Why Are Company Values Important for Business Success

Company values are the foundation of a successful business. They guide decision-making, shape company culture, and influence how employees behave.

Clear and consistent company values help to reduce turnover and improve employee satisfaction. According to research, companies with strong values experience a 50% lower turnover rate compared to those without.

Having a clear set of values also helps to attract top talent. Employees want to work for a company that shares their values and mission, and 77% of job seekers say that a company's values and culture are important considerations when looking for a job.

Well-defined company values can also increase customer loyalty and retention. When customers feel that a company's values align with their own, they are more likely to become repeat customers and advocates for the brand.

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Company values are the foundation of a successful organization, and they play a crucial role in guiding decision-making, team alignment, and employee motivation. Clear values help employees know what to do and what not to do, making it easier to make decisions that align with the company's purpose.

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A strong company culture is hard to manufacture, but core values can help fill the gap in virtual teams. By articulating core values as a values statement, companies can ensure that their team knows who they are and what they stand for. This is especially important in a virtual workplace where serendipitous interactions and in-person engagement activities are often absent.

Core values drive behavior and form beliefs, influencing how people live their lives. Positive core values like reliability, dependability, and honesty are essential in personal and professional relationships. In fact, people in satisfying relationships often say their partner shares their values.

A company's core values can help distinguish its identity in the marketplace and as an employer. By defining and enforcing specific values, companies can inspire employees to go above and beyond the call of duty. This makes employee criticism a question of upholding the values, rather than just following rules.

Employees want to work with organizations that align with their values, and mission-driven organizations are on the rise. Clear company values help teams make decisions, align with the company's purpose, and improve motivation. They also communicate principles to customers, making it easier for them to understand what the organization stands for.

In a remote and distributed work environment, clear values are more important than ever. They help attract the right people, ensuring that new employees are a good organizational fit. By communicating core values, companies can attract talented professionals and retain them, leading to increased productivity and employee satisfaction.

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Giving your team a shared purpose is crucial for employee satisfaction, and it's not just a feel-good concept. A McKinsey & Company survey found that 70% of employees said their sense of purpose was largely defined by work. However, this number drops to 15% when non-executive participants are asked if they're living their purpose at work.

Core company values give employees a sense of purpose, and they should be embraced at every level, not just by the executive team. Purpose doesn't just improve employee satisfaction – it also increases your bottom line and builds trust with customers.

A shared purpose can be a powerful motivator for your team. At Nickelodeon, our company value of putting kids first reminds us that our work has a positive impact on kids' lives, which is a great feeling.

To give your team a shared purpose, start by consulting your founders or executive team to see if they have a mission statement or vision for the company values. If not, consider setting up brainstorming sessions with your team to come up with your own values.

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Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you refine your core values:

By answering these questions, you can create a set of core values that will give your team a shared purpose and inspire them to do their best work.

Implementing company values requires more than just creating a list of principles. To ensure your values resonate with employees, leaders must continuously mention and act on them. This can help bridge hierarchical gaps and make employees more excited to follow the same guidelines maintained by their executives.

As a senior coordinator, I've seen firsthand how this can be a daunting task, especially if you feel unable to relate to executive leadership. But by relentlessly explaining and exemplifying company values, leaders can show that the values are for everyone – no matter your title.

To keep your company culture in line with the times, revisit your values regularly. This means spending time with your core values, which often stay the same, but also being open to making thoughtful updates and bringing in a group of engaged employees to offer early feedback.

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Implementing core values requires more than just creating a list. Creating the core values is one thing — implementing them into your everyday business is another.

To ensure your values resonate, they need to be consistently mentioned and acted on from a leadership perspective. Continuously mentioning and acting on the values from a leadership perspective helps bridge hierarchical gaps and makes employees more excited to follow the same guidelines.

Leaders can show that the values are for everyone by relentlessly explaining and exemplifying company values. This can help make employees feel more connected to their executives.

Implementing core values requires a top-down approach, where leaders lead by example and consistently demonstrate the values they want to see in their team.

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As your company grows and changes, so should your values. It's essential to revisit and update them regularly to keep your culture in line with the times. This means spending time with your core values, which often stay the same, but rethinking how your business applies or interprets them.

Change is the only constant, and your business will evolve over time. Societal norms, values, and trends will change too, so it's crucial to stay open to updates. HubSpot, for instance, has made more than 33 revisions to their culture code, emphasizing the importance of continuous investment.

To make thoughtful updates, bring in a group of engaged employees to offer early feedback. This will help ensure that your company values consistently reflect the core of your business. As HubSpot did, involve leadership and ask them to model these updated values.

Encourage employees to embrace updated values and engage them to ensure your company's culture stays top of mind, fresh, and current. This might involve hosting biannual meetings where employees can sign up to present an idea, no matter how outlandish, as Whole Foods did.

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A company culture assessment is a crucial step in implementing and maintaining values. You may think your company is doing all right, but do you really know what people think of it, both internally and externally?

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Surveys can help you find out what customers, employees, the C-suite, partners, and suppliers think of the business. This includes what they think the business stands for and how it's demonstrating those values.

To get a clear picture, survey a diverse group of people, including employees at all levels, to ensure everyone's voice is heard. This will help you identify areas of alignment and areas for improvement.

You can also conduct surveys to find out what customers think of the business, including what they value most and what they see as the company's core values.

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Having a clear understanding of your company values is crucial for making informed decisions and engaging your employees. This is evident in the success of companies like Amazon, which has a strong set of values that guide their decision-making process.

Companies like Amazon, Intuiy, Deloitte, and Workday have defined core values that shape their success. These values can be an opportunity for humble bragging, as they pave the way for innovative efforts.

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You can see how top-ranking companies like Amazon and Deloitte use core values to shape their success. This is a key takeaway from the examples of companies with inspiring core values.

To get started, you can look at the 50 examples of company values, including those from Amazon, Intuiy, Deloitte, and Workday. These values can serve as a starting point for defining your own company's core values.

Here are some examples of companies with inspiring core values:

By studying these examples, you can get a better understanding of what makes a strong set of core values.

Frequently communicating your core values to current employees is crucial, especially in a virtual environment. This can be done through company intranet pages, weekly newsletters, or meetings.

To make core values top-of-mind, you can also bring them into your day-to-day communication. For example, you can ask team members to share examples of recent actions that align with company core values during meetings.

It's not just about listing your values; employees need to understand what they mean and how to fulfill them. Clear expectations are essential, so define what each value means in practice. For instance, 'contribute positively to our communities' might mean volunteering, donations, or outreach to homeless people.

In a virtual environment, shared core values are a powerful reminder that no one person can achieve everything on their own. This fosters connection and trust between employees.

To bring core values into employee hiring, onboarding, ongoing development, and retention, list them on career pages and evaluate new job candidates based on their alignment with company values. This helps attract job seekers who share your values and deter those who don't.

When preparing performance reviews, encourage employees to consider the company values and how their projects and accomplishments align with them. This provides a structure for employees and helps them conceptualize how they support company values.

Having clear core values can lower employee attrition rates, giving businesses a competitive advantage and employees a sense of pride in working for a well-regarded company.

Here are some key benefits of communicating and aligning values:

Research shows that sound corporate values can increase revenue 4x faster and reduce recruitment fees by 22%. By combining operational and experience data, you can measure the impact of your core values and make data-driven decisions.

You can also use market research platforms to gather insights and develop new core values that deliver profit and boost employee engagement. For example, when investments in employee engagement are increased by 10%, profits can increase by $2400 per employee.

To measure the impact of your core values, you can track metrics such as employee retention, customer satisfaction, and cost per hire. A 50% savings in cost per hire is a significant return on investment, and can be achieved by living out your core values.

Here are some key metrics to track:

Organizations can deliver a significant return on investment (ROI) by having sound corporate values that inspire excellent company culture. This can lead to a four times faster increase in revenue.

Research has shown that companies with strong core values experience a 50% reduction in cost per hire and a 22% reduction in recruitment fees. Employee engagement and profitability also see a significant boost, with a 10% increase in employee engagement investments resulting in a $2400 profit per employee.

Employee retention is also dramatically increased, and customer satisfaction doubles. This makes a strong case for organizations to focus on developing and implementing core values that drive positive outcomes.

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Having clear expectations is essential for employee satisfaction. Employees have clear expectations of what they will be doing, giving them security and a sense of belonging.

Employee attrition costs businesses dearly – the average costs to replace an employee are $1,500 for hourly employees, 100 to 150% of a technical employee’s salary, and up to 213% of a C-suite executive’s salary.

Having core values lowers the attrition rate, helping businesses engage their employees more effectively. This is because core values give a framework that tells employees what kind of organization they are joining and what their roles as team members will be.

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Strong core values give employees a shared sense of commitment, allowing them to rally behind a united cause. In a virtual environment, shared core values are a powerful reminder that no one person can achieve everything on their own.

Employee engagement and profitability can increase when investments in employee engagement are increased by 10%, profits can increase by $2400 per employee. Employee retention is dramatically increased, and customer satisfaction doubles.

To bring core values into your day-to-day communication, post them on your company intranet page or share them in your weekly newsletter. You can also bring core values into your meetings by having team members shout out examples of recent actions that align with company core values.

Here are some creative ways to engage team members with your values: