Most HR leaders say culture is one of their most important assets. Ask them to define it, though, and the answers can get fuzzy fast.

Marcus Collins, a marketing professor at the University of Michigan, learned this after asking chief people officers and recruiters to try. “It was so many abstractions, so much jargon, and honestly, it was a plethora of nothingness,” he said.

So Collins set out to develop a definition, based on the premise that leaders can’t attract or retain the right people for a culture they can’t articulate. He found that the problem starts with what many companies erroneously think defines culture: their values.

HR leaders often conflate values and beliefs, says Collins. Beliefs as the truths companies hold about the world; values are what they consider important. Culture starts with the former.

Collins urges HR heads to ask themselves: What do we believe? Are our behaviors a reflection of those beliefs? If beliefs and behaviors don’t align, Collins says leaders should start by addressing that disconnect.

Consider Wells Fargo. In the early 2000s, employees opened unauthorized accounts for customers due to immense pressure to meet aggressive sales goals. The company espoused  values like trust and integrity, Collins said, but its behavior reflected a different underlying belief, which was that employees were expected to outperform.

That disconnect is why Collins argues that culture isn’t perks or rituals but, rather, the fundamental beliefs that guide how a company operates. Patagonia, for example, has long organized itself around a commitment to minimizing its impact on the planet. Collins advises leaders to identify their own North star and probe whether their actions reflect it.

“The push to CHROs is to first challenge the way you see the world,” he said. “Widen the aperture of how [CHROs] think about what culture is so they can fully engage in it.”

Kristin Stoller
Editorial Director, Fortune Live Media
kristin.stoller@fortune.com

Fortune Office Hours

This week, Giulietta Pezzaniti, chief people officer at freelancing platform Upwork, answers your burning workplace questions. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: I recently interviewed a candidate for a remote role whose résumé listed Brooklyn as their location. During the video interview, however, it seemed obvious they were somewhere much warmer and several time zones away (and not on vacation per our conversation). The discrepancy made me wonder whether they were being truthful about where they are based.

In a remote-work era, location still matters for payroll, taxes, employment law, working hours, and occasional in-person expectations. How can a hiring manager tactfully verify where a candidate actually lives and plans to work without sounding accusatory or making assumptions based on their surroundings? Where should employers draw the line?

A: Location isn't a small detail. It affects payroll, taxes, what laws apply, and whether someone can realistically make it to the occasional team event. So asking isn't rude; it's just part of doing this right.

Great talent can be found anywhere. That's the opportunity of this new workplace environment. But it comes with a responsibility to verify things properly, not out of suspicion, but because a new working relationship needs trust to work.

My advice: Keep it simple and consistent. Make location verification a standard part of your process for everyone. Ask upfront, “Where will you primarily be working from? We need this for tax and payroll purposes.” Include the answer in the offer letter, with a clear understanding they'll flag anything that changes.

If you have real concerns, loop in HR or legal before assuming bad intent. Don't rely on background clues to jump to conclusions. Everyone works from temporary spots sometimes. The goal is an honest foundation, not suspicion.

Have a workplace situation that you're unsure how to navigate or a scenario worth unpacking? Send it our way via this form.

Watercooler

A round-up of the most important HR headlines from Fortune and beyond.

Red-hot roles. The majority of U.S. employers say they are increasing hiring this year—and these types of workers are in highest demand. Fortune

Instruction manual. Thousands of Indian workers are training AI robots on the skills that could replace them. Bloomberg

Intern era. Summer interns are taking on weightier roles in the workplace as AI automates tasks they used to perform. Wall Street Journal