How to Share Your Corporate Values With Employees

Integrity. Commitment. Excellence. They sound solid and meaningful, right? But in reality, not all companies take their core values seriously. Most are only written in the company handbook without employees knowing about or acting on them.

Failing to set your corporate values straight shows a lack of authenticity. Start fostering stronger professional relationships in the workplace and make your corporate values matter to your employees.

What are Shared Corporate Values?

In essence, your company values are the backbone of your organization. Having shared corporate values at work says a lot about your employees.

Research has shown that when people feel cared for by their leaders and colleagues, it can boost their productivity and motivation at work. Strong social connections with your teammates can also help strengthen bonds within your organization.

Below, we’ve listed some of the most common corporate values across organizations in different industries.

• Integrity: Having strong moral principles and being honest at all times.
• Commitment: Dedication to the job and other initiatives within the organization.
• Competence: Having the ability and desire to complete a task.
• Compassion: Caring about other people as much as they care about themselves.
• Courage: Being brave enough to take responsibility and tell hard truths.
• Character: The sum of all the great moral qualities that every employee should have.
• Diversity: Acknowledging and celebrating the strengths and potential of each employee.
• Accountability: Taking responsibility and action when the going gets tough.

Why You Need Effective Enterprise Planning

Now that we know how important corporate values are let’s talk about enterprise planning. In a nutshell, enterprise planning describes properly aligning your company goals across all departments.

So why is it important?

The real purpose of enterprise planning is to integrate the financial and non-financial aspects of your business. Effective leadership means rolling out well-crafted business plans aligned with your organization’s values, mission, and vision.

How to Share Your Corporate Values to Your Team

Employees are more likely to stay in a company where they feel valued at work. Below we’ve listed eight ways to effectively reinforce shared corporate values among your team.

1. Promote Engagement Through Transformative Mentorship

Having a strong desire for building personal and professional growth is what transformative mentorship is all about. If both managers and employees share the same values and constructive feedback, it can help both parties improve and engage more.

In particular, entry-level employees are more likely to look for mentors since they’re just starting out. But whether for new or old employees, having a good mentor can help lead people to the right path. Transformative mentorship also allows you to align your company goals and values among them.

2. Encourage Open Communication & Collaboration

The key to fulfilling shared corporate values is upholding greater accountability among your employees. Managers should take point from the company’s core values to motivate their team members and drive meaningful performance. Be an authentic leader that inspires loyalty and confidence.

3. Foster an Inclusive & Diverse Company Culture

When starting an organization, the first thing you should do is plan how to build a positive and inclusive company culture. After all, employees like to stay in a company that recognizes their worth and skills. Providing a platform for growth also enables them to proactively contribute to the team.

4. Measure Employee Engagement

Employee engagement goes beyond looking at satisfaction and productivity level. Pay attention to specific KPIs to find out where your employees stand.

Keeping your employees happy and motivated requires excellent leadership. So make it a point that everyone is connected to your corporate values at all times, whether they’re at the office or working from home.

5. Be Compassionate & Obtain Feedback

Listening to the needs of your team will help you gain the trust and loyalty of your employees. When people feel that they have a safe space to freely express how they feel, it’s much easier to have conversations about their potential problems and issues at work. That said, having shared company values also allows your organization to identify areas for improvement.

6. Live Your Company’s Core Values

Corporate values are more than just an agreement you signed with your job contract. It helps to live and embody these corporate values so you can inspire and uplift the members of your team.

7. Conduct Training and Orientation Sessions

Scheduling employee orientation to discuss your core values among your team members is more practical than simply sending an email.

Just remember to keep your HR training fun and engaging. Conduct interactive, fun sessions where participants can learn and practice your company’s core values.

8. Recognize and Reward Value-Centric Behavior

It’s important to acknowledge and reward positive behavior regularly. For example, you can offer bonuses or vouchers as a reward. Identify where your team succeeded or fell short by incorporating your corporate values into performance reviews.

Make your corporate values matter to your employees. Core values support your company’s vision and mission. Not only do these shape your employees, but having shared values can also nurture a healthy, inclusive culture to keep everyone happy.