Why Core Values Matter: Guiding Principles for Success
What are Core Values in Business?
Core values are the fundamental beliefs and principles that define your business’s identity. They are not just a list of buzzwords to hang on the wall; they are the guiding principles that influence every decision and action within your business.
Every business inherently possesses values; the key is to unearth, cultivate, and breathe life into them.
Why are Core Values Important?
Alignment of Actions to Outcomes: Core values align your team’s actions and behaviours with the mission and vision of your business. They create a shared sense of purpose, fostering unity and collaboration.
As Patrick Lencioni, an expert in building company culture, says, “If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.” Having strong core values is the first step in getting there.
Decision-Making Compass: In the face of tough choices, core values act as a compass, helping you make ethical and strategic decisions that align with your business’s long-term goals.
Shaping Culture: They shape your company culture, attracting like-minded employees who are more likely to thrive within your organization.
Core Values as a Tool
To harness the power of core values effectively, you and your team need to integrate them into your daily operations and use them as a tool for
Hiring: Screen potential candidates during the interview process for cultural fit by assessing their alignment with your core values.
You can ask candidates to share an example of how they have acted in line with a core value in the past 3 months. This will show if they truly embody the value. Remember, skills can be developed, but values are deeply ingrained.
Tough-Decision Filters: Use your core values as decision filters when you are faced with a tough choice and don’t know what to do. Ask, “Does this action align with at least one of our core values?” It will guide you to make better choices that benefit your organization in the long run.
Recognition and Feedback: Acknowledge and reward employees who exemplify your core values. Provide constructive feedback when necessary to maintain alignment and use it as a tool to ensure you have the right people on your team. You can do this by scoring your employees against the core values on an annual basis.
Creating Your Company’s Core Values
A fantastic exercise to discover your core values is a team-building activity. Before I share it there are a few things to consider.
You should have no more than 7 Core Values, less is more. The values need to tie specifically to your company’s goals and mission. They should be relevant to the products or services your company offers as well as your company culture.
Here is how it goes:
- Gather your leadership team in a room. Ask each person to take a few quiet minutes to think of 3 people that if you had 100 of them, you could take over the world with (ideally from within the organization, or individuals they have worked with)
- List the names on a paper or board
- Then ask each person to take a few quiet minutes to list the characteristics that these people possess to describe why you picked them
- List all of the characteristics on the board – within this list are your core values
- Now work together to keep, kill, or combine each characteristic to narrow down the values
- Repeat step 6 as many times as it takes to discover the company’s 3-7 core values
OpsLab’s Core Values
Owners Mindset
Embodying an owner’s mindset at OpsLab means we approach every client’s business with the same care and strategic foresight as if it were our own. For our clients, this translates into a partnership with a team that is deeply invested in their success and proactive in driving meaningful results.
Keep it Simple
At OpsLab, we believe in the power of simplicity to enhance efficiency and clarity. For our clients, this means we focus on streamlining processes and systems, making complex concepts accessible and manageable, thus enabling more focused and effective business operations.
Always Improving and Lifelong Learners
Our commitment to continuous improvement and lifelong learning ensures that we, and consequently our clients, are always at the forefront of operational excellence. We embrace evolving business trends and practices, ensuring our clients benefit from the latest insights and methodologies in business operations.
Cultivate Meaningful Relationships
At the heart of OpsLab is the cultivation of meaningful relationships. This value underscores our approach to client engagement, where we prioritize trust, transparency, and mutual respect, leading to more collaborative and impactful outcomes for the businesses we partner with.
