Today’s job market is as competitive as it’s ever been. The only way to attract and retain the talent that will make your company successful is to differentiate yourself from your competition and make your business a desirable place to work.
Compensation packages of salaries, benefits, signing bonuses, and other perks are nice, but they all tend to look alike, and they can quickly become inadequate as the employee grows and wants to advance. But perhaps the best way to engender the type of loyalty and dedication that will keep a star employee driving your company forward is to build a positive and productive culture.
Culture is the atmosphere in which your employees work. It’s rooted in your company’s core values, which essentially encompass your belief system, both professional and personal. A fat paycheck and a company car are nice, but ultimately, true professionals want to know that they are investing their time and talents in something bigger than themselves. And the foundation of your company’s culture, the conduit through which your employees will engage and plug into your vision and mission, are your core values.
Core values must be considered when you are composing your company’s mission statement, and they must be in lockstep support of that overall vision. Most employees crave that structure and purpose in the workplace and having clearly defined values help promote your desired company culture.
So, what are some examples of core values?
- Customer: The customer has to come first. Their satisfaction is key to repeat business and strategic partnership. It’s why you’re in business — and why your best employees do what they do.
- Employees: Of course, the best way to ensure unparalleled customer satisfaction is to recruit, develop, and retain the best employees in your industry.
- Ownership: The best way to recruit and retain quality employees is to give them a stake in the business and encourage them to think like owners in their actions and decisions.
- Relationships: Clients should be viewed as partners, deserving of fair and honest dealings and a mutual commitment to provide the highest possible standard of products, services, or deliverables.
- Quality: Dedication to quality and continued improvement in the services or goods your company delivers not only ensures profitable growth, but also professional growth of your workforce.
- Integrity: Inscrutable standards of business conduct are the basis of the company’s reputation.
- Financial Performance: Money isn’t everything — but profits are essential to financing a company’s growth and ability to take care of its employees and shareholders.
- Civic Responsibility: Through corporate and individual participation, volunteerism, and donation in a broad range of civic endeavors, we become productive and responsible members of the community that supports us.
By no means is this an exhaustive list. But I believe that each of these eight core values is vital in a company’s success, both in terms of how the company can operate in its own best interests, but also in how you can create a thriving culture that employees want to be a part of throughout their careers.