If you’re a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) owner in the UK, investing in employee engagement early on could have an immense impact on how your business fares in the long run. One way to do that is to identify and implement your core business values.
Values refer to the concepts and fundamental beliefs that guide an organisation. They’re crucial in making business decisions, fostering a positive work culture, and creating a favourable company image.
Studies have shown that engagement makes employees happier, healthier, and more productive. They’re also less likely to leave and engage in absenteeism, saving your business money and time.
According to Gallup, team members who feel engaged in their work can help increase a business’s profitability by an astonishing 21%. Here’s a quick guide to help you get started with good business values and turning these values into actions.
Start With Your “Why”
Some people may find this surprising, but a business’s values are a key factor in its employee experience and behaviour.
Whether a business’s values align with the workers’ personal principles can shape their long-term engagement in the workplace. In fact, many job seekers prefer companies that share their convictions.
A major benefit of working for an employer whose standards resonate with your long-held beliefs is that you feel more motivated to contribute.
Having a job is one thing; finding meaning in your work is another. Seeing that what you do has a real impact on the bigger picture can transform even the most ordinary tasks into something purposeful.
As the employer, you want to meet these expectations when deciding your business values.
What a company cares about the most can be seen from its ethos. So, reflect on why your business exists in the first place. That is, your identity and mission.
Ask the Right Questions
Getting everyone involved will make it easier to determine what matters most to your organisation. Assembling a team to brainstorm and draft ideas can save time.
Remember, business values don’t have to be made from scratch – you discover them. You can do this by identifying categories of values that best capture your business.
Ask yourself and your team questions, such as:
- Who are we?
- For what does the company stand?
- What impact are we making?
- What sets this business apart from others?
- What makes working in this company special?
- What is the most important thing in the workplace?
- What does success mean to us?
- How would we like to be remembered?
- How does my team operate?
- What is this value about?
Some entrepreneurs may prefer shadow research, observing their people’s behaviour and gathering insights from that. You may also collect employee opinions through interviews and surveys.
When distributing questionnaires, allow your workers to answer anonymously.
Draft a List of Relevant Values
Business values can be a set of principles, beliefs, attitudes, or standards of behaviour you think are crucial to your company’s operations and team success, such as:
- Operate with integrity
- Teamwork
- Support and collaboration
- Think creatively
- Treat others with respect
- Strive for excellence
- Own your actions
- Win together
- Embrace innovation
An SME that sells eco-friendly products may naturally gravitate toward values related to sustainability and responsibility. Those focused on community service can highlight compassion and trust.
There are also stewardship, financial, team, artistic, and market values for other types of industries.
A good way to filter your values is to contemplate whether they’ll remain relevant during difficult business decisions. Real values are useful in all circumstances.
Ask yourself: Will clients see these values in action? Do they help us decide who to hire? Would they guide us in a crisis?
Keep It Short, Meaningful, and Creative
Business values shouldn’t need to be a long, convoluted set of phrases. It doesn’t even need to be referred to as a “core value.”
Think of how Toyota has “the Toyota way” or Shell’s branding of “powering progress.” Similarly, you can make your organisation stand out by developing creative taglines, slogans, adages, or maxims to convey what you’re about.
A health care provider, for instance, might refer to its values as the “standards of care,” while a logistics company can frame them as “routes to success.”
Simplicity and communicability make business values memorable.
With that in mind, limiting your core values to the most relevant and impactful is a smart way to go about it. For employees, a shorter, more focused set of standards is easier to remember and practice.
A distinctive and expressive use of language can be used for the same reasons. Clever wordplays and bold statements are more vivid and engaging.
“Shave Time. Shave Money,” by Dollar Shave Club, is a great example of a catchy alliteration. Amul, which just recently debuted in Europe, makes heavy use of puns with its “Butter Late Than Never” tagline.
Turn Values Into Actions
Once you decide on your business values, don’t leave them sitting on a gloomy office wall or online webpage. Turn them into actionable steps your organisation can follow.
You can do this by creating action statements that reflect the principles, attitudes, and beliefs you want your employees to have. They must be recognisable and measurable.
An action statement about accountability, for instance, can say “every team member is expected to take ownership of their responsibilities.”
In the workplace setting, this means employees are expected to:
- Be responsible for their tasks and their results
- Finish their work on time
- Adhere to the agreed set of quality standards
- Receive feedback constructively
- Keep other team members updated
- Be honest in case of mistakes and problems
Make these action statements a part of your daily operations. Include them in your job descriptions, marketing activities, and staff performance reviews.
Rewarding staff who demonstrate and uphold company values can also reinforce their adoption in the workplace.
Revisit and Revise Over Time
It’s worth noting that business values can evolve alongside your company as it grows.
Although core principles often stay the same, some standards may require revisions to match changes in your organisation’s goals, industry principles, and team culture.
What Are the Benefits of Good Business Values?
Strong and visible business values benefit not only the company but everyone, particularly employees who share those principles.
- Better job satisfaction: Workers who agree and are proud of what their organisation stands for are more satisfied and productive.
- Fewer turnovers: Companies with satisfied employees have a significantly higher loyalty and retention rate than those that don’t.
- Better mental and emotional health: Studies have shown that those who enjoy their work experience lower stress levels and have a lower risk of developing mental health issues.
- Attract new employees: When someone likes working at an organisation, they’re more likely to bring in new talent.
- Nurture a positive work culture: A supportive team of members who agree and share a common set of values helps create a healthy work environment.
A business’s core values offer customers a glimpse of how it operates, which influences their decisions. They’re also likely to remain loyal to brands that clearly portray their core values on their products.
What Company Values Do Employees Look For?
Many companies emphasise core values surrounding quality, customer service, and innovation. However, surveys indicate that these may not be what employees are looking for first when applying.
According to KickResume, new job seekers tend to prefer businesses that prioritise purpose and mission, diversity, equity, and inclusion, work-life balance, career pathing, and professional development.
Bottom Line
Deciding on your business’s values is a key step toward shaping your own brand and identity. It can impact how customers perceive your organisation, as well as your employee experience, behaviour, and retention.
Real values must be authentic, actionable, and consistently reflected in your everyday operations. When chosen carefully and put into practice, they can help strengthen your team, improve customer trust, and guide your business toward long-term growth.
