Company values help set your company apart from its competitors and build a sense of solidarity among employees. But with so many good qualities to choose from, it can be difficult to decide exactly what your company’s core values should be. Take your time and choose the values that most represent who you are as a business owner and the image you want for your company. Thoroughly integrate those core values into your company’s operations and they will become a seamless part of your branding.X
StepsMethod 1Method 1 of 3:Identifying What’s Important
1Choose a team to work on company values. If you have a relatively small company, your team may only consist of you and a couple of managers or other key employees. In a larger company, however, take care to ensure that the people on the team are people who have a track record with the company and feel passionate about the same things you do.XTrustworthy SourceHarvard Business ReviewOnline and print journal covering topics related to business management practicesGo to sourceChoose people who you know are loyal to your company and will likely be with you for the long haul. They should also be ideal employees who go above and beyond in their roles every day.It isn’t usually the best idea to just allow all of your employees to work on setting your company’s values. This could mean including employees who aren’t truly dedicated to your company and won’t be with you for long.Including all employees can also send the message that everyone’s opinion is equally important when that might not necessarily be the case. Typically, the opinions of the company’s owners would be more important when it comes to something as important as the company’s values.
2Brainstorm values that are important to you individually. Particularly if you started the company yourself, it’s likely that the company reflects your own personal values. Personal values are also some of the easiest to convert into company values because you already use these principals to make your decisions.XExpert SourceLauren KrasnyExecutive, Strategic, & Personal CoachExpert Interview. 27 March 2020.For example, if you value creativity, you’ve likely already used a more creative approach to tackling challenges that arose in business. It’s also likely that you’ve asked potential employees if they consider themselves creative or sought out creative ideas to help your business expand and grow.
3Look at examples from other companies for ideas. Values that are important to competitors and other companies in your sector might also be strong values for your company. Other companies’ value statements can also give you ideas about what not to include in your own statement.XTrustworthy SourceHarvard Business ReviewOnline and print journal covering topics related to business management practicesGo to sourceChoose values that distinguish you from other companies, particularly from your competitors. For example, suppose one of the values you have listed is “integrity.” This is a fairly common value, particularly in the financial sector. However, it won’t distinguish you from the field unless your company happens to hold a standard of integrity higher than the rest.
4Distinguish between core values and aspirational values. Your company’s core values are a part of every company action and inform every decision. Often, they reflect the values of the company’s founders. Aspirational values, on the other hand, are things you want, but that your company currently lacks.XTrustworthy SourceHarvard Business ReviewOnline and print journal covering topics related to business management practicesGo to sourceFor example, suppose you have “bravery” listed as a value. If your company operates traditionally and makes conservative decisions, there’s nothing brave about that. You may want your company to grow into a business that has the courage to make riskier decisions, but if it’s not there yet, “bravery” can’t really be one of your core values.While there’s nothing wrong with aspirational values, you can’t use them to define your company as it currently exists. Choose core values that your company currently embodies.
5Narrow down your list to 3-5 core values. You want your company’s values to be easy for your employees and customers to remember. If you list too many values, it might be difficult to keep up with all of them — and they’ll also be difficult to integrate into your business. Discuss the list you have with your team to decide which are the most important for your company as a whole.XThink about the ways the values interact with each other. If you have values listed that would frequently conflict with each other, eliminate at least one, if not both of them. For example, you wouldn’t want two of your values to be “traditionalism” and “uniqueness” because those would frequently be at odds.One way to narrow down a long list of values is to group them into related values, then choose one that the others (or most of the others) in that group could fall under. For example, in a group with values such as “compassion,” “love,” “caring,” “charity,” and “empathy,” you might decide that the word “empathy” encompasses all of the other words.XExpert SourceLauren KrasnyExecutive, Strategic, & Personal CoachExpert Interview. 27 March 2020.Method 2Method 2 of 3:Defining Your Core Values
1Create a summary heading for each of your values. A single word or catchy phrase makes your values more memorable. Using a single word to define each of your core values also enables you to plug your values into a lot of different aspects of your business easily.XWhile it’s not always possible, you might be able to arrange your core values so that the first letter of each word creates a single word that exemplifies your values as a whole. For example, you might use “HEART,” which stands for “honesty,” “empathy,” “acceptance,” “reliability,” and “teamwork.”If the first letters of your core values don’t create an existing word, make one up! You can use it as a code and build it up into an important part of your company’s culture.XTrustworthy SourceHarvard Business ReviewOnline and print journal covering topics related to business management practicesGo to source For example, suppose you have an outdoors company and your values are “challenge,” “humor,” “adventure,” “risk-taking,” and “passion.” You can put those together to spell “CHARP,” which may not be a real word, but it’s one you can use to unite your team around those values.
2Add detail to describe exactly what the value means to your company. After your heading, add a couple of sentences that put that value into context and describes exactly how your company exemplifies that value. Use “we” and “us” to emphasize that the company as a unit embodies these values.XFor example, if one of your values is “adventure,” you might describe that by writing: “We believe that every challenge is an opportunity and every opportunity is an adventure. We thrill to find small adventures in everyday life.”
3Get employee input on how core values are expressed. You have your core values, and you have a good idea of what you mean by them and what they mean to your company. Come up with at least a couple ways to express those ideas that you can float to your employees to find out which resonates best.XFor example, if one of your values is “adventure,” your employees might prefer a description that emphasizes that not all adventures are necessarily fun while they’re happening because they might be concerned that requiring an element of fun puts too much pressure on them.Your company values will help define your company culture and hopefully motivate your employees. If you describe them in a way that your employees don’t understand or believe in, they won’t work.Method 3Method 3 of 3:Integrating Your Values throughout Your Company
1Teach your core values in employee orientation and training sessions. Hold training sessions specifically related to your company’s core values that don’t involve anything else. If you have a larger company, ensure that executives are on hand for these training sessions to show your employees how important your core values are.XWhen you’re onboarding new employees, have orientation on the core values before you provide training on anything else. This cements the fact that these values are integral to company operations and also gives you the opportunity to reinforce those values throughout the training and onboarding process.
2Abide by your company’s core values. If you own your own business, make your company’s core values your core values as well. Your employees are watching what you do and the decisions you make. If something doesn’t line up with your company’s core values, they may come to view you as insincere.XIf you show to your employees that the company’s core values don’t mean anything to you, those values won’t mean anything to your employees either. They won’t see any point in striving to live up to them if you don’t bother to do the same.
3Print posters and signs so your team can see them every day. If you simply mention your company’s core values once during training and then never bring them up again, they won’t affect the behavior of your employees or the direction of your business. Creating signs and putting them up everywhere ensures that those values become a part of the regular working vocabulary.XIf your employees are frequently in front of computers, create a logo or graphic for your company’s core values to use as a desktop design or screensaver.
4Use your core values to guide all business decisions. Frame your decisions in terms of how they might impact your values. If an option would contradict one of your company’s core values, that option isn’t right for your company — even if it would ultimately result in higher profits.XExpert SourceLauren KrasnyExecutive, Strategic, & Personal CoachExpert Interview. 27 March 2020.For example, if one of your core values is “quality,” you would insist on rigorous quality-control testing of every product you manufactured or sold to your customers. If a product failed to meet your standards, you wouldn’t sell it, even if it was in high demand.
5Incorporate your core values into sales and customer relations. Make sure your customers know your company values by displaying them prominently on your website and letterhead or other company documents. Give your customer-facing employees specific strategies they can employ to exhibit your company’s core values in their interactions with customers.XEncourage employees to talk to customers about your company’s core values and how important they are to the company.Surveys can help you understand if you’re adequately conveying your company values to your customers and what you can do to improve.
6Reward employees who embody your company values. Providing additional paid time off and other perks to employees that best embody your company values encourages your employees to hold those values in high regard and use them to guide their actions and decisions at work. Include a section in performance reviews that evaluates how well the employee reflects the company’s values.XYou might also consider recognizing a specific employee each month who best exhibited your company’s values. Employees could be nominated by management and fellow employees and given their award at a company-wide meeting.X
