Values-Based Hiring: How to Build a Team That Thrives
- Chelsey Reynolds
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Building a company that lasts comes down to people. You can have the best strategy, the strongest marketing plan, and a product that customers love, but without the right team, growth stalls. On this episode of the Growth Department podcast, Chelsey Reynolds talks with Dr. David S. Cohen, author and founder of DS Cohen and Associates Group, about the power of hiring for values and behaviors (not just skills and experience). We'll break some of the key topics here!
Dr. Cohen has dedicated his career to helping organizations transform their hiring practices so that teams align around what really matters: authentic values lived out through daily behavior. His latest book, Selecting the Best: Fostering a Workforce Driven by Values for Lasting Success, digs into this process in depth. In our conversation, he shared practical ways founders and leaders can start applying these principles today.
Why Values Matter More Than Wall Decor
Most of us have seen a company’s values page with words like integrity, passion, or teamwork. Dr. Cohen calls this “wall decor.” These words sound good, but unless they translate into real behaviors, they don’t shape culture.
“Integrity is not a value,” he explains. “Integrity is the sum total of living your values. You have integrity when you live your values.”
In other words, values are not abstract words (or "fluff" as your gpt may call it). They are the strongly held beliefs that guide how people act when no one is watching. And if they are not clearly defined, every manager and employee will interpret them differently. That inconsistency can erode trust and lead to cultural breakdown.
Defining Values Through Stories and Moments of Truth
So how can leaders uncover their organization’s true values? Dr. Cohen suggests looking at what he calls “moments of truth” or “corporate legends.” These are stories employees tell about times when the organization’s values were tested, such as during moments of crisis, critical decisions, or acts of care.
He shared a powerful example from his work with Michelin. When a frontline employee’s child became critically ill, the company not only gave him time off but also covered his travel, lodging, and pay so he could be with his family. Years later, the same care was shown to a senior executive in a similar situation. The message was clear: Michelin truly valued the people on their team, regardless of role.
Stories like this define what values mean in practice. They also create predictability, which builds a sense of psychological safety across the company. Employees know how leaders will act because the behaviors are consistent with the values.
Behaviors Are the Building Blocks
Defining values is only the first step. The next step is translating those values into observable behaviors. For example, respect can look very different depending on where you are in the world. In Southeast Asia, respect means showing deference to your boss. In the U.S., it means speaking up and sharing your perspective. Without clear behavioral definitions, teams end up misaligned.
A good behavior statement is concrete and observable. Instead of saying “communicates well,” a company might define respect as “allows others to finish their thoughts before responding.” This clarity makes it easier to give feedback and easier to spot alignment during the hiring process.
Values-Based Hiring for Fit Starts with the Right Questions
Once values and behaviors are defined, they become the foundation of hiring. The goal is to identify candidates who not only have the necessary skills and knowledge but also demonstrate behaviors that align with company values.
Dr. Cohen cautions against relying on outdated job descriptions or applicant tracking systems that only filter for keywords. While these tools may surface candidates with certain skills, they often miss the “diamonds in the rough” who may not check every box but have the right values fit.
This is where behavioral interviewing comes in. Instead of asking generic questions like “Tell me about a time you solved a problem,” interviewers should ask specific, open-ended prompts that encourage storytelling.
For example:
“Tell me about a time when your team faced a deadline you didn’t think you would meet.”
“Tell me about a time when you had to choose between speed and quality.”
These questions reveal how candidates think, react, and behave in real situations. The key is not to guide them toward a “right” answer but to let their stories show whether their behaviors align with the organization’s values.
The Honesty Factor
One challenge with behavioral interviewing is that candidates may rehearse or even embellish their stories. To address this, Dr. Cohen recommends asking for references from within the story itself. If a candidate shares an example involving a coworker, ask for that coworker’s contact information to verify the details.
This creates what Dr. Cohen calls the “honesty factor.” Candidates who are telling the truth will have no problem providing a reference. Those who are not quickly reveal themselves.
Why Behaviors Trump Skills in the Long Run
Skills and knowledge are important, but they can be taught. Behaviors and values alignment are much harder to change.
“Skills are the gateway to be considered for a job,” Dr. Cohen explains. “Behaviors are the foundation for getting the job.”
A candidate who knows everything but clashes with the team’s values will create friction and drain morale. On the other hand, a candidate who needs to learn certain technical skills but lives the values will often thrive and grow into a star employee.
Practical Advice for Founders and Leaders
Anytime you're changing habits, it can take practice. Changing the way you think about your company values and behaviors, and how that all ties into hiring can take some time to get right. For founders who want to build thriving teams, Dr. Cohen offers several practical steps to get started:
Limit your values to three to five. Too many values dilute clarity. Fewer, well-defined values create stronger alignment.
Capture the stories. Ask employees to share times when the company’s values were tested and lived out. These stories bring values to life.
Define behaviors. Make each value observable through specific behaviors so everyone knows what they look like in practice.
Interview for alignment. Use behavioral questions that elicit real stories, not hypothetical answers. Look for recent examples, not stories from ten years ago.
Don’t outsource judgment to software. Use technology as a tool, but always review applicants with human eyes.
By following these steps, companies can avoid the trap of wall-decor values and build a culture that truly drives growth.
Final Thoughts
Hiring is one of the most important responsibilities for any founder or leader. Done well, it creates a culture where people trust each other, work through disagreements, and align on what really matters. Done poorly, it creates confusion and conflict that slows everything down.
Values-based hiring is about finding people you can trust to live your company’s values every day. As Dr. Cohen put it, “You want to have people you can sleep well at night knowing they’ll do the right thing at the right time.”
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