Why Communicating Your Core Values is Essential for Your Business Growth & Success
Core values are the beliefs and principles that make up your business’s culture. Think of them as a guide or a navigation tool to be used for important decisions. Establishing your core values will help you build a strong foundation, as well as work toward goals with meaning and purpose.
In this blog, we talk about two areas of your business that are greatly impacted by your core values. I also share some tips for choosing the right core values for your business.
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Core values are key when hiring
Before we discuss how to choose core values that feel right for your business, let’s talk about why they’re so vital in the first place.
Ready to grow your team? By expressing your business’s core values, you’ll more easily attract, evaluate, and choose the best applicants for your team. Those who don’t share your values will either stay away or be removed early on.
It may sound harsh, but hiring and onboarding is a time-consuming and costly process for business owners! Don’t feel guilty about the process. It’s okay to want team members who align with your values. It’s also okay to want to find them as efficiently as you can.
Someone’s values are unlikely to change over time, which is why it’s vital that your team members share those values. You can teach new skills and improve existing ones on the job, but someone’s character and core beliefs are probably there to stay.
Core values can attract dream clients and partners
Just as your core values can bring in excellent job candidates, they can also attract the people you want to work with most. Your dream clients — the people you envisioned working with when you launched your business.
The same goes for other business owners. When you’re prepared to join forces with others in your industry, whether for a joint venture deal, a referral, or a partnership, your core values will help you find like-minded business owners.
Identify and clearly display your core values, whether it’s on your website, your blog, your YouTube channel, or social media. Give potential clients and partners many opportunities to see if they’re the right fit for you and your business — and to set your boundaries.
How to choose core values for your business
If you’ve never named your business’s core values before, it may feel a little daunting, but don’t worry! The truth is, your core values already exist. You just have to identify them and put them in writing.
To start, I recommend you ask yourself these questions to determine what’s most important to you. Write down your first thought; be honest and don’t censor yourself!
- What do I stand for?
- Who do I want to serve?
- How do I want to treat people?
- What values would I still uphold even if it had a negative impact on my business?
That last question can be a little tricky, so let me explain.
Say that one of your core values is integrity. What if you were working with a client who acted without integrity? Would you be willing to cut ties with that client, even if it harmed your company? If your answer is yes, then integrity is one of your core values.
There’s no perfect number of core values you should identify, but I recommend aiming for five to eight. Once you’ve narrowed down your list, remember to share those values so that potential hires, clients, and partners can see them online.
Pairing core values with metrics to find success
One thing I love about discovering your core values is the impact they can have on your goals. Outlining and following strategies to accomplish your goals can feel a bit easier when you know who you are and why you do what you do.
How can you pair core values with business metrics? Take KPIs, or key performance indicators, for example. You use KPIs to track your progress and measure your success. You get quantifiable data from KPIs.
When you look at how your business is performing through the lens of your core values, you can get creative with the metrics you use.
If one of your core values is excellence, maybe you track different KPIs like customer retention or net promoter score to see if you’re delivering the best customer service you can. If another is efficiency, you might look at metrics like total time worked or number of projects completed on time.
Business metrics on their own can be used to answer questions about how your business is performing, of course. But when paired with your core values, you can determine if you’re operating with purpose, meaning, and direction. Isn’t that amazing?
Core values guide you on your business journey
Your core values will inform the decisions you make in all aspects of your business. From hiring to partnering up with other business owners to evaluating your business’s performance, your core values impact the decisions you make.
So, whenever you’re faced with a tough choice, look to your core values! They are there to uphold your business and act as a guiding light.
Want help evaluating data in a way that aligns with your values? Check out my YouTube channel here — where I make things like metrics, data, and business decision-making less complex (and more human).
