In my coaching work, I recommend exploring your personal core values early on.
Not only do you gain clarity on what is really important to you, but you also make sure that your goals are aligned with both your own core values and the company core values of where you work.
Such an alignment leads to:
It’s important to note that each and every one of us has a different set of core values.
In this article, we’ll discuss what core values are and why they’re important. We’ll then look at how to identify your company’s core values, some real-world examples, and ways of communicating them with your team.
Core values are what drive us, and what motivate us. It can be helpful to think of them as our North Star. Our guiding light to excellence. They help us navigate through difficult times and important decisions.
Core values represent what's most important to us. They're principles that we adhere to in life: our personal code of conduct. Values aren't chosen. They're intrinsic to who we are and are as unique as our fingerprints.
Company core values are the principles guiding and often driving an organization’s mission and goals. They guide crucial actions and behaviors, such as how business decisions are made and successful relationships are formed. They inform the company’s culture, hiring practices, and product ideation.
Core values are, therefore, visible in every aspect of the company. From operations, sales, and marketing to internal HR processes. Core values are also an important pillar of an organization's culture. So keeping the team informed and aligned on them is crucial to developing a cohesive organization.
According to Gallup, leaders should consider the following when defining their company’s core values:
There are hundreds of values that individuals and companies can connect with. To help you hone in on the values that could resonate most with your organization, we’ve broken them up by category.
You can pull directly from this list or these examples of company values as a jumping board and inspiration for writing your own:
Whatever your company's core values are, remember that you'll need to review them periodically. Industries, markets, and environments change quickly. Ideally, your values can weather most storms, but they will likely need adjusting over time. This is to confirm an alignment between stated core values, actions and, behaviors.
The concept of corporate core values (also referred to as company values or organizational core values) was first formally introduced in corporate America in 1994 in the book “Built to Last” by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras.
The book made the case that many of the best companies adhered to a set of principles called core values.
As a consequence, a buzzing trend started for each corporation to jump on the core values bandwagon.
If we look back over the past decades, people have often conflated core values and aspirational values. But these are actually distinct and separate ideas.
Let’s take a look at both.
As mentioned above, core values are guiding principles and fundamental beliefs. They help a group of people function together as a team and work towards a common business goal. They guide all of a company’s actions.
Collins and Porras succinctly define corporate core values as:
“Being inherent and sacrosanct; they can never be compromised, either for convenience or short-term economic gain. Corporate core values may reflect the values of the company’s founders.”
Aspirational values are those that a company needs to achieve business goals but currently lacks.
For example, a company may need to develop a new aspirational value to support a new strategy, launch in a new market, or satisfy new regulatory requirements.
In growth-driven environments, one may work on the future state or vision as their main focus. Aspirational values can then feel very present. And while they are important to drive and support business goals, they aren't the same as core values.
A key question to distinguish a core value and an aspirational value is this:
Is the company as an ecosystem already exhibiting this behavior or adhering to this principle?
If yes, the value is a core value. If not, it is an aspirational value.
When aspirational values are used in lieu of core values, it could alienate the people in the company. They may feel like the value isn't present in their work. Very quickly, they can feel that they don’t belong anymore.
From a business perspective, having a set of core company values has several benefits.
It makes it easier for a company to:
Additionally, companies find that employees who are aligned with their company’s core values are more engaged in their work.
Many organizations have designed a Corporate Code of Conduct. One of the first elements included is usually a statement about the values of the organization.
It’s with a shared code that you're able to function as a group.
Let’s take a look at five real-life examples of companies and their core values:
Netflix has a core philosophy of ‘people over process.’ They define their corporate values as:
There are a couple of things that I really like about Netflix’s approach. First, they dive deep into what each value means to them. This is crucial.
For example, they define the value of communication as:
Secondly, their Corporate Culture page doesn't stop at values.
They talk about their vision of a dream team. And they also outline key cultural cornerstones for their ecosystem, such as informed captains, the importance of disagreeing openly, freedom, and responsibility.
Apple values easy access to what they stand for as a company and lists their company values on the footer of every page of their website. These are:
They define what each core value means to them and how their current corporate actions express these values.
They also draw a line between their corporate and aspirational values. For example, for their core value environment, they say:
We’re carbon neutral.
(What the core value ‘environment’ means)
And by 2030, every product you love will be, too. How it’s designed. How it’s made. How it’s shipped. How it’s used. How it’s recycled. Apple has a plan.
(How they link their core value to an aspirational value)
Google came up with “Ten things we know to be true” to address their corporate values statement.
They didn't choose words to define them but an actual sentence instead.
This really speaks to the point that there aren’t set rules to create corporate values. What’s important is that they truly mean something to the group of people that stand by them.
Their strong company values are:
I appreciate how Google openly states that they revisit their corporate core values from time to time to check if they still hold true. It’s such an important point.
Not only does there need to be a conscious process to define common core values (Either personal or corporate).
It’s also important to review them on a regular basis to make sure that they still resonate and that you're still standing by them, especially as your company grows.
The world-famous ice cream brand states that they're guided by their core values and seek in all they do at every level of business to:
And here again, each of these core values is defined with clarity.
In addition to their core values, Ben & Jerry’s also defines progressive values. These are concerns that they integrate into their leadership and day-to-day business activities.
Adidas' core values, known as the 3Cs, are defined as a set of behaviors at the core of their company culture and that they want to see in their people.
Their core values are:
It's never too late to define a company’s core values. The process may differ slightly depending on whether you are an early-stage start-up or an international company.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to defining your company’s core values:
Define who is leading this process in your company. Is it one individual or a group of individuals?
Agree on how accountability will be kept, making sure that the focus is steadily kept on core values and not aspirational values. It seems trivial, but it’s hard to detach from what we want to achieve when we're constantly in it as part of our day-to-day life.
Get commitment from the executive leadership team, C-suite, or co-founders. Why is it important for them to have core values? What difference will it create?
Speak individually with the executive leadership team, C-suite, or co-founders. How do they work together? What's important for them?
Find companies that inspire you from within your industry and beyond. What are their core values?
Make sure to take the time to read their detailed description of each of their core values. Write down what resonates the most and why it resonates.
Once you think you have a draft of core values, survey the people in your organization and ask for feedback.
Once you have a set of values, take time to concisely and intentionally articulate what they mean for the organization. Be prepared that this step can take time and several iterations.
Present the core values internally and organize a Q&A. It's important to surface any concerns.
The work doesn’t end when you articulate the values: you need to embed them in the company culture to make sure they succeed.
Each process in the organization must be aligned with the core values.
How can you make sure everyone in the company will remember the values and live by them? Be creative. Some companies organize challenges and prizes to get the momentum going. See our list of fun corporate activities for inspiration.
In many organizations, there are a plethora of channels to communicate with employees. Choosing the best mode for you will depend on what stage you are in with establishing your company values and the size and structure of your workforce.
Here are some common and effective ways of communicating company core values across teams:
Regardless of the communication method you choose, the important thing is to ensure every employee knows what the organizational core values are. Also, try to communicate them in a way that they are understood and less abstract. Providing examples of employees living these values at work is one way to root them in reality for the entire team.
A good set of core values helps us to make important decisions. They act as a guiding light in times of difficulty or confusion.
In a corporate setting, they’re crucial for making decisions, as well as for companies to communicate their principles to employees, clients, and stakeholders.
Use this guide as you define (or redefine) your values and communicate them to your teams.