Core values are important for a company’s culture.
However, most companies miss the mark by using words that represent the entry fee rather than a strategic choice.
As a business coach, I spend a lot of time with company leaders planning growth and developing strategy.
A key part of this process is establishing the fundamentals for why an organization exists and how it chooses to do business.
This step includes creating its purpose (or mission), its vision, and, most important, its core values.
Here are a few things to bear in mind in developing a set of values if you want them to have any real use in your business.
The test of core values is whether they help you make a hard decision. If a value would not change what you do when things get difficult, it is probably just a word on the wall. Choose the few that really describe how you want to operate, and use them in hiring, feedback and decisions. If you want to see how this connects to culture, have a read of how to design your company culture. For some general background, there is a helpful overview on Wikipedia.
