If you want to build a stronger team in the marketplace, you have to ensure that everyone you've hired is on the same page, especially when building brand awareness about your company's mission and monitoring how the public perceives those efforts.
To help leaders learn to communicate their company's core values more effectively to potential job candidates, new hires and longtime employees alike, here are nine tips from a panel of Forbes Human Resources Council experts that are sure to keep employee representatives on the right track.
Forbes Human Resources Council members share their insights.
Photos courtesy of individual members.1. Cover Your Core Values During The Onboarding Process
Core values are the foundation of an organization and they must be communicated to new hires at every level of the onboarding process. Integrating these values into company messaging, materials and software will reinforce brand ideals via the very infrastructure of how each team works. This ensures consistency, both internally and externally, where the messaging meets the public. - Rick Hammell, Atlas
2. Educate And Reward Employees
New employees are exposed to our core values before they even start because the values are part of our job descriptions and interviewing processes. Our president sits down with every new hire and talks about each core value and why it was chosen. We also have a recognition program in which employees can nominate co-workers for living the core values of the company. These employees are then recognized at our quarterly company meetings. - Kelly Mallmann, Kurz Industrial Solutions
3. Share Inspirational Stories
Invite executives to onboarding sessions to tell the stories that inspired what your company believes in and why. Follow that up with a brand messaging toolkit created by your marketing team that presents preferred words and emojis and language to avoid. Doing this will demonstrate how those values translate into positive PR. - Ahva Sadeghi, Symba
4. Write Your Mission In The Job Descriptions
I write job descriptions for my team that clearly capture our bank's core values. Adherence to these values is core to working in my organization and there are consequences for violation. In addition, the bank's onboarding program is designed to expose all new hires to the company's core values. Our values are our culture; this is reiterated in all staff meetings and town halls. - Awuese Oku, African Development Bank
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5. State Your Focus On External And Internal Websites
The company’s core values should tell a story. Start with how it is communicated on both the external and internal websites and how the core values are embedded into every talent process and daily workflow. The core values should also be engaged with the recruitment process, beginning with the job advertisement, then the interview process and leaning into the onboarding and orientation process. - Sherry Martin, Government Administration
6. Present Your Values In Various Ways
Alignment of core values to new hires is an important aspect of building culture. This can be accomplished through a variety of formats, such as presenting the values during a live orientation, videos of leaders discussing the values, home mailers with values definitions and values recognition awards during town hall sessions. Most importantly, new team members should witness those values in action. - Elizabeth Corey, Velosio
7. Continue Core Value Conversations During Check-Ins
Intentionally weave the topic of company core values into new employee orientation. Share the history, mission, values and purpose. Provide specific examples of what it means to lean into each core value and have the supervisors continue this conversation during check-ins. The more familiar employees are with your core values relative to mission and business objectives, the more effective they'll be in communicating externally. - Milpha Blamo, The Minneapolis Foundation
8. Use A Learning Platform To Deliver Information
We use our own training products—a learning platform—to deliver information. This lets new hires understand our clients’ perspectives, the user experience and what we want to communicate. We have brand-related courses for each job profile (on messaging and company values), so employees can see what competencies they need to achieve. They can also self-evaluate their performance. - Graham Glass, CYPHER LEARNING
9. Show, Don't Tell
For your new hire to effectively represent your public brand, let's first focus on your company's internal brand. The new hire orientation shows how you value them so that they can value the customers the same way. In my opinion, company values and culture are best learned not in the presentations, but by living them each day. You can also use HR technology, like your company employee app, to effectively share your stories. - Dinesh Sheth, Green Circle Life
