidates. It’s about finding people who will enhance, not erode, your culture.
Firing by Core Values: Making Hard Choices with Clarity
No one enjoys letting people go. But sometimes, the wrong hire or a shift in behavior means that someone no longer belongs on the team.
When you anchor your decisions in your core values, firing becomes clearer — not easier, but clearer.
If an employee repeatedly violates your values despite coaching and support, that’s your signal. It’s not personal. It's about protecting the integrity of the team and the company’s future.
Tips for firing by core values:
Document behaviors that violate values, not just technical performance.
Have coaching conversations early and often. Give people the chance to realign before escalating.
Be direct, kind, and values-driven when parting ways. It honors the individual while reinforcing what matters most to your organization.
When you tolerate behavior that’s inconsistent with your core values, you send a message to the rest of your team: our values are negotiable. Don’t let that happen.
Holding Your Team Accountable by Core Values: The Everyday Work
The best companies don’t just hire and fire by their core values — they live them out loud every day.
Accountability to core values isn’t about micromanagement. It’s about creating a shared commitment to excellence and respect. Here’s how you can make values-based accountability a daily reality:
Recognition: Publicly acknowledge when people embody the values.
Example: "I want to give a shoutout to Sarah for showing true 'customer-first' thinking when she stayed late to help that client yesterday."
Feedback: Tie feedback — both positive and constructive — back to the core values.
Example: "One of our values is continuous improvement. When deadlines slip, let’s focus on how we can learn and iterate faster next time."
Performance Reviews: Evaluate not just what was achieved, but how it was achieved based on values.
Lead by Example: Leaders must live the values first and foremost. If leadership is out of sync with the values, accountability falls apart.
Accountability isn’t punishment — it’s a gift. It gives your team clarity, pride, and direction.
Why It Matters Now More Than Ever
In today’s market, talent has choices. Candidates and employees are looking for more than just a paycheck — they want to work somewhere meaningful.
Organizations that embed core values into every stage of the employee journey have a massive competitive advantage:
Lower turnover
Higher engagement
Stronger employer brand
More cohesive, resilient teams
The bottom line? Your core values are your culture, and your culture is your brand.
If you don’t intentionally build it, it will build itself — and you may not like the result.
Hiring, firing, and holding your team accountable by your core values isn’t a one-time initiative. It's an ongoing, deliberate discipline that sets great companies apart.
At Roper HR Solutions, we specialize in helping organizations build values-based HR strategies that drive real results — from crafting custom interview guides to designing performance systems that bring your culture to life.
Ready to align your people strategy with your purpose?
Let’s chat about how we can help you hire, fire, and lead by your core values — and build the team your company deserves.
