Core values and a strong corporate culture are some of the most important things for building a sustainable competitive advantage over the long run for any company. With a strong corporate culture it becomes more readily apparent when team members do and don’t fit. Inevitably, as hard as you try, some people will be hired that don’t fit the culture.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the more well defined and institutionalized the core values, the easier it is to see when a person doesn’t fit and the higher the likelihood it is for them to self select out. By self select out I mean that the person feels out of place and finds another job as quickly as possible. Yes, the best method is “slow to hire, quick to fire” but the reality is that too often firing someone takes longer and is more disruptive than desired. The best case with a new hire that isn’t a good fit is that they realize it quickly and leave as soon as possible.

What else? What are some other reasons strong core values help those that don’t fit self select out?