You will have heard us say this before… your company values should be a reflection of your business. They are a clear set of concepts that enable employees to clearly understand what your business stands for, what goals it is working towards and crucially, how it intends to achieve those goals.
The type of values you choose for your company will depend on many things. Values may range from honesty, integrity and responsibility to teamworking. You should pick a combination of different values that best characterise your company. These should enable an employee to both engage and represent your business.
Deciding your company values
So, how do you decide what your company values should be? Whilst there is no set protocol to follow, choosing values in alignment with the business purpose is a good first step. No business is likely to have the exact same set of values either. They should reflect your specific company – just like us, company values should be unique!
Remember that what is important to one company may not be important to another. Having a value of say, discipline, may not be as desirable to a graphics design company where artistic flair would be integral, as it would to a firm of accountants. It is also important to bear in mind that as time and technology progresses, so may your values. Allowing employees to have an input should help them feel like they are part of your business. It should also reassure them that their opinion matters.
Inclusion of your employees
The inclusion of your employees when establishing or revising your company values is a good way to encourage active engagement. For example, an employee who has a strong personal value of loyalty may then exhibit a strong disposition to working with a company who favours a model where employee loyalty is desired, recognised and rewarded.
Whatever your personal set of values, and whether or not your employees are able to be involved in their creation or revision, making sure that your values are clearly visible and accessible is strongly advised. Displaying your values in the office, setting them as screensavers or on internal communications are just some ideas.
Using your company values as a benchmark
Your values should also serve as a benchmark as to how you manage your employees. This could be either during the day-to-day running of the business or during times of conflict. If your values include consistency, then it is imperative to adopt a consistent approach when dealing with employees. The question here of course is how is best to go about this? In a company where there may be different levels of management/multiple managers/managers with differing levels of responsibility, ensuring consistency at any given time is easier said than done! In order to support your business and its values, effective training is paramount, strengthening the value of consistency.
Company values and how your business operates
This also highlights how a company value can aid in the operational running of a business. For example, they could help management to adopt the correct approach where required. Company values can also simultaneously allow an employee to have a sense of equality and security, knowing there are set policies and procedures in place that can be implemented when and where appropriate. Referencing your values in both internal and external communications, using this to determine your CSR and other policies and embedding them into your appraisal processes are just a few ways to do this.
There could also be circumstances where values are not as easily translated into physical actions. If transparency is a value in your business, how this is effectively communicated to your employees should be thought about. Encouraging transparency in business (and making sure your employees are aware of this) is advised. This will help to open up dialogue across all levels of the business. This should in turn inspire the exchange of ideas and boost both motivation and morale.
If you’d like to speak to us about either creating, updating, or better incorporating your company values into how you manage and engage your employees, please get in touch with us!
