Your company already has its own culture even if you did nothing to make it happen. (Disagree? Read my blog post about company culture), and in any group of employees there are shared values too. These are what will shape your company values. The thing is, it’s not really up to you, it’s something that follows naturally, when a group of people get together to work towards a shared goal.
Certain actions are deemed ‘good’ and others ‘bad’ in the context. In fast-growing organisations, it is often seen as ‘good’ to take risk, experiment and move fast. In large established organisations on the other hand, following procedures and checking twice is seen as the right way to do things.
Clearly this is an extremely important aspect of how you describe your business to future colleagues and potential investors. It makes a world of difference to your success how your team approaches tasks. And when you interview candidates, they need to get an idea of what it’s like to work there, not just what tasks they will be solving.
This is where company values come in.
And before we dive in to that, I know some founders can be a little sceptical about the fluffiness of values. And with good reason, there is a lot of bullshit out there. A lot of corporate values are so generic and basic that they have absolutely no meaning. “Customer focus” on its own means nothing. Same with “Teamwork”.
But if you do it right, defining your company values can be one of the best things you will ever do for your company.
So how do you define company values that aren’t just fluff?
Like I said, you already have values, so you can cross that off the list.
Next step is to identify the ones that helps take you towards your goal, and the ones that sets you apart.
A way to do this is to get your team (or parts of it) together, and discuss the following questions:
- What do we prioritise over all else?
- How do we handle pressure?
- How do we handle conflict?
- How do we handle success?
- What is the best thing about working here?
- What is the difference between us and how closest competitors?
- What do we tell people who ask us what it’s like to work here?
This will give you an idea which values are actually at your core. You can name them if you want, but try to avoid clichés like ‘performance’ or ‘teamwork’, because it doesn’t say much and it’s not going to help you. Instead, go with short sentences like ‘prioritise quality over speed’, or ‘if in doubt, go to the source first’.
When you are finished identifying, you should pick out the absolute critical ones.
Don’t pick more than 3 or 4 different company values. This is harder than it sounds if you did the pre-work well, but force yourself to do it anyway. The discussions leading to a top 3 will tell you a lot about your team and what they find important.
Now, before you print posters and coffee mugs, you need to make sure your values check these three boxes
- Concrete and actionable to someone in your team facing a dilemma
- Recognisable to people on your team
- Support your business goals
So what can you use company values for?
Now that you have put work into defining and prioritising your core company values, you shouldn’t put them in a drawer and forget about them. (You also don’t need to print posters. But if you really want to, you can.)
Instead there are 3 specific areas where they can lift your company to new heights.
- Talks with investors and customers
Being able to paint a clear picture of how you work will help build trust that you can actually manage to deliver what you say you can. - Hiring and onboarding new employees
New hires who already have a good understanding of what it’s like to work in your team will be faster to fit in and contribute, and less likely to leave after a short time due to unmet expectations. - Daily leadership
Use your values as basis when you talk to your team about development, engagement, new projects, and challenges. Having a shared starting point eases conversations.
One last thing to remember: Nothing is perfect. Any organisation has traits that are less than ideal. Maybe your team is super fast at moving on changed circumstances, but struggles to follow protocol? Or maybe there is a tendency to always value shiny new things over tried and tested? Every strength has a shadow. But owning what is truly important to your team helps accept the other side of things.
Does this seem like a lot of work, that you don’t really have the capacity for? You’re in luck! I can help you. Reach out for more info or follow me on LinkedIn for more 😊
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