Beverlee Rasmussen CEC PCC What are core values? Why are they so important for your business?
When you align your values with your company you’ll see positive changes such as:
- An increase in customer volume and loyalty.
- More productivity and inspiration from your employees.
- More joy and prosperity for you, the business owner.
Sound too good to be true? It’s not. Here’s how it works!
What exactly are core values?
Core values are often referred to as the “why” of what you do.
The very decision to start or accept the responsibility of building and running a company is closely tied to your personal values— what you find important, meaningful and appropriate. Values reflect an individual’s or organization’s sense of right and wrong. It answers the question, what are we contributing?
Core values are timeless and rarely change. It isn’t what your company sells, or even how you go about it, it is why you do it.
Core values in your company
A company’s values are the building blocks of company culture. They underpin the way an organization behaves. They inform decisions in the areas of operations, finance, team building, leadership and how the company shows up in the market.
Core company values are deeply held by the company owner and, ideally, by everyone in the organization.
Understanding how these values impact the way you currently operate and make business decisions is powerful.
Where to start?
The process of aligning core values with the actions of your company may prove challenging at first. Taking the time to personally identify and respect your own core values is the first step. When you align who you are with what you do, you’ll find more fulfilment in your work and more purpose in your daily grind. 64% of people find more fulfilment in their work when they are purpose-orientated.
What are your values?
If you’d like, you can take a few minutes now to brainstorm some terms that resonate with you. Check out the image below for inspiration.
Aligning who you are with what you do
How do you pull your personal values and integrate them with your company?
First, you’ll want to write your values down. Then, you’ll want to share them with everyone— your employees, your investors, and your customers. You can write your values down and put them up in the staff room or share them on your website. Here’s an example of the Systems Business Coach values:
When you share your company values with all stakeholders, it gives you a common language. It helps others understand how you want your company to run.
By sharing core values you attract others who share your values. Which supports the recruitment of future employees. Purpose-orientated employees have higher retention rates and are 47% more likely to advocate on behalf of you and your company.
Plus when you share your values you attract like-minded customers and investors. Your values will also improve your customer retention rate because your customers view your company as more than just a brand, but as someone like them who they can trust.
Integrate your core values and systems
Core values are more than beautiful words on a framed print. Defending your values takes work if you are going to build a strong company.
Employees need to know what your values are and they need to see you following them. Customers will be the first ones to find cracks in what you say you stand for and your actions.
Ask yourself, when and how do my values show up in my organization?
If you are not feeling the love for your company and/or are not fully delivering your best possible product or service to your customers, you may want to revisit your values and realign priorities and processes to better reflect the values you hold most.
As you work through investigating this, you may bump up against things that you are currently doing that are out of alignment with your core values.
For example, if you value service but you haven’t been able to return client calls on time recently, then it points to a missing or broken system. You will need to fix that system in order to get back in alignment with this core value.
When you define your values and share them with all stakeholders, you can find systems in your company that may need your urgent attention. And when you fix these systems, you be amazed and how much peace and prosperity your company can bring you.
Until next time, enjoy your Entrepreneurial Journey!
