Company values are not just words on a poster. When applied well, they can boost a company’s benefits and success. They can enhance employee satisfaction, improve productivity, and build stronger customer loyalty. Company values play a significant role in shaping a positive and successful work environment. Let’s explore how they impact business success.

What Company Values Mean

Common Types of Company Values

Companies prioritize specific values for their business model. These include teamwork, accountability, dedication, and respect. Understanding these universal virtues helps identify additional core values for lasting success.

Companies demonstrate and communicate their values through clear messaging, consistent communication, and a commitment to aligning internal and external initiatives with these values. Companies need to ensure that every decision and action reflects their core values.

Businesses can facilitate regular and transparent communication to uphold their values consistently, especially in remote or decentralized teams. Emphasizing recognition and rewards for value-centric behaviors is also essential. Continuous review and harmonious modification of shared values are crucial, regardless of the business model. This will ensure that company values consistently guide decisions and actions.

Why Values Matter for Your Business

Employees Like Seeing Their Values at Work

Employees like seeing their company’s values in action at work. This can increase job satisfaction, loyalty, and motivation to help the company succeed.

Companies can show their values by having leaders lead by example and ensure these values are part of the organization’s overall culture. They can do this through regular staff training, discussing values in both internal and external communications, and rewarding employees who show these values.

To ensure employees always feel connected to the company’s values, companies can use strategies like aligning all operations with these values, recognizing and rewarding behavior that reflects these values, and keeping communication open and transparent. These efforts will create a sense of unity, no matter where employees work, and keep them involved and committed to the company’s values.

Good Examples of How Companies Show Off Their Values

Companies communicate their values in several ways:

• They reassure employees and the public.
• They emphasize the significance of these values in day-to-day operations.
• They align internal and external messaging.
• They ensure leadership represents these core values.
• They include values in recruitment processes and new hires’ orientation and training.
• They publicly recognize and reward employees who exhibit these values.
• They incorporate core values into all aspects of their operations.
• They use values to guide employees in decision-making.
• They make values explicitly clear and continuously review and modify them.
• They reinforce the importance of making values more than just words.

Setting the Example: Leaders Living the Values

Show Values Right From the Start with New People

Companies can show their values from the beginning when onboarding new team members. This can be done by integrating values into the hiring and growth process to ensure that decisions align with the company’s core values. Many strategies exist for this, including recognizing and rewarding value-centric behavior and aligning internal and external messaging.

Furthermore, leaders can effectively demonstrate and communicate the company’s values to new employees by teaching values during staff orientation and training and reinforcing core values in all communications. Fostering a value-centric company culture is important in building a cohesive and committed team.

Talking About Values in Emails and Meetings

Companies can effectively communicate and reinforce their values in emails and meetings by:

• Consistently integrating core values into all communications.
• Recognizing and rewarding value-centric behavior.
• Incorporating values into all operations.

Leaders can demonstrate and encourage the adoption of company values during meetings and through email communications by:

• Leading by example.
• Teaching values through staff orientation and training.
• Aligning internal and external messaging.

To ensure that company values are consistently upheld and reflected in both internal and external communications, strategies such as:

• Tapping into universal virtues to identify effective core values.
• Making values clear and explicit to offer employees guidance.
• Aligning marketing and internal communications with company values should be employed.

Reward Team Members Who Show Strong Values

One way to reward team members who consistently demonstrate strong work values is to start an employee recognition program.

Under this program, employees who represent the company’s values could be nominated by their peers or supervisors for recognition and rewards like gift cards, bonuses, or additional paid time off.

To foster a culture of appreciation, the company can publicly acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of employees who demonstrate strong values in their daily work through internal newsletters, social media, or company-wide events.

A points-based reward system tied to each company value, redeemable for perks like personalized career development opportunities or extra training sessions, can help maintain employee motivation and commitment to upholding the company’s values.

Companies seeking to uphold their core values and boost motivation often implement recognition programs that spotlight positive behaviors. A powerful method to reinforce these efforts involves celebrating individual achievements and milestones with personalized employee awards, which can be tailored for any occasion and play a key role in acknowledging dedication, fostering engagement, and inspiring employees to embody company values every day.

Keeping Your Operations in Line with Values

A company can ensure that its operations align with its stated values in a few ways:

1. Integrate core values into all operational aspects, from decision-making processes to the organizational structure.
2. Leaders should lead by example and orient and train staff in these values.
3. Recognize and reward behavior that reflects the values.
4. Constantly reinforce these values in all communication.

Incorporating universal virtues into core values can help identify effective and lasting core values. Aligning internal and external communications with company values can be achieved by ensuring consistency in all messaging and developing a deep understanding of what the company stands for.

Moreover, marketing and internal communications teams that understand and convey the company’s values can attract new qualified leads that resonate with those values. By integrating its values into the hiring process and growing its team, a company can attract candidates who share similar values, making it easier to find cultural fits and reducing employee turnover rates.

Matching What You Say Inside and Outside the Company

Companies can ensure that their internal messaging and actions match their external messaging. They can do this by openly discussing the company’s values, giving clear guidelines through leadership training, and integrating core values into the work environment.

This creates an environment where employees are encouraged to demonstrate values that are in line with the company’s standards.

Leaders can also incorporate strategies to infuse company values into internal and external communication and operations. This can be achieved by involving core values in every aspect of their business, using company newsletters and staff emails, and including core values in marketing campaigns and customer outreach.

This is important because it ensures that employees and customers receive a consistent message about the company’s values, resulting in a strong branding strategy. Consistently showcasing company values inside and outside the organization is crucial as it builds trust and credibility with employees, clients, and stakeholders. This demonstrates authenticity and a genuine representation of how the company operates and what it stands for.

How to Keep Values Strong Even When Your Team is All Over the Place

Give High-Fives for Values in Action

Companies can show their values in action by:

• Reinforcing core values in all communications
• Recognizing and rewarding value-centric behavior
• Incorporating core values into all operations
• Aligning internal and external messaging
• Implementing family values in the business
• Emphasizing the importance of explicit values for guiding decision-making
• Including values in staff orientation and training
• Using universal virtues to identify effective core values for hiring and team growth.

Make Sure Everyone Remembers the Values

The blog discusses ways to ensure everyone remembers and upholds the company’s values. It mentions methods like leading by example, reinforcing values in all communications, recognizing and rewarding value-centric behavior, and aligning internal and external messaging.

It also emphasizes the need for leadership to teach values during staff orientation and training, and for operations to incorporate core values at all levels. The blog stresses the importance of leaders and managers demonstrating the significance of company values in everyday operations and interactions.

Additionally, it discusses integrating company values into the hiring and team growth process, highlighting the significance of understanding universal values and leveraging shared company values for continuous review and modification.

Bring Values into Hiring and Growing Your Team

Company leaders can integrate value-based questions into the interview process to ensure that their company’s values are reflected in the hiring process. This helps gauge a candidate’s cultural fit and ensures that new hires share the company’s values.

Leaders can lead by example to nurture and grow a team that embodies the company’s values. They can demonstrate values through staff orientation, training, and overarching communications. Additionally, recognizing and rewarding value-centric behavior helps reinforce the importance of company values.

By incorporating core values into all operations and communications, company leaders can demonstrate and reinforce the importance of values in the organization’s culture. They can also offer employees guidance on decision-making and establish the significance of values within the organization.