When establishing a business, one of the first things you do is define the company values. Those values become the foundation on which you build everything. Whether hiring new employees or going over policies with existing workers, you educate them on what your values are and how they apply to the mission you want to achieve.
You might think that that is enough, which is a common mistake among business owners. There are times when you need to revisit your company values. In fact, you should revisit them regularly. Why? As you will discover with the information provided, there are many different reasons for doing this, which ultimately benefit you, your organization, your employees, and the customers you serve.
Keep in mind that reviewing your company values does not automatically mean you have to make changes. Even if you feel they need refining, changes are not necessarily significant. Do you need to revisit your company values? Absolutely and if it has been some time since you have done that, or you have never done it before, make this a priority.
The importance of having core values
From a customer’s perspective, the answer to several questions determines whether they buy from a particular company. For example, they want to know why a business exists, what makes it unique or better than its competitors, and why should they make a purchase with them. When you create core values for your business, you can answer these and other questions.
Virtually every aspect of your business revolves around the values you create. The goal is to establish core values, articulate them, and then put them into circulation. You want you prospective clients, existing customers, and even your competitors to know what your company stands for and why. Revisiting your values and making changes as needed also gives consumers a viable reason for choosing your business over another.
Revisiting your values
- Expanding audience - If you initially thought your company would serve a specific group of consumers best, only to discover over time that your product or service has a much broader reach, the values you first set no longer apply. In that instance, they need modification.
- Company acquisition – Instead of doing away with your company values as part of an acquisition, you want to find a compromise between the values of both organizations. While somewhat tricky, this is possible. In this situation, both companies need to agree on one set of values to prevent sending out mixed messages that could damage the business.
- Employee education – You can have all the values in the world, but unless your employees know what they are and abide by them, they do not offer much. When creating values, consider the people who work on your different teams. What is important to them? What successes do they want to achieve? Companies cannot succeed without employees, so when creating values, keep them in mind. If your current values do not coincide with the aspirations of your workers, it is time to revisit them. You want values that your employees respect, believe in, and want to carry out on behalf of the company.
- Times have changed – When it comes to changing times, think about technology as a prime example. If you started your business over 20 years ago, there is little chance that your initial values considered the advantages of modern day technology. Remember, you can maintain your core values, things like honesty, hard work, and integrity, but some of the other values need updating to go with the advances of today. Otherwise, people will have a difficult time relating to your business.
Benefits of revisiting values
- Attracting talent – Attracting talent is one of the most significant challenges that business owners face. Even if you offer an excellent salary and benefits package, people want more. The greatest talent wants to become a part of a team within a company that has strong or similar values. For this reason, it is imperative that you identify the things that the best talent wants from a company and adjust your values accordingly.
- Establishing the company culture – In addition to making consumers eager to buy from your company, you want your workers to feel excited about the business and what it represents. As the owner, you have a unique opportunity to establish a culture within the work environment by revisiting your business values. When these align with employees and create deeper connections, you end up with teams that work harder and perform better.
You can even offer your employees different online training courses that address different aspects of company values by visiting the Go1 website. With that, they will gain a new understanding and appreciation when you modify company values. You too can complete courses to guide you through the process of making changes, when and if necessary.
