Core values define your company culture

Core values are the foundation of your organization. They give direction, define what you stand for and reflect the common motivations of employees. Strong core values make a company recognizable and provide guidance for future behavior. But how do you ensure that core values not only exist on paper, but are actually lived out?

Why core values are important

Core values are more than nice words on a poster. They influence how people work together, make decisions and deal with customers. When core values are clear and consistently lived out, there are many benefits:

• Higher employee engagement because they recognize themselves in the values
• Guidelines for selecting new colleagues
• Lower turnover because people feel at home
• Recognizability towards customers and stakeholders
• Clear frameworks for desired behavior

Core values cannot be imposed

A common mistake is thinking you can define and impose core values. It doesn't work that way. Core values are already present in your organization. They arise from the sum of personal values of all employees. So it's a matter of discovering and naming them, not making them up.

How do you do that? By having conversations, making observations and watching behavior. When a large part of the organization shares and propagates a certain value, it forms the culture.

Examples of core values

No core values established yet? These are examples that are common:

• Autonomy
• Creativity
• Decisiveness
• Sustainability
• Growth
• Leadership
• Personal Development
• Self-knowledge

Got your core values clear? Put them at the top of presentations, internal communications and onboarding. That way they remain visible and recognizable.

How to bring core values to life

Core values only work if they are part of daily work. Let them recur in conversations, team sessions and evaluations. A practical way: ask employees to write down how they want to live out a core value and discuss this together.

Example: is 'continuous improvement' a core value? Then discuss in a meeting what steps everyone is taking to develop further.

Selection of new employees

Core values also play a role in recruitment. Applications often ask, "Do you agree with our core values?" That sounds good, but says little. More effective is to ask about personal values and examples of behavior. That way you can see if there is a real match.

When core values are clear and lived out, it creates room for differences in other areas. That diversity makes teams stronger.

What if core values are not lived out?

When communicated core values do not match reality, problems arise. Employees quickly notice a gap between what is said and what happens. That leads to less engagement and more dissatisfaction. Even worse, when you ask people to exhibit behavior that doesn't match their values, it feels forced. Values can't be imposed. They have to be authentic.

Set a good example

Do you want employees to promote core values? Then the top of the company must do it themselves. If reliability is a core value, but management is structurally late, that undermines credibility. Core values start with exemplary behavior.

Desired versus actual core values

Sometimes there is a big difference between desired and actual core values. You won't solve that with a quick fix. Start by attracting people who already demonstrate the desired behavior. In some cases it is necessary to say goodbye to employees who work against the culture.

The goal: an organization in which core values are not only expressed, but also visible in behavior.

Core values and technology

Want to structurally embed core values? Keep talking about them. Technology can help make this process insightful and interactive. With tools such as Dialog, employees can indicate which values they identify with and how they want to propagate them. This is how you make core values concrete and keep them alive.

Veelgestelde vragen

What are core values within a company?
Core values form the identity of an organization. They guide behavior and decisions and reflect the common motivations of employees.

How do core values influence culture?
Consistent adherence to core values creates a strong culture. This ensures commitment, recognition and a clear basis for cooperation.

How do you discover core values?
You can't impose core values. They are already present and emerge through conversations and observations. It is a process of identifying, not determining.

How do you live through core values?
Have them reflected in team sessions, evaluations and daily conversations. Make it concrete by asking employees how they want to live out the core values.