Why Core Values Matter for Both you & your Company
People power every organization. Their values drive decisions, actions, and outcomes. By aligning personal and company values, you’ll notice extraordinary things start to happen. But what drives those behaviours? At the heart of it all are personal values – the underlying principles that guide how we think, feel and act.
When personal values match the organization’s culture, job satisfaction soars and productivity improves. Aligning personal values with company values fosters increased job satisfaction, employee engagement, and ultimately contributes to the success of the organization. When there’s a mismatch, it leads to frustration, resistance and wasted potential.
At Primeast we’ve seen values alignment transform not just the experience of work but the performance of organizations. It’s a foundation of a thriving workplace culture. With our free online personal values tool you can start to uncover what drives you and your team and lay the groundwork for meaningful alignment and real success.
In this article we’ll look at the role of personal values in shaping behaviours, building better teams and driving organizational results, and why alignment is key to long term success. Whether you’re an individual looking to understand your own drivers or a leader looking to strengthen your team’s culture, understanding values is the first step.
Understanding Your Personal Values
Your personal values are the invisible compass that guides every decision you make. They are what matters most to you; integrity, balance, achievement, compassion, to name a few. These values are deeply ingrained in your experiences and beliefs and shape how you approach challenges, interact with others and find purpose in your work. Personal values guide your thoughts, words, and actions, both personally and professionally.
When people are clear on their values they can bring their best self to the table. Self awareness allows them to make choices that align with their principles and therefore be more fulfilled and effective. For organizations this is gold. People who know and align their personal values with their role are more likely to be engaged and invested in their work.
Knowing your personal values is the first step to an authentic and empowered workforce. That’s why we offer our free online personal values tool to help you discover your top 10 values.
By knowing what drives you, you can make intentional input to your team and organization and set yourself up for success.
Get started today and find your own values. It’s a small step that can have big outcomes for you and your organization.
The Role of Corporate Values in Organizations
Corporate values are the foundation of success. They:
- Shape the company’s identity
- Guide decision-making
- Define employee interactions internally and externally
When corporate values are clearly defined and embraced, they create a cohesive company culture that fosters a positive work environment and drives employee engagement.
Imagine a company where integrity, innovation, and customer focus are core values. These principles will guide every action and decision, from how products are developed to how customer service is handled.
Employees will feel a sense of purpose and alignment with the company’s mission, leading to higher motivation and productivity. Customers and stakeholders will recognize and appreciate the consistency and authenticity of the company’s actions, strengthening their trust and loyalty.
By establishing and living by a clear set of corporate values, organizations can create a thriving culture that not only attracts top talent but also drives long-term business success.
It’s not just about having values written on a wall; it’s about embedding them into the very fabric of the organization.
Company Values and Their Importance
Company values are more than just words; they are the core principles that define an organization’s identity and purpose. These values provide a framework for decision-making, guiding employee behavior and shaping the overall culture. When company values are well-defined and consistently communicated, they create a positive work environment where employees feel engaged and motivated.
Consider a company that prioritizes teamwork, excellence, and respect. These values will influence how employees collaborate, strive for high standards, and treat each other with dignity. Such a culture not only enhances employee satisfaction but also drives better business outcomes.
Employees who feel aligned with the company’s values are more likely to be committed, productive, and innovative.
In essence, company values are the foundation upon which successful organizations are built. They help create a unified direction, foster a sense of belonging, and drive employee engagement. By living these values every day, companies can build strong relationships with customers and stakeholders, ultimately leading to sustained success.
Identifying and Defining Core Company Values
Identifying and defining core values is a fundamental step in building a strong and cohesive company culture. This process involves reflecting on the organization’s mission, vision, and purpose, as well as the principles that are most important to its success. Companies can create a clear and concise set of core values that guide employee behavior and decision-making.
To start, gather input from various stakeholders, including employees, leaders, and customers, to understand what values resonate most. Reflect on the organization’s history, achievements, and challenges to identify the principles that have driven success. Once these core values are identified, articulate them in a way that is clear, memorable, and actionable.
For example, a company might define its core values as integrity, innovation, and customer focus. These values should be more than just words; they should be embedded into every aspect of the organization, from hiring practices to performance evaluations.
By defining and living these core values, companies can create a shared sense of purpose and direction, fostering employee engagement and driving business success.
The benefits of Aligning Personal and Company Values
When we bring our values to work it doesn’t just affect our own behaviour it affects our teams and ultimately the culture of the organization. The average person will spend a significant amount of their life working, making the alignment of personal values crucial.
Aligned values are a unifying force that drive:
- Clarity: Teams understand shared goals and work cohesively.
- Trust: Employees feel respected and valued.
- Purpose: A shared mission motivates collaboration.
Conversely, misaligned values lead to:
- Misunderstandings: Confusion about expectations.
- Inefficiencies: Reduced productivity and missed opportunities.
- Conflict: Friction that stalls progress.
In high performing teams shared or complementary values are the foundation of success. For example when team members value honesty and openness communication flows even in tough times. When fairness and respect are the priority individuals feel empowered to contribute knowing their voice will be heard. These behaviours aren’t nice to have they are essential to building trust and innovation.
At an organizational level alignment between personal values and an organization’s culture can change how we experience work. Research from cultural assessments shows that organizations with high value alignment have higher engagement, stronger collaboration and greater resilience in the face of challenge.
Misalignment shows up as limiting behaviours such as hierarchy, confusion or silo mentality as Cultural Entropy® analysis reveals.
A shared understanding of values allows leaders to create a culture where individuals feel connected to the organization’s purpose. It’s that connection that drives loyalty, performance and turns employees into ambassadors. Whether you’re leading a small team or a global organization the ripple effect of values alignment can be felt in every interaction and outcome. Aligning personal and company values is crucial for achieving the organization’s goals.
Try it in your organization? Start with individual reflection and conversation. Use our personal values assessment to get the conversation started and align your team’s strengths with your values.
Communicating Values Effectively
Effective communication of values is crucial for embedding them into the organization’s culture. It’s not enough to simply define values; they must be communicated clearly and consistently to ensure that all employees understand and embody them. This involves using multiple channels and methods to reinforce the company’s values at every opportunity.
Start by integrating values into onboarding programs, ensuring that new employees understand the company’s core principles from day one. Use regular company-wide meetings to highlight how values are being lived out in the organisation, sharing stories and examples that bring them to life. Incorporate values into performance evaluations, recognizing and rewarding employees who exemplify them.
Additionally, create visual reminders of the company’s values, such as posters, screensavers, and internal newsletters. Encourage leaders to model the values in their daily actions and decisions, setting the tone for the rest of the organization.
If you are communicating values effectively, you can build a strong, values-driven culture that fosters employee engagement, builds trust, and drives business success.
How to Use Values for Organizational Success
Understanding and aligning values is more than an intellectual exercise, it’s a lever for real change. Clearly articulated and defined values serve as a foundation for guiding employee behavior, decision-making, and overall company identity.
Companies with extremely healthy cultures see significant benefits, including increased stock price and revenue growth, which stem from the alignment of organisational and employee values, resulting in enhanced engagement and retention.
Here’s how individuals, teams and organizations can tap into the power of values to unlock potential and achieve success:
For Individuals
Find Your Values: Reflect on the principles that guide your decisions and actions. Use our free personal values assessment to clarify your core drivers.
Align Your Behaviour: Look at how your daily actions reflect your values. Small changes can increase your authenticity and job satisfaction. Aligning personal and company values can further enhance job satisfaction and employee engagement.
Tell Your Values: Share your values with colleagues and leaders. Open conversations build understanding and connection.
For Leaders and Teams
Team Reflection: Ask team members to explore and share their personal values. This will reveal commonalities and diversity. Model Aligned Behaviour: As a leader demonstrate how your personal and organizational values play out. This sets the tone and inspires your team to do the same. Companies and employees often share many of the same values, and recognizing this can enhance organizational cohesion and overall productivity.
Embed Values into Process: Put shared values into team goals, decision making frameworks and feedback mechanisms to align across every touchpoint.
For Company Culture
Conduct a Culture Assessment: Diagnose how personal, current and desired culture values align across your organization. This will give you a clear picture of what’s working and what needs attention. Core company values play a crucial role in shaping the employee experience and fostering a cohesive workplace environment.
Prioritise Key Values: Use assessment insights to identify the values that will drive engagement and success. Eliminate limiting values like bureaucracy or silos that will hold you back.
Bring Values to Life: Make values visible and actionable through leadership development, communication strategies and recognition programs. A living values framework means alignment becomes part of your culture.
By doing this you’ll create an environment where individuals can thrive, teams can work together and your organization can reach its full potential. Start small by understanding your own values and watch the ripple effect change the way your organization works.
Case Study Insights: The Measurable Impact of Alignment
The link between values alignment and organizational success isn’t just theoretical, it’s backed up by real results. Organizations that align values see measurable results:
- Higher employee engagement
- Improved business performance
- Reduced turnover
For example, data from cultural assessments shows a direct correlation between values alignment and lower Cultural Entropy®. Cultural Entropy measures the amount of friction caused by misaligned or limiting values, such as hierarchy, bureaucracy or internal competition. Organizations with lower Cultural Entropy get higher revenue growth, better customer satisfaction and lower turnover.
Take the example of a global media company that reduced voluntary staff turnover by 30% after addressing misalignments and reinforcing shared values. Or a Brazilian consumer goods company that got double digit revenue growth by creating a culture aligned to its employees and stakeholders values. These results show the power of prioritizing alignment.
At an individual level alignment gives employees meaning in their work, increasing their motivation and commitment. At a team level shared values build trust and collaboration, improving overall performance. And at an organizational level a values driven culture is a competitive advantage, allowing businesses to adapt and thrive in a fast changing world.
By starting with tools like the personal values assessment and conducting organisational culture evaluations, you can identify the gaps between personal, current, and desired values. These insights provide a clear roadmap to creating a culture where everyone can thrive.
Need help aligning your values?
At the heart of every successful business is a foundation of shared values. When people know their personal values and align them with their team and business culture the impact is huge. Engagement, collaboration and performance all improve and everyone and the business can thrive.
The journey to alignment starts with one step: self awareness. By knowing your personal values you’ll get clarity on what drives you and how you can contribute to your team and business. Tools like our free online personal values assessment make this easy and accessible, sparking conversations that can lead to deeper connections and shared purpose.
For leaders and businesses, alignment isn’t just about recognising values – it’s about living them. By putting values into decision making, development initiatives and culture building you create a workplace where people feel empowered and engaged.
Now is the time to unleash the potential in your people and your business. Explore your values, have open conversations and take deliberate action to align individual and business purpose. Together we can create cultures where people flourish and businesses succeed.
