Have you ever worked with a company that claimed on its site it had certain beliefs, but then discovered its employees didn’t exactly support them in their roles? Did you feel confident working with them moving forward? For the employees and staff of a company to work together seamlessly, values must be more than what’s simply listed on a website or in a handbook.
- They guide behavior. A company’s values dictate not just how each person deals with customers, but also how they treat each other. If a service industry, for example, wants its customers to return, they must always treat them with respect and do what they can to make sure their needs are met. The same goes for top-level employees working with those underneath them — do they check in? See what employees might need in terms of support, materials, education, benefits, etc.? Lower-level employees who feel well-treated have that as a model, which they will then turn around and pass on to customers and clients.
- They guide major choices. If you want to have a strong company, its values must thread through all significant decisions, from strategies on how to move forward and organize infrastructure to hiring to operational choices. This sort of continuity of thought brings everything together; if you have differing values for different aspects of the business, it often leads to miscommunication. When all departments share the same values, they’ll always be on the same page.
- They shape the company’s identity. Promoting a company, inside and out, is all about branding. For the company to know who it is, what it wants and where it wants to go, its core values must be known and lived by all who work there. Employers who not only live them but also encourage their employees to do so end up having a company that unifies under them. This gives employees direction in terms of their own work — what are they working toward? And when a client or customer looks at the company, they’ll know without a doubt what the company stands for as well.
Company values must be more than just words to mean something to its employees and customers. To find employees who will align with your own values, visit the local recruiting experts at PrideStaff Thousand Oaks.
