Visit the website of any major business in the world, and it’ll be easy to find their company values. This is because values are the heart of every successful organisation. They tell your customers, employees and stakeholders who you are and what you stand for.
Spreading the message of your values has a positive impact on your brand and your business because it helps people identify who you are and, most importantly, encourages them to remember your brand.
What are company values?
Company values form the core belief system that permeates your organisation. They are essentially what your business stands for and how you aim to have a positive impact on your customers. You may have seen words like ‘community,’ ‘empathy’ and ‘integrity’ in the company values of other businesses. These are ideals that people can get behind – after all, you need your values to appeal to both your customers and your employees.
Communicating your company values articulately and consistently helps shape your brand and supports the culture at the heart of your organisation.
Promoting employee engagement
Strong company values have a proven positive impact on employee engagement. Recent studies have found that productivity at work improves by 20–25% when employees feel connected by shared values.
Having shared values makes people feel their work matters and incites loyalty. It’s become a prominent talent acquisition and retention strategy for many successful businesses because it allows you to retain top talent, instead of losing it to your competitors. Employees are less likely to take sick days and more likely to work overtime when they feel empowered and inspired by their company values. They also tend to be more innovative and creative.
Your company culture is also defined by your values. If you value innovation, for example, you know that you need to build a workplace environment where people can share ideas. If a strong community is part of your core belief system, you need to provide spaces for employees to connect with each other. If you claim to have values that aren’t present in your workplace culture, you won’t increase employee engagement.
Shaping an effective brand strategy
Your company values are key in shaping an effective brand strategy. A strong brand has a clear, concise message that’s easy to understand. Customers are put off by convoluted language that’s full of corporate jargon. They prefer something that speaks to them on their level. They can also spot when a branding message doesn’t make sense or doesn’t fit with what the company claims its values are. You won’t be able to create an effective brand strategy unless your core values mirror your main branding and marketing messages.
Strong company values also help your customers understand exactly what you stand for and attract buyers who share the same values as you. For example, if you stand for sustainability, customers who care about the environment are probably going to buy from you rather than from your competitors who are silent on this issue. If your company values match the belief systems of your core customer base, you’ve struck gold. People are much more likely to choose brands that share the same values as them – an increasing trend amongst millennials and Gen Z.
Read our blog on why customers choose companies with clear values to find out more.
