Why core values are important

What you need to know

• Your organization’s core values create a shared belief system that nurtures company culture and informs employee behavior and growth. 
• Core values act as a road map, guiding employee behavior, your business strategy and decision-making.
• Employee recognition, communications and training bring your core values to life through the employee journey.

Core values aren’t just words on your website or company swag. These tenets are the heart of your organization. They define how you’ll shape company culture, how your employees will engage with work and how you’ll accomplish your brand mission.

Think of core values as a shared belief system for your organization. Shared values help employees build relationships, trust and healthy collaboration through value-driven behaviors. They rally employees behind your company’s mission and strategic goals.

So how leaders help employees embody your core values is critical. It can make the difference for employee satisfaction or work performance. It can also impact employee retention and how the public sees your brand.

1. Increases employee satisfaction

Core values establish shared beliefs and actions in your organization. They foster relationships, bringing teams together and creating a sense of belonging at work. 

This feeling of community is crucial to employee happiness. It increases work satisfaction and instills a deep sense of purpose, motivating employees to do their best. This boosts employee retention and attracts others to join your organization.

When employees feel like they belong, they bring their most authentic, unique selves to their work, increasing their confidence and performance. It leads to a stronger workplace experience and increases employee engagement.

Tip: Tie employee recognition to core values

Employee recognition is a performance management tool that empowers workplace leaders and peers to acknowledge one another. ITA Group’s employee engagement platform makes it easy for employees to tag recognitions with a key value. When you recognize individuals for embodying your organization’s values, it encourages those key behaviors and gives other team members an example of that core value in action.

Entrusting employees to reward and recognize others for living your company’s values empowers coworkers to celebrate one another’s wins. Those values become more tangible and easier to embrace and repeat.

2. Measures your success

Clear values set the standard for how your organization approaches business. This might look like employee behaviors, the customers you target and even the goals you set as a team.

Your values should weave seamlessly into your business strategy, answering the "why" and the "how" for your teams: "Why this goal?" or "How will we achieve it?" This gives your team a rubric to measure against when making decisions for the organization: Would this next step be aligned to a core value? Does this priority tie back to a key tenet? 

Seeing how your organization applies core values to big decisions shows your team how important these words are. Plus, it gives employees an example of ideal behaviors. 

Tip: Share examples of core values in action during meetings

Bring core values into your meetings. For example, in your next department meeting, invite your leadership team to share business updates in terms of a certain value. Or, start the meeting by having team members recognize examples of recent employee actions or wins that align with a key value.

By explaining how your company lives up to your values, along with the ways you’re working to improve or achieve wins, you show employees how important these tenets are. 

3. Instills employee ownership

Core values inspire your people to act and make decisions on their own. By encouraging employees to embody these values every day, organizations build a sense of trust with their people. Employees can work independently but still within the brand's mission.

When employees feel like they can bring their own experience and interpretation to their work, you see more innovation and pride in what they do. This also builds up your employer branding. When people love where they work, they become brand advocates and are more likely to stay.

4. Attracts customers

Core values build a consistent, aligned approach for employees and leadership, but also for customers. According to Harris Poll, 82% of customers say they want to buy products and services from companies that have a purpose that resonates with their values and belief systems.

Think of an eco-friendly consumer purchasing from a B Corporation or a neighbor supporting a company that gives back to the local community. As companies consistently act on their values, they build trust and respect with their customers. This increases customer loyalty and brand awareness.

Tip: Train frontline teams on core values

Your core values drive employee behaviors and that includes those frontline or customer service teams. Give examples of how customer-facing teams can embody your core values. 

For example, during our Love Your People podcast with CAVA’s HR leader Kelly Costanza, Kelly shared how they train and give tangible examples of their foundational values to their frontline staff. They also highlight a value each month in their employee communications and meetings, keeping values top of mind.

Related: 4 ways to activate core values and competencies for front-line workers

5. Sets your organization apart

By embracing core values, your organization stands out. With your organization’s values driving the “how” and the “why” of your business, you create a unique approach in your industry’s niche. And as your people embody those values, their work, ideas and collaboration set your brand apart in the pack.

Tip: Guide employee experience with your core values

Help employees immerse themselves in your core values by bringing them into the employee journey, from hiring and onboarding to ongoing development and retention. Aligning engagement and tying everything within the employee journey like onboarding or learning and development reinforces your messaging and ethos, helping employees embody your “how” and “why” as they grow with the company.

Hiring managers should list company values on career pages and evaluate new job candidates based partly on your company values. (e.g., Are they authentic? Do they work well in a team?) Guiding your hiring practices with your values ensures consistent or compatible workstyles and motivations.

Remember to use core values as a road map

It’s important to remember that core values are about both collective and individual behaviors. Shared core values are a powerful reminder that no single individual can achieve everything on their own.

In any organization, core values offer a road map that helps teams collaborate and individual employees contribute.

When you bring your core values to life through recognition, communication and ongoing development, you cultivate passionate and committed employees who shape their company culture and grow into their roles.

Learn how leadership development can harness core values to drive collaboration and employee engagement in our white paper, "Investing in emerging and standout leaders."