Every business owner wants a team full of high performers. But performance alone doesn’t tell the whole story.
Some employees consistently deliver results and strengthen your culture. Others share your Core Values but need more development. And some may be producing results while quietly creating problems for the rest of the team.
So how do you know who’s really helping your business grow?
The 4 Types of Employees framework helps you evaluate your team through two critical lenses: performance and Core Values alignment. By looking at both, you can identify your strongest contributors, recognize employees with growth potential, and address performance or behavior concerns before they affect the entire organization.
Whether you’re building a team, evaluating current employees, or planning for your next stage of growth, understanding these four types can help you make better people decisions.
Quick Answer: What Are the 4 Types of Employees?
The four types of employees are Stars, Puppies, Rats, and Enemies. This framework evaluates employees based on two factors: how well they perform their jobs and how consistently they demonstrate your company’s Core Values.
- Stars: High performers who strongly align with your Core Values.
- Puppies: Employees who align with your Core Values but are still developing their performance.
- Rats: Employees who demonstrate low performance and poor Core Values alignment.
- Enemies: High performers whose behaviors conflict with your Core Values.
The goal isn’t simply to identify who’s performing well. It’s to understand who contributes to your organization’s success, who has potential, and where leadership attention is needed.
Why Core Values Matter in Hiring and Retention
Before evaluating your employees, you need to know what you’re evaluating them against. That starts with clearly defined Core Values.
Your Core Values are the beliefs and behaviors that shape your company’s culture. They influence how people make decisions, work together, serve customers, and handle challenges.
But having Core Values displayed on a wall isn’t enough. Your team members need to demonstrate them through their everyday actions.
When evaluating employees, consider two questions:
- Performance: Can they do the job?
Look at whether employees have the skills, competencies, and capabilities required for their positions. Are they meeting expectations? Producing results? Taking ownership of their responsibilities?
- Core Values Alignment: Are they doing the job the right way?
Consider how consistently employees demonstrate your organization’s values. Do they take accountability? Treat others with respect? Collaborate? Follow through on commitments?
An employee can deliver excellent results while damaging relationships and undermining your culture. Another may demonstrate all the right behaviors but need additional training to perform at the expected level.
Neither situation should be overlooked.
The strongest teams are built when you evaluate both.
Introducing the “Who’s On Your Team” Employee Assessment Chart
The Who’s On Your Team chart makes it easier to see where employees stand.
It uses two factors to create four employee categories:
- Performance: High or low.
- Core Values Alignment: Aligned or not aligned.
How to read the chart:
- The vertical axis represents Performance, moving from low to high.
- The horizontal axis represents Core Values Alignment, moving from not aligned to aligned.
- Employees are placed in one of the four quadrants based on their demonstrated performance and behaviors.
The chart isn’t intended to permanently label people. It’s a practical snapshot of how someone is performing and contributing at a particular point in time.
People can develop, improve, and change seats. The purpose is to recognize what’s happening now and determine what should happen next.
The 4 Types of Employees
Understanding each category helps you determine how to recognize, develop, retain, or address different employees.
1. Stars: High Performance / Strong Core Values Alignment
Stars are the people every business wants more of. They consistently deliver strong results while demonstrating the behaviors that make your organization a better place to work.
They don’t just do their jobs well. They help others succeed, take ownership, solve problems, and reinforce the culture you’re working to build.
What They Look Like
- Consistently meet or exceed performance expectations.
- Take initiative and follow through on commitments.
- Demonstrate your Core Values through everyday actions.
- Support their teammates and contribute to a positive work environment.
- Adapt to challenges and look for ways to improve.
How They Contribute
Stars create value beyond their individual responsibilities. They strengthen collaboration, raise performance standards, and help establish the behaviors you want to see throughout your organization.
They also influence the people around them. When your strongest employees consistently demonstrate accountability and teamwork, those behaviors become easier for others to recognize and follow.
How to Retain and Develop Them
Don’t assume your Stars will stay simply because they’re successful.
Invest in their continued growth by:
- Recognizing their contributions and making their impact visible.
- Providing opportunities to develop new skills and take on greater responsibilities.
- Creating clear career and leadership development paths.
- Asking what motivates them and what they need to remain engaged.
- Making sure they’re challenged without becoming overloaded.
Leadership question: If you could build your entire team around people like this, would you?
Stars are worth investing in. Make sure your organization gives them reasons to stay.
2. Puppies: Developing Performance / Strong Core Values Alignment
Puppies are employees who demonstrate your Core Values but haven’t reached their full performance potential yet.
They may lack experience, technical skills, or confidence in their current positions. However, they show a willingness to learn, respond to feedback, and demonstrate the behaviors that make someone a good teammate.
These employees can become some of your most valuable contributors when given the right support.
How to Recognize Potential
- They demonstrate your Core Values consistently.
- They’re open to feedback and willing to improve.
- They ask questions and actively seek opportunities to learn.
- They take responsibility for mistakes.
- They show initiative and genuine interest in their work.
Why Coaching and Development Matter
Not every performance gap means you have the wrong person.
Sometimes employees need better training, clearer expectations, more experience, or additional support to succeed.
Overlooking someone with strong Core Values alignment simply because they’re still developing can mean missing an opportunity to grow talent from within.
How to Help Them Become Stars
- Identify the specific skills or competencies they need to improve.
- Provide structured training, coaching, and mentorship.
- Establish measurable goals and clear performance expectations.
- Give regular feedback and recognize progress.
- Evaluate whether they’re gaining the confidence and capability to perform independently.
Leadership question: Are they underperforming because they lack potential, or because they haven’t been given the right opportunity to develop?
The distinction matters. A Puppy with the right support may become your next Star.
3. Rats: Low Performance / Poor Core Values Alignment
Rats are employees who aren’t meeting performance expectations and don’t consistently demonstrate your organization’s Core Values.
Their challenges go beyond a lack of technical skills. They may also display behaviors that undermine accountability, trust, and teamwork.
Observable Warning Signs
- Consistently miss deadlines or fail to meet expectations.
- Avoid responsibility and blame others when things go wrong.
- Resist feedback or refuse to make necessary improvements.
- Spread gossip, negativity, or unnecessary conflict.
- Demonstrate behaviors that contradict your company’s Core Values.
It’s important to distinguish isolated mistakes from consistent patterns. One missed deadline doesn’t define an employee. Repeated performance and behavior concerns deserve closer attention.
How They Affect the Team
When poor performance and misaligned behaviors go unaddressed, the impact spreads.
Other employees may need to compensate for unfinished work. Team members can become frustrated when accountability is inconsistent. Over time, your strongest performers may question why certain behaviors are tolerated.
How to Address the Problem
- Document specific performance gaps and observable behaviors.
- Have a direct conversation about expectations.
- Provide clear feedback and appropriate support.
- Establish measurable improvement goals and timelines.
- Evaluate progress consistently and take appropriate action if expectations continue to go unmet.
Leadership question: Have you clearly communicated what needs to change, and have you given the employee a fair opportunity to improve?
Accountability matters. Avoid allowing ongoing performance and behavior problems to become accepted parts of your culture.
4. Enemies: High Performance / Poor Core Values Alignment
Enemies can be the most difficult employees to evaluate because their results may look impressive.
They hit their numbers, complete important projects, or bring significant value to the organization. But their behavior conflicts with your Core Values.
They may prioritize personal success over team success, undermine leadership, or create tension with the people around them.
Why Results Alone Aren’t Enough
It’s tempting to overlook poor behavior when someone consistently delivers results.
Perhaps they’re your top salesperson, a highly experienced leader, or someone who manages an important client relationship.
But high performance doesn’t excuse behavior that damages trust and undermines your culture.
The Hidden Cost of Poor Values Alignment
Employees who disregard your Core Values can:
- Create tension between coworkers and departments.
- Undermine leadership decisions and team accountability.
- Discourage collaboration and damage trust.
- Drive away high-performing employees who don’t want to work in a negative environment.
- Reinforce the idea that results matter more than how people achieve them.
The long-term cost may be much greater than the short-term results they deliver.
How to Address Damaging Behavior
- Identify specific behaviors that conflict with your Core Values.
- Explain why those behaviors are unacceptable, regardless of performance.
- Set clear expectations for accountability and change.
- Provide coaching if the employee is willing to make meaningful improvements.
- Evaluate whether their behavior changes consistently, not just temporarily.
Leadership question: Are you willing to hold a high performer to the same behavioral standards as everyone else?
Your Core Values only matter when you uphold them, especially when doing so is difficult.
How to Identify the 4 Types of Employees on Your Team
Understanding the framework is one thing. Applying it consistently across your organization is where the real value comes in.
Use these four steps to evaluate your current team.
Step 1: Define Your Core Values
Start by identifying the values that guide your organization.
Your Core Values should represent the behaviors and characteristics that matter most to your business. Go beyond broad statements and define what each value looks like in practice.
For example, if one of your Core Values is Accountability, observable behaviors might include:
- Taking ownership of mistakes.
- Following through on commitments.
- Communicating when something isn’t going as planned.
- Holding yourself and others responsible for results.
Without clear behavioral definitions, evaluating Core Values alignment becomes subjective.
Step 2: Evaluate Performance
Look at each employee’s ability to perform the responsibilities of their current position.
Consider:
- Are they meeting the expectations of their seat?
- Do they have the necessary skills and competencies?
- Are they consistently delivering expected results?
- Can they handle the complexity and demands of the role?
- Where are the performance gaps?
Use measurable expectations and actual results rather than relying solely on personal impressions.
Step 3: Assess Core Values Alignment
Next, evaluate how consistently each person demonstrates your Core Values.
Look at observable behavior over time. Consider how they interact with coworkers, respond to challenges, make decisions, and take responsibility.
Don’t confuse personality with alignment. Someone doesn’t have to communicate or work exactly like you to demonstrate your Core Values.
Focus on behaviors, not personal preferences.
Step 4: Identify the Next Step
Once you’ve evaluated both factors, determine where each employee belongs on the chart.
Then decide what action makes sense.
- Stars: Recognize, retain, and invest in their growth.
- Puppies: Coach, train, and establish measurable development goals.
- Rats: Clarify expectations, address behavior, and establish accountability.
- Enemies: Address values misalignment and determine whether meaningful change is possible.
Remember that this is an ongoing evaluation, not a one-time exercise. Revisit the framework as employees develop, responsibilities change, and your organization grows.
Can a Puppy Become a Star?
Absolutely. In fact, developing employees with strong Core Values alignment can be one of the most valuable ways to strengthen your team.
Puppies already demonstrate the behaviors and attitudes that support your culture. What they may lack is the experience, skills, or confidence needed to perform at a higher level.
But development needs to be intentional.
Before creating a development plan, determine what’s holding the employee back.
Is it a lack of technical skills? Insufficient training? Unclear expectations? Limited experience? Or could the employee be in the wrong seat?
These are different problems and require different solutions.
Give employees access to coaching, mentorship, training, and opportunities to practice new skills. Make sure they understand what successful performance looks like.
Development should have clear expectations. Define what improvement looks like, how progress will be measured, and when you’ll review results.
Look for consistent improvement in performance, independence, and ownership. Recognize progress while continuing to address areas that need attention.
Sometimes an employee has the right values and potential but isn’t suited to their current position. Their strengths may be better aligned with another role.
The goal isn’t to force everyone into becoming a Star in their current seat. It’s to understand where each person can contribute most effectively.
VisionSpark helps organizations strengthen their teams through Team Health services, including a better understanding of individual strengths, team dynamics, and development opportunities.
How to Use the Framework in Hiring and Team Development
The Who’s On Your Team framework isn’t just for evaluating existing employees. It can also help you make better hiring and development decisions.
During Hiring
Use your Core Values to identify the behaviors that matter for success in your organization. Ask candidates for specific examples of how they’ve demonstrated those behaviors in previous roles.
Our guide on How to Write Interview Questions Based on Core Values explains how to turn company values into meaningful behavioral interview questions.
You can also use the TIP™ Assessment to gain additional insight into candidates’ mental aptitudes and personality dimensions. Combined with structured interviews and job-specific evaluation, assessment data can help you make more informed hiring decisions.
During Team Development
Use the framework to identify strengths, development opportunities, and potential gaps across your organization.
A People Plan™ can help you determine who you need, how your organization should be structured, and when to make important hiring decisions.
If an employee needs to move into a different position or your organization needs to add a key role, VisionSpark’s Key Team Member Search can help you find the right talent.
You can also explore Know the Red Flags & Green Flags Your Candidates Are Waving for additional guidance on evaluating candidates before making a hiring decision.
Ultimately, the framework helps you move beyond assumptions and make people decisions based on demonstrated performance and behavior.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are the four types of employees?
The four types are Stars, Puppies, Rats, and Enemies. They are based on two factors: job performance and Core Values alignment. Stars are strong in both areas, Puppies demonstrate strong values but need performance development, Rats are weak in both, and Enemies perform well but don’t align with company values.
2. How do you identify high-performing employees?
Evaluate employees against clear expectations for their positions. Look at measurable results, job-specific competencies, consistency, accountability, and their ability to contribute to organizational goals. Also evaluate how they demonstrate your Core Values. High performance alone doesn’t necessarily make someone a strong team member.
3. Why does Core Values alignment matter?
Core Values alignment influences how employees make decisions, collaborate, communicate, and treat others. Someone can produce excellent results while damaging team trust or undermining your culture. Evaluating both performance and values alignment helps ensure you’re building a team that delivers results in a way that supports your organization.
4. Can a Puppy become a Star?
Yes. Puppies demonstrate strong Core Values alignment but may need additional skills, training, experience, or clearer expectations to perform at a higher level. With coaching, mentorship, measurable goals, and consistent feedback, many can develop into Stars. It’s also important to evaluate whether they’re in the right seat.
5. How should you handle a high performer who doesn't align with your Core Values?
Address the specific behaviors that conflict with your values, even if the employee produces strong results. Communicate expectations, explain the impact of their behavior, and establish a clear path for improvement. If the employee refuses to change or continues damaging the team, you may need to reconsider their place in the organization.
6. How can you evaluate your current team?
Start by defining your Core Values and the behaviors that demonstrate them. Evaluate each employee’s performance against the expectations of their position, then assess their alignment with your values using observable behavior. Place employees in the appropriate quadrant and determine the next step, whether that’s recognition, development, coaching, or accountability.
VisionSpark’s free 4 Types of Employees Worksheet can help you work through this process.
Do You Have the Right People in the Right Seats?
Understanding your team is the first step. Knowing what to do next is where real progress happens.
VisionSpark helps business owners evaluate their teams, identify leadership gaps, and build stronger organizations through data-driven people decisions.
Whether you need to develop your existing team, improve team dynamics, or find the right person for a critical position, the right strategy starts with understanding the people you have and the people you need.
