Finding and Keeping Your Core Values in Business
To be truly successful in business, you need to have your company's values hammered out. Knowing what your business stands for creates a company culture that attracts employees, customers, and even investors. Finding and keeping your core values in business is important for all companies, big and small.
As small business owners, it can be hard to find the time to develop a list of business values. In fact, it took me 25 years before I listed out core values for my own company. Try not to procrastinate like I did, as business core values play a role in important business processes, such as hiring.
Importance of core values in business
Core values in business are beliefs that guide decision-making and actions. Some examples of company core values include integrity, honesty, self-discipline, and dependability.
If your employees have values to base their performance off of, your business can grow. Core values can unite your employees as well. Employees who operate under the same standards, like integrity, can further teamwork in your organization. And, employees who value self-discipline won’t watch the clock. Instead, they’ll go above and beyond to expand your business.
Core values can also guide your hiring process. You will know what you’re looking for in a new employee if your business’s values are solid. If someone doesn’t share your core values, they might not be a good fit at your company. The people you hire should mesh with your company values.
When dealing with customers, it’s important to keep business core values at the forefront. Core values are like a promise to your customers. A customer might be drawn to your business because of your core values.
Finding your core values in business
Before I created my company core values, I was constantly bogged down by speakers and consultants telling me how important they were. But, everyone’s advice on how to determine my core values was so different that I put it off.
Finding your core values doesn’t have to be difficult. Consider your business’s purpose. Think about your personal core values. If you have employees, look at your star performers and the values they hold.
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Some businesses like to involve their employees in developing their list of core values. You could ask employees what values are important to them. But, you can also come up with them yourself, using your employees as models.
Come up with a list of business values that reflects what each employee should strive for. When I sat down and thought up core values for Patriot Software, it took me about 20 minutes, because all I had to do was think about how my star performers act. It doesn’t need to be a long process.
Example of core values
The initial core values I came up with for Patriot Software still hold true to this day. I had 17 items on my core values list. Now, I can group all these points into three basic core values. But, the original core values are still listed out under each of these categories on the company’s website.
These values define the work ethic of my employees, myself, and my overall business:
- In everything we do, we put back (i.e., give more than we take).
- We do what needs to be done without taking shortcuts.
- In everything we do, we follow the Golden Rule (we treat others how we would want to be treated: customers, co-workers, competitors, etc.).
Keeping your core values in business
Once you’ve decided the core values that best represent your business, you need to implement them. Core values can’t just be something you have hanging on a wall inside your office; they need to be practiced and taken seriously.
The best way to keep core values in business is to follow them yourself. If you strive to embody your business’s core values, employees will follow suit.
Every chance you get, you should talk about your core business values. For me, that involves posting core values on TV screens throughout my companies, talking about them in the monthly newsletter, and implementing them into the hiring and onboarding processes.
You can keep a list of core values in your employee handbook so your employees can always reference them. When you create a job description, you can include a mention of your core values to attract the right candidates. Each time an employee has a performance review, you can talk about how they are upholding or falling short of the core values.
As your business grows, don’t lose touch with your roots. Always keep your business, and your actions, true to your founding core values.
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