An ideal corporate culture — the collection of values, beliefs, ethics and attitudes that characterize an organization and guide its practices — is a fairly universal vision. Imagine an organization where every employee is engaged and motivated by a shared sense of purpose, where collaboration and innovation thrive, and where individuals feel a deep sense of belonging.
This idyllic company culture doesn't materialize by chance — it's carefully nurtured through the creation and implementation of your company values. Your values serve as the bedrock upon which your corporate culture is built, influencing attitudes, behaviors, and the overall experience of working within your organization.
It goes without saying that a great work culture helps with job satisfaction and employee retention. But the long term impacts on company goals cannot be overstated — a great culture boosts retention and productivity, greatly contributing to your bottom line.
Here, we’ll explore the transformative impact of company values on your corporate culture while examining the core reasons why company values hold such significance, and discover how they shape the way your organization operates and thrives in today's dynamic business landscape.
Why Company Values Are Important
As companies are increasingly expected to operate with distinction in order to attract top talent, establishing appealing company values have become more important.
Company values — the beliefs, philosophies, and principles that drive your business — serve as a moral compass, guiding your organization's actions and decisions. Clear and effectively communicated values attract individuals who align with your principles, helping to maintain a harmonious and engaged workforce.
Additionally, company values guide decision-making, ensuring that choices made align with the organization's mission and long-term goals. When your employees consistently make decisions based on shared values, it helps create a cohesive and purpose-driven culture.
Attract and retain top talent
As any recruiter will tell you, finding and keeping talented individuals is easier said than done. But having well-defined company values can be a game-changer.
When your values resonate with potential candidates, they're more likely to be engaged, motivated, and committed to their work. This alignment leads to higher job satisfaction, lower turnover rates, and a solid sense of loyalty among employees.
Create a positive work environment
Feeling valued and respected in your job is non-negotiable for an engaged workforce. That's where company values really shine, and help companies stand out from their competitors.
When your organization embraces clear values, it fosters a fantastic company culture. Employees who share those values feel a sense of belonging, which in turn boosts morale, productivity, and overall job satisfaction.
Guide decision-making and behavior
Let's face it — making difficult decisions is a reality in most workplaces, from tackling tough conversations to addressing occasional employee poor performance, it can be challenging to navigate. Having clear set company values to guide decision making and help you understand how to approach these instances takes a level of stress and ambiguity out of the process.
By aligning actions with your organization's values, employees can make choices that help facilitate your company's mission and long-term goals. Clear values also help maintain ethical standards and provide a framework for consistent behavior throughout your organization.
Developing Your Company Core Values
Developing meaningful company core values involves collaboration and engagement from employees at all levels. By involving your team in this process, you can tap into their diverse perspectives, developing a sense of ownership and commitment to the values that will define your organization.
You’ll want to keep in mind the importance of aligning your company core values with your mission and vision, as well as the unique characteristics that set your organization apart.
Involve your employees
The development of core values shouldn’t happen in a vacuum, and it shouldn't be a solo mission either. Given the impact they’ll have on every single person who works within your organization, it’s important they’re developed as a team.
To do so, give employees the opportunity to reflect on their own personal values, as well as what they believe the organization should prioritize. Prompt this brainstorm prior to holding a meeting where everyone has the opportunity to contribute.
Employee input and perspectives are invaluable, and by engaging them in the creative process, you’ll strengthen motivation and create a sense of ownership and buy-in.
Align with your business mission and vision
While a company's mission and vision provide the overarching direction and purpose, its core values serve as the guiding principles that shape the organization's culture and behavior.
When identifying your company values, be sure they are in sync with your organization's mission and vision. They should reflect the core beliefs and principles that guide your business towards success.
Make them memorable and meaningful
Core values are incredibly important, but they don’t need to be super complex. Company values should be simple, yet impactful. Craft values that are easy to remember and resonate with your employees. They should serve as guiding principles in their day-to-day work.
Communicating and Promoting Your Company Core Values
Once you have defined your core values, effective communication and promotion is key to embedding them in your organization. Actively integrate and reinforce core values by consistent promotion, to create a culture that embraces and embodies those values, ultimately driving employee engagement, organizational alignment, and overall success.
Recruitment
During the recruitment process, clearly communicate your values through addressing them in your job posting or linking to them on your website. Making your values visible at this stage helps attract prospective employees that are a good culture fit for your organization.
Onboarding
When onboarding, incorporate your values into the onboarding process to introduce new employees to the culture. This can be done in a variety of ways, from how you approach new hire welcome kits, to the communication and welcome messages employees receive in their first days of employment. Onboarding is a critical time to cement your values and set the tone for your employee’s experience.
Performance reviews
Performance reviews are the perfect touch point to reiterate company values. Some ways to weave your values into your performance review process are:
- Ask performance review questions that reflect your values
- Tie your feedback to company values
- Incorporate your values into your recognition program
Benefits
Employee benefits can be an easy and pointed way to demonstrate your company values to your employees. For example, if one of your core values is to always learn and adapt, offering a learning and development (L&D) stipend for your employees demonstrates your organization’s commitment to this value.
Leadership
Lastly, leadership should embody and promote your values, which is to say, you must live your values from the top. If you have a company value of work/life balance, leadership must lead by example. Some ways to do so include:
- Using paid vacation time
- Refraining from sending emails or Slack messages outside of business hours
- Encouraging flexible work environments
Internal communication
Regularly communicate your values through internal channels such as company newsletters, intranets, or team meetings. Reinforce the importance of those values and share success stories that align with them.
Training and development
Incorporate your values into employee training and development programs. Provide learning opportunities that reinforce your values and help employees understand how to embody them in their work.
Incorporate values in company events
Integrate your values into company events, team-building activities, and social gatherings. This creates opportunities for employees to experience and live out your values in a fun and engaging way.
Company and employer branding
Promote your values externally through your branding and marketing efforts. Showcasing your values to the public helps attract like-minded customers and partners who resonate with your organization's culture.
Amplify Your Company Values with Omni
Company values are the foundation of a strong and vibrant corporate culture. They attract top talent, create a positive work environment, and guide decision-making and behavior. By following the steps to develop and communicate your values, and consistently promoting them throughout your organization, you can build a culture that reflects your core beliefs and drives success.
But you don’t have to do it alone — Omni has the tools you need to take full advantage of your core values. Our onboarding kit for company culture has everything you need to implement and communicate your core values that define your organization’s success.
Omni's comprehensive, automated onboarding capabilities empower organizations to create a seamless and impactful onboarding experience that sets the foundation for a thriving company culture. From customizable communication templates to efficient information and document collection, Omni helps streamline your onboarding workflows to create a consistent and engaging process that sets your employees up for success.
Our performance management module easily tracks and analyzes key employee data to provide actionable insights that help you refine your employer brand and promote your company mission and values.
Embrace the power of automation while leading with your values to propel your organization forward, creating an environment where employees are engaged, motivated, and united towards a shared purpose.
To learn more about Omni, book a demo with our team.
