What Are Company Values?

Post A Job For Free, Promote It For A Fee

Post a Job

Most businesses have between five and ten core values. Many businesses write them in command form, but it can vary from company to company depending on their culture and customer base.

Key Takeaways:

• Company values are values that the company holds and does its best to implement in its operations and in how it interacts with its customers, shareholders, and stakeholders.

• Having listed company values can help with all members of staff sharing a common goal, giving them directives on how to act with their fellow employees and customers, and helping attract and retain talent.

• Creating company values requires you to look at your own values as well as your employees. Due to the fact that the company is made up of a team, the values have to work for a team – both in terms of what they are and in how well the team agrees on them.

• Demonstrating company values is important in order to make sure that they truly become part of the company culture. It’s important to encourage leadership to model the company values, reward employees when they exemplify them, hire people who also share them, and be open to feedback and changes over time.

Why Are Company Values Important?

Company values, sometimes also called core values, are important because they help guide the way an organization operates. As they are the values that the company at large holds, they’re also unifying values that can aid in teamwork and decision-making.

Having defined company values can help with personnel retention, recruitment, and attracting investors as well. Values and goals are part of what draws people to a company, and if they align with their own values, they’re more likely to want to work there, keep working there, or invest in other ways.

How Many Core Values Should a Company Have?

While there’s no set number of company values that a company should or must have, in general, less is more. It’s fairly standard for companies to have five to ten values that they list, but part of writing out your core values is to show what differentiates your company, or at the very least, what makes your company what it is.

There are differing opinions on how many core values are optimal, but generally, it falls in the five to ten range. Some say that having fewer than five company values can be too focused and, therefore, a determinant, while Marc Lore, the CEO of Jet.com, avers that having more than three company values is too many.

In short, most people agree that more than ten company values are too many. Beyond that, select the number that feels right for your company.

How to Create Company Values

Creating company values is the process of selecting which values define your company and coming up with a way of writing them out that’s direct and engaging. The task of writing out and defining your company values takes time and focus. There are several steps that you can take in order to narrow it down to the values that best suit your company and your staff.

• Reflect on why you started your business. Of course, the purpose of a business is to make a profit, but very few people decide to start their own business just to make money. There was a gap you saw, or you valued your freedom, or you wanted to be more customer-oriented or employee oriented.

  Whatever your impetus was, it’ll likely be reflected in your company culture and the way you run your business. That means that it’ll be part of your company values.

• Look at other companies’ values. You shouldn’t just copy someone else’s company values, but it always helps to look at what others have done. There are different formats and styles of writing them. Some may appeal to you, and some may not. Take lessons from the ones you think work and the ones that you think don’t.

• Dig into your own values. Some of this may have been covered when you reexamined why you started your business. However, your values as a business owner will be a part of your business, which means that giving over the ones most important to you will help you to figure out what your company values should be.

• Get your team involved. Company values shouldn’t just be based on your values. Your employees are a major part of your company culture and operations, and they need to be involved in the generation of your company values. Ask them about their own values, and find the places where everyone’s values overlap.

• Consider what your customers value. As a major part of a business is making money and interfacing with customers, you also need to consider them. That doesn’t mean you have to send out a survey, but you need to think about what’s important to them. After all, while company values largely face inward, they’re another way to define your brand.

• Broaden it to be team-based. Make sure that the company values you select are ones that can apply to the whole team. Certain values that work on an individual level, like a big emphasis on individuality, may not be ideal in a business or team setting and may set back teamwork.

• Tie it to your company culture. Your company values and company culture should be intertwined. They aren’t exactly the same, but you want your values reflected in your culture and your culture reflected in your values.

  If that isn’t the case, then the values you picked may not be accurate. At that point, you’ll have to make the decision as to whether you want to shift your company culture to fit your company values or your company values to fit your company culture. Note that the latter is, in many ways, easier.

• Make it actionable. Company values are typically written as a command. That means that you want to take the attributes you agreed on and make them into a phrase that implies action.

How Do You Demonstrate Company Values?

Demonstrating company values is a multistep process that involves making an effort to notice, point out, and enforce personnel displaying the company values. Here are some ways to make sure that your company values become a true part of your company’s operations.

• Model them yourself. A lot of company culture and acceptance of company values starts with the leadership showing what they value. Employees are well familiar with someone in leadership saying one thing but actually valuing something else. If you and your leadership team model the values, then they’re more likely to be widely adopted.

• Emphasize your company values when you hire. As with company culture, an important way to emphasize and preserve company values is to make sure you hire people who share them. If the new hires in the company share the company values and want to keep them, they’ll make sure to follow and enforce them in their careers.

• Include them in training. When onboarding and training new hires, be sure to include references, behaviors, and expectations that adhere to your company values. Employees pick up a lot about how to do their jobs and the company culture from training. If the company values are reflected in it, they’re more likely to follow them.

• Reward your employees for modeling the company values. This doesn’t mean that you have to throw a party every time. As a matter of fact, it’s better if you don’t. But recognizing employees who show the company values as they work reinforces the behavior and shows other employees that you truly value it.

  Part of rewarding employees for following the company values is to make sure that the people that showcase those values are the ones who get raises and promotions. That not only helps with retention – you want to make sure that those people stay with your company – but it shows all your personnel that your values aren’t just lip service.

• Request feedback and suggestions. Remember that company values aren’t just your values. Include your employees in the creation, implementation, and continuation of your company values. Find out what values work and what don’t, and how to make the ones you want to prioritize a priority.

  Many employees may be reluctant to speak up, particularly if they have criticism. A lot of workplaces don’t have a culture that rewards that. So be sure not only to solicit feedback but to respond appropriately to it.

What Are Examples of Company Values?

Different businesses have different company values. They even have different formats for writing them out. Here are some real-world examples:

Author

Di Doherty

Di has been a writer for more than half her life. Most of her writing so far has been fiction, and she’s gotten short stories published in online magazines Kzine and Silver Blade, as well as a flash fiction piece in the Bookends review. Di graduated from Mary Baldwin College (now University) with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.