Steps to Discover Your Company’s Core Values
The company’s core values are the fundamental principles that guide all of its actions and decisions. Often, these values will be written down and posted on a wall in the office for people to see every day. This article will give you tips and tricks for discovering your company’s core values, so everyone knows what they stand for.
What do the company’s founders want?
Sit down and talk with your company’s founders. Ask them what they stand for, their goals in life, and what they hope to achieve. What do you think the business will be like 5 years from now? You can also take a look at blog posts to review what the founders value most. This can give you a great idea of where your company stands and what its core values are.
Review products and services
Every good business is rooted in its product or service. What is it that you offer? Do you provide superior customer service, an excellent product, timely shipping, and so on? Every action your company takes should be in line with your core values. Look over samples of your work and see if there is any evidence that represents the values you stand for. If there isn’t, then consider expanding until there is clear evidence of these principles in everything you do.
Check the hiring process
One way to discover values is to look at how people are hired into the organization. Consider how job posts are written, how employees are evaluated during the interview process, and how new hires are welcomed into the company. What actions are deemed necessary to hire an employee? How does each employee get on board with their role? These questions can all help you figure out what your company’s values are.
Take a look at your mission statement
Another way to find out about your core values is to look at your mission statement. This document tells you what it is that you hope to achieve in terms of business goals. It may be helpful for you to read this over several times until you begin to see some patterns emerging from its content. With practice, reading the mission statement will become second nature, allowing you to identify its underlying meaning faster than before.
Review your actions
Your company’s actions are a direct reflection of the values you hold. If you want to know your business values, consider looking closely at how each employee acts daily. What do they say? How do they dress? Who do they talk to? You can learn a lot from someone’s behaviors and then match them up with the appropriate values that may be influencing this type of behavior. Do it for everybody in the office and ask them why they think people act like this and if there is any evidence in their work that backs up their thinking. If everyone gives different answers, then you know you probably don’t have all your core values written down or talked about in the company.
In conclusion, finding out about your company’s core values can be one of the most important things you do to grow your business. Values lead your company forward and will have a big impact on how successful it is over time. Knowing these values will also help you understand just how important they are, which will, in turn, cause them to be followed by every employee in the organization.
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