Is money the most crucial aspect when employees join a company?
Certainly not.
Are there other factors that play an essential role in guiding both the employee and the company in achieving their mutual goals, in a manner that is based on an ethical and ideological framework?
Yes, there are, and those factors are called core values.
Company core values are the clearly stated philosophies about the organization’s mission, vision, and principles.
The knowledge of these will influence the way a company and its employees interact with partners, clients, and even shareholders.
The definition of a company’s core values can also double the definition of a company’s culture.
A company’s culture must align with its core values, so as to facilitate a shared, enduring, and positive environment, to influence firm values, productivity, profitability, creativity, and growth rates.
Hence, let us examine these core company values.
5 Core Company Values that will Shape Your Culture and Inspire Your Employees
Integrity and Ethics
The principles of integrity and ethics express doing the right thing in a fair, honest, and responsible way.
When you build your business on the foundation of integrity, it will go a long way in helping to build a solid and trusting relationship with your employees, stakeholders, and clients.
As a matter of fact, trustworthy conduct on the part of everyone in an organization can create a solid and credible reputation for that company in the market, which will benefit everyone’s interests.
Such ethics include accountability, fairness, humility, good leadership, etc.
Respect
Committed employees form the backbone of an entire corporation.
This is because they have to work hand-in-hand with the system, to achieve profitability and growth.
For without dedicated employees, a company is practically nothing.
Likewise, a company has a responsibility towards its employees.
And if its core principles and values include showing maximum respect to its employees, the company’s probability of a high turnover will be very low.
When a company respects its employees, it means their human rights are respected.
It also means all forms and kinds of discrimination are eliminated, whether based on religion, race, nationality, physical disability, ethnicity, or gender.
Moreover, when you accord respect to your employees, you provide them with a safe and healthy environment to work together.
Quite a number of organizations across the globe adopt an attitude whereby the whole company interacts together like they are a close-knit family.
An atmosphere as such certainly helps to boost the confidence of employees and makes them feel like an important and indispensable part of the organization.
Undoubtedly, there will be a feeling of commitment on the employees, with a drive to always perform their best.
Innovation
Innovation is different from imitation. When a company focuses on being ahead of its competitors and introduces new and innovative ideas in the marketplace, it can be concluded that such a company is innovative.
Innovative skills are essential if a company desires to be a trendsetter by introducing new products that consumers would appreciate and embrace.
Employees in such companies need to be dynamic and bring up innovative ideas that will result in outstanding and successful products for the company.
As a result, the business will continue to grow by gaining popularity and achieving productivity.
On the other hand, if a company decides to imitate its competitors, such a company will not be portrayed as one with a good and sound culture.
The employees would likely never be inspired to think of something new. However, this act will not take the business far at all.
Drive
This company value describes the thirst to constantly improve and never be satisfied with being at a particular stage or level.
Organizations that have this principle as one of their core values always endeavor to provide a dynamic platform to their employees, to give them a chance to explore their creativity and other skills, in order to enhance themselves further.
While celebrating successes is highly important, some companies do not just sit back and get complacent over the current achieved success.
This is why some companies habitually do exceedingly well, because they understand how much employees are a valuable resource, and they provide a platform for them to exercise their skills.
Furthermore, there is nothing comparable to an employee who is highly dedicated and willing to go the extra mile to achieve a set goal.
To harness this potential requires a company that will be able to cultivate a friendly environment that promotes improvement and success.
Honesty
Honesty is another core company value that will shape your company culture. It involves acting in a transparent and trustworthy manner that earns the respect of colleagues, customers, and the public.
Honesty fosters a safe connection.
And when an employer leads by example by practicing honesty, it forms a context for the employer-employee relationship within which both parties feel enough security to be genuine in their interactions.
Such a relationship tends to inspire and empower the employees to work through personal issues and be honest to their employer as much as possible, since honesty attracts honesty anyway.
In addition, honesty in a company eliminates garbage. When an employer or employee hides true feelings or withholds crucial information, it creates emotional garbage, also known as gunnysacking.
Being honest in every interaction prevents the build-up of emotional garbage in a company, which as well cleans out any form of emotional gunny sack.
Core Company Values are Highly Essential
The top factor of employee satisfaction is the core values and culture of an organization, and over 75% of employees consider it “very important” to work for a company with defined core values. A company needs to define its core values, but it is more important to practice and live by them.
The benefits that come with companies defining and practicing their core values are immense.
For example, companies with aligned cultures and innovation strategies experience about 30% higher enterprise value growth and 17% higher profit growth.