How We Made Our Company Values Actionable and Meaningful
The concept of “company values” often brings up skeptical reactions, from sarcastic smiles to bored sighs, and this is entirely understandable. Company values are frequently viewed as lacking meaning, potentially reduced to mere checkboxes.
If your values are at risk of becoming an empty formality, this article is surely worth your attention.
We acknowledge that every business is unique, and we don’t claim to offer a one-size-fits-all solution. However, we can share our own stories and the lessons we’ve learned.
The most crucial lesson?
Core values are indeed significant, and the process of defining and implementing them daily has had a transformative impact on our company.
From how we function as a team to the choices we make, it all revolves around putting these values into practice. This article will delve into the importance of company values and how they can make a real difference.
Why your company’s values matter
Core values play a fundamental role in shaping every aspect of your company, influencing your hiring decisions, the work environment you create, and the standards you establish for both your employees and clients.
To grasp their significance, consider this one simple question: WHY?
Define your competitive edge
Simon Sinek, in his book “Start with Why,” emphasizes the importance of leaders considering why they do what they do.
Core values are the very foundation of why your company exists and why others should choose to collaborate with you. Organizations that can effectively express their “why” — their beliefs and values — are more likely to prosper than those fixated solely on the “what” or the “how.”
In fact, research has revealed that purpose-driven companies experienced a 175% increase in value over a 12-year span, surpassing the average growth rate of 86%. This highlights the substantial impact of having a clear sense of purpose and values.
Make the right decisions
Core values not only establish the atmosphere for interactions among team members but also guide decision-making. When confronted with a new challenge or a tough problem, your team can turn to these values for direction.
They can ask the question: Do my actions align with our team’s established principles, or should I reevaluate my decision?
Value propositions imbue a sense of accountability in team members for their actions and choices. They provide a benchmark against which they can evaluate their behavior.
Attract and keep the right people
People are naturally drawn to companies that share their values, whether we’re talking about employees or clients. Values have an impact both internally and externally.
If you aim to establish a meaningful connection with those who are important to your business, don’t shy away from openly communicating your principles.
Customers and employees are more likely to trust and maintain loyalty to a company that consistently upholds its core values, especially when those values align with their own.
How we discovered our core company values
At ETEAM, our rapid growth and the onboarding of numerous new colleagues have led us to span 17 countries and multiple time zones. As we expanded, we realized that certain aspects were easier to misinterpret.
This encouraged us to delve deeply into the realm of company values and how we could find those values that genuinely represent our core principles. Here are the steps we took.
Step 1. Explore the best parts of your company
There’s a general misconception that core values are something to aspire to, rather than something already present. A great example shared by Patrick Lencioni illustrates this well in a discussion with the CEO of a networking company.
When asked about his company’s core values, the CEO responded with “Urgency.” Lencioni asked if this meant that employees take quick action and meet deadlines consistently. The CEO admitted, “No, they’re complacent as hell, which is why we need to make urgency one of our core values.”
Core values should reflect your company’s existing strengths, not future aspirations. To identify these strengths, consider a 360-degree perspective:
- Client Feedback: Review conversations, testimonials, reviews, and feedback from clients.
- Executive Team Input: Ask your leadership what they view as the company’s strengths.
- Team Member Insights: Understand what team members value most about the company.
To make your initial list, create working groups and encourage them with guiding questions like:
- When have you felt most proud to work with this company?
- What sets this company apart?
You can use Post-its or cards to gather and organize these responses.
Alternatively, you can ask participants to nominate team members who represent the company’s spirit. These individuals not only comprehend the company’s values but also exemplify them in their actions. This exercise personalizes the values, making it easier for team members to relate to abstract concepts like “integrity” or “teamwork.”
Step 2. Identify your core purpose and values
As you gather opinions and feedback, you’re likely to notice recurring themes, which can be grouped together in a process known as affinity mapping. This step helps unveil your core purpose and values.
Pay attention to concepts that surface repeatedly. In our case, one of the early concepts was “clarity.” To confirm if this is your core purpose, ask yourself: WHY do we do what we do?
In our context as a software development company, the answer was “because we want to add clarity to the software development process for clients and ourselves.”
Think of your core purpose as a magnetic force that aligns your team, organization, and values. Once you’ve identified your core purpose, you can pinpoint the core values that support it.
For instance, we determined that we enhance clarity in software development through four core values: Collaboration, Accountability, Mastery, and Transparency. These values work in unison to achieve our core purpose.
Step 3. Make values meaningful by tying them to actions
When someone asks about your values, you wouldn’t simply say “environment”; you’d likely explain the concrete actions you take, such as recycling, biking to work, or supporting environmental organizations.
The same principle applies to company values. They must be specific enough for everyone to grasp their meaning and understand how to translate them into actions and behaviors. Generic values lack significance precisely because they lack a clear link to actionable steps.
To make our core values actionable, we integrated a set of principles that provide guidance on how to embody each value.
Here’s the final version of our company values:
Collaboration — If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
- Foster a culture of teamwork and cooperation.
- Embrace diversity of ideas and perspectives.
- Encourage open communication and active listening.
- Share knowledge and resources to achieve common goals.
- Celebrate and recognize collective achievements.
Accountability — Honor your commitments and go the extra mile to deliver on your plans.
- Deliver on commitments and meet deadlines.
- Accept responsibility for mistakes and learn from them.
- Honor agreements and fulfill obligations.
- Hold yourself and others to high standards of performance.
Mastery — Be better today than you were yesterday.
- Continuously develop your skills and know-how.
- Seek out opportunities for growth and learning.
- Strive for excellence in your work.
- Set challenging goals and pursue them with determination.
- Share knowledge and mentor others to help them grow.
Transparency — Create predictable workflows through clear processes and communication.
- Share information openly and proactively.
- Be honest and straightforward in how you communicate.
- Build trust by being reliable and consistent.
- Provide visibility into decision-making processes.
- Accept and learn from feedback and criticism.
How we live our core values at ETEAM
Values must be more than words on paper; they need to be integrated into your daily work life.
Here are some ways we ensure our values remain a vibrant part of our company culture.
We make our values visible
The saying “out of sight, out of mind” stays true. It’s easy to forget something if you don’t regularly engage with it. That’s why we take steps to ensure our core values are highly visible and easily accessible.
We’ve incorporated them into our new website, our handbook, marketing materials, and, of course, our blog. This increased visibility not only helps others understand our values but also holds us accountable for upholding them in our daily work.
We include values in conversations and feedback
Keeping values fresh and actionable involves incorporating them into daily discussions and feedback. Whether we’re discussing a potential hire, contemplating a new internal policy, or engaging in a project, we make an effort to link these discussions back to our core values.
The same applies to providing feedback. When team members offer input to their peers, we encourage them to reflect on questions like:
- How can I ensure my feedback is as transparent and open as possible? (transparency)
- In what way can I provide feedback that promotes growth and learning? (mastery)
- Am I holding myself to the same standard I expect from my colleagues? (accountability)
By embedding values in these conversations and feedback processes, we reinforce their practical application in our everyday work life.
We align HR activities with our values
Our value-based approach isn’t limited to recruitment; it expands upon the entire employee experience, spanning from onboarding and training to exit interviews.
By placing values at the core of our hiring strategy, we not only attract suitable candidates but also facilitate their integration into our team.
It’s a win-win arrangement.
Throughout the onboarding process, we maintain regular check-ins to provide support to new hires. These interactions also offer us the opportunity to gain insights into our work culture and core values from a fresh perspective.
Sometimes, it’s as simple as asking, “How do you feel?”
We’re dedicated to ensuring that our core values are present at every interaction, from the feedback we offer during performance reviews to the team environment we foster. This commitment helps keep our values alive and relevant.
We let values guide our approach and decisions
Values lose their meaning if they conflict with the actual operations of your business. In many instances, companies face public criticism for presenting one set of values while their actions suggest another.
Consistency among values, actions, and decisions is essential.
As a development company that values transparency, we employ centralized dashboards, conduct weekly reviews, and hold demo meetings to keep our clients consistently informed about progress.
On a technical level, we embrace observability best practices to enhance visibility into our software applications’ metrics, performance, and potential issues.
Moreover, we invest in training and fully paid courses to promote mastery and support developers in staying updated with new technologies.
Core values can manifest in various ways throughout your organization, influencing how you organize work, make technical decisions, and even select vendors or partners. The more these decisions and approaches align with your core values, the greater the cohesion and alignment among all stakeholders.
We reward positive examples
Simple solutions can often be the most effective. One powerful approach is to acknowledge and reward the behavior that aligns with your desired values.
When a team member acts in accordance with a core value, let them know. Recognize their contributions, and inspire them to continue embodying these values.
Even a verbal acknowledgment can have a substantial impact, or you can establish a peer recognition system. For instance, we utilize Kudos as a way to express appreciation and celebrate positive examples. This recognition not only reinforces the values but also encourages a culture of shared values across the organization.
Applying this to your business
Defining our core values in a meaningful and actionable manner has been a transformative experience for our team. It’s enabled us to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves as a company, make more informed decisions in hiring, operations, and technology, and ultimately cultivate an improved work environment.
If you haven’t embarked on this journey yet or feel that things could be improved, we hope this article provides the motivation you need.
Discovering what your company truly stands for and translating it into reality may require some effort, but we can assure you it’s a journey well worth taking!
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