Core Values: What are they and why are they important for your business?
At the foundation of every business are the core values that develop the brand, culture, and vision of the company. These values serve as a framework for your company’s identity and a tool to set you apart from everyone else. To provide a consistent and focused work environment, it’s critical that the values you establish be strong, long-lasting, and integrated into every aspect of your company.
Core Values in Action
“It’s not hard to make decisions once you know what your values are.” – Roy E. Disney
The benefit of strong core values are best exemplified when a company experiences rapid growth and change. Constant decision making takes place as a company develops and expands. Here, your core values serve as a guide and a standard by which every choice can be evaluated. We ask ourselves, how aligned are we with our company philosophy, vision, and mission statement?
Another example of how core values can provide advantages for a company can be seen throughout the new hire process. Core values serve as a summary of the values, beliefs, culture, and identity of the company. If a potential new hire can align themselves with the core values of a company, it is a good sign they are a strong fit for the company’s culture. Hiring individuals whose values closely align with yours is a great way to boost employee retention.
Learning and Growing Process
A company’s core values don’t just form overnight. If you are just beginning your business and don’t have any core values in mind yet, don’t sweat it! Grow your company and gain a deeper understanding of what key values you would like it to have. You can’t predict where your company will be in 5 years, but you can take steps to focus on specific areas that will serve as your guidelines for the future. The best core values are the ones uncovered through discovery. Each company’s core values are unique and cater to the best practices for that company and its employees.
InMotion Hosting Core Values
In order to get an idea of how simple yet effective core values can be, we’d like to share the core values that InMotion Hosting stands by. Hopefully, this will give you a few ideas and help inspire you to find the right core values for your own business.
We: cultivate
We cultivate lifelong customers through outstanding service. Everything we do impacts our customers, and their loyalty and trust is extremely important to us. Our customers are our family; it is through them that we have been successful and able to grow.
We: care
We care about the success of our customers. We care about each other. We care about the environment. We care about our community. We care about the company.
We: improve
We are ever improving our technology, our tools, our Customers’ Experience, and ourselves.
We: thrill
We thrill our customers all day, every day with… Eagerness to Help, Kindness and Empathy, Eagerness to Resolve Issues, Timely and Accurate Solutions, and Taking Ownership of The Customers’ Needs.
We: have fun
We believe a fun and relaxed environment allows us to meet any challenge as a team.
Success and Core Values
It’s not enough to focus on just the numbers or growth of a company. Taking special care to craft a strong set of values and integrate them into every aspect of your business is what really sets a company apart. Behind the product and the brand, the company’s core values are what truly make a company successful. Here are a few other questions to consider when trying to identify your core values:
- Are these values important to the company’s long-term success? Will they still be valid decades into the future?
- Would these values retain their importance, even if they became a competitive disadvantage?
- Do these values apply to all employees and all areas of the workplace?
- Will these values act as a guide for future decision making?
If you need a little more inspiration for coming up with your own set of core values, check out this inspirational TED talk about how great leaders inspire action and the important role of core values.
