15 best company values to guide your organization

Company values define who you are and how you work. They guide decisions, inspire employees, and attract customers. In this article, discover why they are crucial, how to define them, and how to integrate them into your organization.

Key Points

Company values define organizational identity and culture, serving as a compass for decisions aligned with the common purpose.

A strong corporate culture, built on clear values, fosters employee engagement and improves customer satisfaction.

The selection and implementation of values must be a strategic process involving employees to ensure their relevance and effective integration into the organization.

Understanding company values

A company’s values are much more than moral and ethical principles; they define its identity and organizational culture. They represent a set of intangible assets that aim to bring employees together around a common goal. To be effective, these company values must be stable and identifiable, thus avoiding any confusion among employees and partners.

Company values act as a compass, guiding decisions and strengthening the organization’s identity, which ensures its sustainability. They are essential for long-term success and help build a distinct identity, thereby attracting a targeted clientele. Values not only define how work is done, but also inspire everyone connected to the organization.

Finally, values embody the company’s major objectives and define how to achieve them. They must also match the image the company wishes to project to the public, thus ensuring consistency between internal actions and external perception.

Why company values are essential

A solid corporate culture, built on clear values, improves communication between employees and reduces conflicts, thereby creating a harmonious work environment. Companies that cultivate a strong corporate culture attract and retain talent, building more engaged and motivated teams.

Company values directly influence customer satisfaction and strengthen their loyalty, which is crucial for long-term success. They serve as a point of reference for employees, making decision-making easier in uncertain situations and thereby increasing internal cohesion.

By motivating employees to work toward the same objective, company values play a crucial role in creating a work environment where employees feel valued and motivated. They give meaning to decisions and increase well-being at work, which results in better overall performance, using words that resonate with everyone.

How to choose a company's values?

Choosing a company's values is a strategic process that requires in-depth reflection. The values must reflect the specific characteristics of the company’s identity, rather than being copied from other organizations. They must be unique and stem directly from the company’s mission in order to make it easier for all stakeholders to embrace them.

To define company values effectively:

Involve various stakeholders in the company to gather diverse perspectives.

Formulate the values in a concrete, understandable, and actionable way for everyone.

Organize a team brainstorming session to identify the essential values.

Finally, the values must be integrated into the recruitment process to attract candidates who share these principles.

Assess the current culture

Assessing the company’s current culture is a crucial step in detecting gaps between stated values and those that are actually practiced. It is important to identify the values that are truly lived on a daily basis within the organization in order to carry out an effective audit.

Revealing the gaps between declared values and those practiced makes it possible to obtain an accurate picture of the organizational culture and to adjust strategies accordingly. A discrepancy between the values communicated and the reality on the ground can damage the credibility of human resources, making this audit all the more essential.

Involving employees

Involving employees in the process of defining values is crucial to ensure their engagement and motivation. To gain their buy-in and ensure the relevance of the values, it is essential to involve colleagues in creating the company values.

Organizing collaborative brainstorming workshops is an effective way to gather employees’ ideas about the company’s values. Taking your colleagues’ opinions into account strengthens their sense of belonging and their commitment to the stated values.

Active involvement of employees in company values not only promotes better buy-in, but also a positive and collaborative work environment.

Aligning values with strategy

For values to be effective, they must meet the following criteria:

Be in harmony with the company’s mission and vision.

Be limited in number, ideally between 3 and 5.

Be easy to communicate and to integrate into the company culture.

Values must be adapted to the company’s context, market, and ambitions. It is essential that they are genuinely embodied within the organization and closely linked to the business strategy in place.

The PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) approach can help structure changes and gather feedback to increase productivity.

Inspiring examples of company values

Examples of corporate values can be grouped into different categories, each having a unique impact on organizational culture. Companies like Apple, Ikea, LinkedIn, and Google show how well-defined values can guide their actions and decisions.

These values can be grouped into three main categories: human values, performance values, and societal values. Each category offers unique perspectives on how values can be applied to strengthen corporate culture and achieve strategic objectives.

Human values

Exemplary human values include:

respect

kindness

trust

listening

empathy

tolerance

authenticity

generosity

humility

altruism

These values are essential for creating a work environment where employees feel valued and respected.

Diversity and engagement are also inspiring human values for a company. Trust, in particular, is crucial for establishing an impartial and trustworthy organization, thereby fostering sincere and transparent relationships.

Performance values

Performance values are crucial for encouraging a spirit of initiative within teams. Innovation, for example, is essential for boosting productivity and efficiency. Adopting a culture of innovation not only promotes ambition but also leads to organizational excellence.

Integrating innovation, ambition, and excellence as core values can significantly improve the organization’s overall performance.

Societal values

Societal values encompass principles that guide a company’s practices toward collective well-being. Among societal values, we find:

commitment

inclusion

ethics

solidarity

responsibility

the environment

justice

equity

sustainability

citizenship.

Responsibility involves accepting and encouraging decisions and actions within the organization, thereby strengthening the culture of ethics. A culture of responsibility within a company reinforces trust and motivates individuals to achieve objectives.

Moreover, a diverse workforce can increase a company’s chances of success by up to 35%.

Implementing company values on a daily basis

Putting company values into practice on a daily basis is essential for them to be truly embodied by employees. Corporate culture is influenced by its values, which must be integrated into everyday practices and management processes. Why is it important to live company values every day? It strengthens employee engagement and guides decision-making.

Values must permeate every facet of the company, from job descriptions to training plans. Integrating transparency into the communication of the results of improvement initiatives can strengthen employee trust and foster organizational learning. By relying on core values when making choices, a company can embed its values into its decisions.

Role of management

Managers play a crucial role in promoting and embodying company values. They must demonstrate constant commitment to company values to strengthen their credibility. Leading by example and valuing consistent behaviours is essential for managers in promoting company values.

Managers must also develop practices that encourage behaviours aligned with the values, such as feedback and recognition. Encouraging constructive feedback is a key method for promoting values within the team.

Internal communication

Consistent and repeated internal communication about company values is essential for them to be fully integrated by employees. Regular rituals, such as meetings or workshops, can strengthen team commitment to the company’s values.

It is crucial that employees understand and share the company’s values to avoid conflicts and foster a harmonious work environment. Consistent communication ensures that everyone is on the same wavelength and working toward the same objectives.

Training and development

Training programmes should be designed to link company values to the behavioural skills expected from employees. Integrating values into training helps create a work environment where desired behaviours are reinforced on a daily basis.

By training employees on the company’s values, you ensure that they understand the importance of these values and how to apply them in their daily work. This strengthens the corporate culture and aligns employees’ actions with the organisation’s strategic objectives.

Measuring the impact of company values

It is essential to regularly assess a company’s values in order to revise, enrich, or modify them based on new challenges and opportunities. Companies that use feedback loops to evaluate their improvement initiatives see a significant increase in their responsiveness to customer needs.

The Balanced Scorecard, used by many large companies, makes it possible to analyze both financial and non-financial performance, thereby facilitating better alignment of strategic objectives. However, a study reveals that nearly 70% of companies fail to properly measure the impact of their continuous improvement initiatives, which undermines their effectiveness.

In summary

In summary, company values are essential elements that define an organization’s identity and culture. They guide decisions, inspire employees, and attract customers. To choose effective values, it is crucial to assess the current culture, involve employees, and align the values with the company’s strategy.

By implementing these values on a daily basis, integrating them into training, and measuring their impact, a company can ensure that they are truly lived and embodied by everyone. This strengthens employee engagement, improves customer satisfaction, and leads to lasting success.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 10 human values?

The 10 human values include respect, acceptance, recognition, listening, openness, cooperation, honesty, mutual aid, solidarity, and empathy. These values are essential for fostering harmonious relationships and a fair society.

What are the 7 values?

The seven values consist of four cardinal virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance, as well as three theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity. These values play an essential role in ethics and morality.

Why are company values important?

Company values are important because they foster better communication, attract and retain talent, and strengthen customer satisfaction. In this way, they play a key role in the long-term success of the organization.

How do I choose my company's values?

To choose your company's values, assess the current culture, involve your employees, and make sure these values are aligned with the company's strategy. This will ensure consistency and engagement within your organization.

What are exemplary human values?

Exemplary human values include respect, kindness, trust, attentive listening, empathy, tolerance, authenticity, generosity, humility, and altruism. These fundamental principles guide our interactions and strengthen our shared humanity.