Core values give all team members, from interns to corporate leaders, a consistent standard to meet daily. Transparency, flexibility, and creativity are great values to abide by, but they’re meaningless words if you’re not really enforcing those goals. Below, you can discover how to choose core values for your company.
Make It a Group Effort
To ensure they’re reflective of the whole company, business owners must consult with various managers and department leaders before finalizing company values. For smaller companies, it’s fine for one person to come up with some initial ideas for core values. That said, whoever brainstorms the preliminary values should pitch those ideas to other key team members to ensure everyone’s on the same page.
Clearly Define Each Value
As mentioned above, core values like “transparency” sound great, but you must breakdown what these words mean. Transparency can mean many things, so what does it mean to you or—more importantly—your company?
Maybe you want to be transparent in how you complete work for clients by allowing those clients to see every step of the process. That way, they understand exactly what you’re doing and how they can provide input. On the other hand, maybe you want to be transparent with workplace communication by promoting a workplace that prioritizes constructive criticism.
By clearly defining each of the company’s values, you’re providing the whole company with a specific standard to uphold instead of interpreting those values in any way they see fit. In other words, specificity helps your team function as a true team.
There’s nothing wrong with core values having more than one definition, but you must clearly communicate those definitions on a company-wide scale. How to choose core values for your company can vary in some ways between industries, but defining those values remains consistently crucial among all workplaces.
Know How To Promote Your Values
The first time your team hears the company’s core values should not be the last time they hear them. So, how do you remind employees about company values without sending out an hourly email or knocking on everyone’s door? One of the most popular and surprisingly effective ways of doing this is through motivational posters in the workplace.
If your employees pass posters with “transparency” and “creativity” written on them during every walk to the bathroom or a meeting, they will receive a constant reminder of how they should conduct daily work tasks.
Another way to remind employees of your core values is by enforcing them in the workplace. In other words, when you see an employee acting against the company’s values, take them aside and find a solution. Try to remind the employee of your values to illustrate where they went wrong whenever it’s applicable and appropriate.
The best way to promote company values is by following them yourself. Effective management is one of the frequent factors affecting business growth, so ensure you’re doing what you can to keep the workplace productive and professional. For instance, if “organization” is one of your company’s core values, letting your office become dirty and cluttered doesn’t set the right example for your team. Not only is maintaining a clean office great for business, but it also sets a certain standard your entire company should feel constantly compelled to follow.
Van Rundell is a writer and author who specializes in transportation, travel, guidance, health & fitness. With over 10 years of experience in the industry as a driver and an entrepreneur, he has seen it all. His tone is professional but friendly with a dash of humor thrown in for good measure. In past, he has been advising, educating and writing about transport for the public and professionals alike.
A qualified fitness instructor with over 5 years’ experience as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, Van brings his deep knowledge of health and exercise science to his articles on health & fitness.
