Is Your Workplace Feeling Like a Soap Opera?
If your team feels misaligned, unmotivated, or overwhelmed by drama, you might find yourself constantly putting out fires. Employee conflicts, inconsistent behaviors, and lack of initiative can disrupt productivity and morale. If this sounds familiar, it’s time to take a step back and establish—or reinforce—your company’s core values.
Core values are more than words on a wall. When properly defined and consistently applied, they become powerful tools for guiding behavior, improving decision-making, and creating a cohesive work environment.
In this article, we’ll explore the power of core values, how they influence leadership and management, and practical steps for creating and implementing them effectively.
If you’re ready to create your own, here’s our step-by-step core values guide to bring your team together and define yours.
What Are Core Values and Why Do They Matter?
At their core (pun intended), core values are the philosophical underpinnings of your business. They define who you are, what you stand for, and how you operate. They serve as a North Star for your team, ensuring that decisions and behaviors align with the company’s mission and culture.
Without core values, teams can struggle to stay consistent. In small healthcare or dental offices, employees might initially learn how things are done through direct observation. But as the business grows, relying on osmosis isn’t enough—leaders can’t be everywhere at once. Core values for dental practices and healthcare teams serve as a framework that enables employees to make decisions independently while staying true to the company’s mission.
How Core Values Fit into Your Business Strategy
Purpose, Mission, and Core Values
Core values don’t exist in isolation. They are part of a larger strategic foundation that includes:
- Purpose: Why does your business exist? What void would it leave if it disappeared? This is the bigger picture that inspires your team.
- Mission: What are your big, audacious goals for the year? These define where you’re headed and provide direction.
- Core Values: How do you expect your team to behave while working toward the mission and purpose?
When these three elements align, they create a clear vision for success. Employees not only understand their day-to-day responsibilities but also recognize how their actions contribute to the business’s broader goals.
Using Core Values to Strengthen Team Culture
Core values are particularly powerful in industries like healthcare and dentistry, where patient experience is paramount. In highly competitive environments—such as dental practices, where patients have plenty of alternatives—ensuring that every interaction reflects your values can set you apart.
For example, consider a dental office where one of the core values is “Respect”—meaning every patient interaction should be professional, warm, and accommodating. If a front desk employee dismisses a patient’s concern or speaks rudely, it contradicts this value and risks losing business. Clear core values for dental practices allow leadership to address behaviors in an objective, structured manner.
Core Values in Leadership and Management
Leaders and managers face daily challenges in decision-making and employee management. Core values provide a structured way to navigate these challenges, ensuring consistency and fairness.
For instance, imagine a front desk employee in a medical office receiving a last-minute call from a patient needing an appointment. The patient has an unpaid balance and, per policy, should not be scheduled. However, the employee—working alone at the end of the day—decides to book the appointment anyway, believing it aligns with the core value of “Empathy.”
While this decision may have gone against strict policy, it was made in good faith within the framework of the company’s values. In such situations, managers can evaluate the action in light of core values rather than simply punishing a deviation from procedure.
How to Bring Core Values to Life
Core values should be actively integrated into hiring, training, performance management, and decision-making. Here are a few ways to make them part of your team alignment strategy:
- Hiring and Onboarding: Include core values in interview questions. Ask candidates to describe past experiences that reflect these values.
- Training: Reinforce values from day one, helping new hires understand how they translate into daily responsibilities.
- Performance Conversations: Use core values as an objective framework when addressing behavior or performance. Instead of vague feedback, say, “Your response wasn’t in alignment with our core value of Integrity. Here’s what we expect.”
- Decision-Making: Empower employees to make choices based on values, reducing the need for constant oversight.
Mistakes to Avoid When Defining Core Values
While core values in healthcare teams can be incredibly effective, they can also be misused. Avoid these common pitfalls:
- Creating a Laundry List: Too many values dilute impact. Stick to what really matters.
- Vague Definitions: Clearly define what each value means in practice.
- Failure to Lead by Example: Leadership must model the values they expect from others.
- Not Revisiting Them: Core values should evolve with your business. Review them regularly.
- Legal Risks: Watch out for values that can be discriminatory or legally problematic. For instance, “high energy” might unintentionally exclude older workers; “positivity at all times” may violate labor protections.
Final Thought: Core Values as a Long-Term Investment
Core values aren’t just a feel-good exercise. When used well, they are a strategic tool that helps businesses operate more efficiently, foster stronger culture, and boost performance.
They reduce micromanagement, support smarter decision-making, and provide employees with a shared sense of purpose. Most importantly, they align your team around what truly matters—allowing your healthcare or dental business to thrive.
If your business doesn’t have clearly defined core values—or if they’re not actively used—it’s time to revisit them. Engage your team, define what matters most, and put those values to work.
