Keep Your Company Values Current to Keep Your Culture Thriving
Company values are a strategic business driver – they can be used to encourage the right culture among your team members and provide a roadmap of expected behaviors for individuals new to the organization. A company’s values are essential to maintaining and encouraging a thriving culture.
At the INFINITI HR office, our values are literally written on the walls. But for many companies, creating a mission, vision, and company values are a paperwork exercise completed every three to five years as part of a strategic plan. This post is designed to outline the potential of company values – it can be the difference-maker in reaching your strategic goals.
Company values: Keep them simple and relevant
Company values serve as a road map and help guide:
- Hiring the right people
- Evaluating performance effectively
- Coaching team members as needed
- Encouraging a positive “ripple effect” from team members that spills over into the client experience
INFINITI HR was founded on client service. Our leaders, Mark and Scott, knew there was a way to grow a company that would serve other companies as a true partner while recognizing team members have a life outside of work and enabling them to reach personal goals. And, to acknowledge we can all have a bit of fun along the way. So, INFINITI HR’s core values are:
- Commitment: Our commitment to going above and beyond in all endeavors is essential in achieving respect for a lifetime
- Innovation: Embracing change and continually finding new ways to deliver success ensures that we remain the standard that others follow
- Teamwork: Respect for one another and collaboration make us stronger therefore our possibilities are endless.
- Accountability: We consistently honor our word and accept responsibility for our actions
- Fun & Adventure: We take genuine fun and adventure seriously so that people are willing to embrace change, explore new ideas and paths
These values guide our managers in developing our team members. We train new team members if they are wondering what to do in each situation, and use these values as a guide for determining a path forward. We train our leaders to cultivate these traits in their team members, and the result is sustainable growth with all team members moving in the same direction: toward a great client experience.
Now’s the time to update core values
Even if the strategic planning cycle says it’s not time to revisit company values, the recent pandemic caused many business owners and companies to pause and take a look at what really matters. Are those pre-pandemic decisions still relevant today, and do they represent the culture the company wants to foster?
Take the time to facilitate a discussion with your managers and have an honest conversation about what has changed in the past two years. Be open to either establishing core values or updating them. Those values have a dual purpose: reminding team members what the company stands for, who to choose as business partners, and how to collectively shape the client experience.
Make company values a rallying cry
Those new values do the company no good if they are locked away in an employee handbook. Make an inventory of touchpoints where team members, clients, and business partners can see and engage with the core values. Encourage leaders to acknowledge team members who demonstrate the values at work. Take a few minutes to celebrate wins and tie those behaviors back to the core values. Encourage team members to celebrate each other, which contributes to a culture where the right-fit team members want to stay.
Company values can become a rallying cry and provide team members with a shared language for success. Decision-making gets easier when values are clear and communicated, and this effort gets everyone going in the same direction.
Interested in other current employment trends? Click the link to view the recent blog: What Belongs in Your Small Business HR Plan or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance, and benefits.
