How To Create Company Values [Free Guide]

What are company values?

Company values are the ideals that shape your company’s identity. Though some may feel that values are merely marketing’s attempt to virtue signal to potential clients, company values have the power to shape decision-making, attract and retain talent and motivate your employees. The most common company values are integrity, boldness, honesty, fairness and trustworthiness, but there’s no shortage of values to choose from. What’s important is that they’re clearly communicated, they’re embodied by leadership and reinforced frequently. Regardless of how big or small your business is, every company should have clearly defined and accessible company values. If you still consider values to be a marketing gimmick to acquire companies, then catch up; company core values are now considered essential to business success.

What are examples of a company’s core values?

At Employment Hero, our core company values are

• Service
• Innovation
• Teamwork
• Ambition

We use these core values to guide us on a daily basis. Each time we embark on a new project or identify new goals to aspire to, our values are at the forefront of our mind. ‘What value does this serve?’, we ask ourselves. Our leadership team does an excellent job of embodying these values, which encourages employees to do the same. For values to have this effect, they have to be authentic. If not, they won’t have any impact.

What are the benefits of creating core company values?

A strong set of company values can help your team feel more unified when working towards goals. With a clearly defined mission statement, team members can use these core values as guiding principles to work towards the company’s vision of success. Creating core values is also essential to the hiring process. By having clearly defined goals, HR managers can filter candidates based on how well they adhere to your company values. Candidates that don’t fit the bill are unlikely to fit in the company’s culture and may struggle to be productive members of the team. In this way, company values can play a big part in developing your company culture, prioritising which virtues your employees should aspire to and helping them create a sense of belonging in the workplace. Birds of a feather flock together, so by using your core values to guide you through the hiring process, you can not only reduce employee turnover but also build a work environment that potential candidates want to be part of.

Deciding on a company’s core values

When it comes to deciding on your own core values, consider your team first. The chances are that you already have some strong values that are inherent in your workplace (plus it’s a great opportunity to show your current employees that you value their input). Conduct a survey of what core values they think best represent your company. Using their feedback, choose a handful of values to help guide and motivate both you and your employees.

How many core values should a company have?

Aim for four values that each represent completely different ideals. Keeping the number of values low will make it easier for your team to remember them and ensure they’re always front of mind. As for keeping them as unique as possible, it’s not very effective to have two core values that represent the same thing (i.e. teamwork and collaboration). Values should also be timeless, remaining as relevant today as they will be in 50 years. Don’t forget that for values to have an impact, they need to be lived and breathed by the leadership team – if your values aren’t relevant to you, they won’t be relevant to your team.

How can you implement new company values?

Deciding on what core values you want to guide your company is the easy part; ensuring they’re absorbed, lived and breathed is the hard part. We’ve already covered how to make this easier when you choose your values, but what else can you do to help your employees identify with them? If you’re already using Employment Hero, our latest reward and recognition feature is the best way to not only recognise and reward employees for representing your core values but for highlighting and reinforcing those values to other employees. The more often you reward behaviour that represents your core values, the more likely your staff is to perform their role in a way that emulates those values. And don’t forget the effect it will have on the person who was nominated! By recognising and rewarding employees when they go above and beyond, you’re reinforcing a culture of high performance, making your company more productive and profitable. Everybody wins! Other than recognising and rewarding performance that represents your company values, it’s also a good idea to keep your values front of mind. Name meeting rooms after your values, have them clearly displayed in your workplace and ensure they’re at the forefront of your mind when deciding on new objectives or goals for the year.

Want more?

If you want more information about company values, culture and how both of these things are the key to your business’s success – download our guide on creating company values now. Download How To Create Company Values now.