Why Core Values Are Essential (Plus, tips for defining yours)
Have you ever worked at a company and wondered why it seemed as though everyone was moving in different directions than each other? I have worked for these companies and the absence of core values was one huge reason everyone seemed to be marching to their own beat of the drum instead of the same beat. Core values can really determine whether an employee feels part of the company or not and in my opinion, this can make or break their job performance. Core values define and represent the most important differentiators of your business. They should be communicated on your website, in your office, and for each new employee you onboard. Everyone in your company should know your core values and strive to uphold them through marketing, sales, operations, HR, and customer relations.
Having meaningful core values is beneficial for a number of reasons, spanning from ethics to finance. Not convinced? Read on.
Why Core Values Are Essential for Businesses
Defining a set of values can help unify your team—whether you head up a department or an entire company, it can help you make better hiring decisions, hold your team to higher standards, and create more effective business processes.
Business Performance: Core values can bring together a team or department to a higher level of performance. When everyone is on the same page, you can move in the same direction. The results speak for themselves.
Hiring: When core values drive your hiring decisions, it usually works out for both you and your candidates. Your newly-hired employee is poised to adapt and seamlessly fit into your culture because they've aligned themselves with your core values.
Ethics: Your core values can guide the behavior of employees to be their best selves. Without core values, it's harder to hold your team to high standards and ethics, especially when faced with a tough decision.
Effective: Core values and effective business processes go hand in hand. When your team is executing your company's core values, it's easier to follow and master the process in place.
Tips For Creating Core Values
It can seem daunting to pick 3-5 values that represent your business best as you will find that there are many values espoused by your company. Here are some steps to help guide you in creation:
Who :: Determine a small group of people, typically managers, to task with creating your core values
Brainstorm :: Have each member of the group bring the important values they think should be considered and let everyone have a chance to present their ideas
Parse :: Work together to narrow down to a list of about 10 of the shared values that seem that most important and that upon hearing would make someone know exactly what your company stands for
Rename :: depending on the culture of your business, you may want to align your core values in a way that resonates with your culture. You can add humor or descriptor words to the values you have come up with
Review :: Once you have you set, decide with certainty that these are the values that demonstrate your vision and are attainable by each employee
Core Value Examples
Here at Bigfoot Web, our core values are ::
Uncompromising Integrity :: When there's a choice, we always do the right thing no matter how hard it is.
Clear Expectations :: Being upfront and transparent with our clients and ourselves drives how we communicate.
Big Brand Knowledge :: We come from backgrounds that have made us experts at knowing what the big players are doing and how to adapt it to smaller companies.
Legendary Process :: Our tried and true process is how we get things done efficiently and on-time.
Business Accelerators :: We firmly believe we can help businesses grow and thrive with a new website that is easy to maintain.
We love to create websites that show off your company's core values. Contact us today to see how our core values can help your business.