I. What are the core values of the company?
Core values are a set of beliefs and orientations on which businesses make decisions.
Core values are inviolable factors that affect both internal and external work. In addition, it is a platform to help define how employees treat each other, but also to determine expected behavior towards customers, partners and the wider community.
Usually, core values core values bring businesses many great benefits, helping businesses solve problems:
- Improve recruitment and retention of employees based on policies set out from the core set of values
- Identify elements to build a set of corporate culture
- Work and play based on predefined rules
- Reward, motivate
- Reward and punish individuals who violate the company's regulations.
- Increase the company's brand recognition, thereby helping to make a deep impression on consumers, partners, etc.
After understanding the definition and benefits that core values bring, do you know how to define it for your organization? In the next section, we will come to four rules that help define an organization's core values.
II. 4 rules to determine the core values of the company
1. Determining core values based on development goals
If the purpose states the reason for the existence of an organization, the core values are the guideline in the direction of the company's activities. Besides, it also shows the desire of managers to influence the market in which the business operates.
For example: The aim is to become a leading entertainment company in Vietnam, creating a new generation of talented personnel, what will be the Core Values they aim for?
Dynamic: Dynamic in working style, environment and corporate culture
Creativity: Creativity in services and products provided to consumers
Innovation: Innovating product types and product concepts because businesses operate in the entertainment market
=> From that core value, it will help the company form a corporate culture, a development strategy to achieve its goals.
2. Building core values based on difference
No company has the same corporate culture, code of conduct, organization size, etc. Each different company will have its own operating method, vision, and mission because of its goals. Therefore, the core value of the enterprise will be unique and separate.
When building a value set for companies, it is advisable to refer to large enterprises and pioneers in the market, but do not tell your employees "Let's work like Google, Netflix, ..." by each company. Industry will have its own distinctive characteristics in the way it operates.
3. Easy to understand, easy to remember
Core values will be maintained throughout the existence and development of an organization. Therefore, the first and most basic factor to build the core value of an enterprise is "easy to understand, easy to remember". In order for officials and employees to remember and follow the things that core values bring, it is imperative that they be easy to remember and concise.
Let's take a look at Apple's core set of values to better understand this principle:
Apple lists their company's core values in the footer of every page on their website:
- Accessibility
- Education
- Environment
- Inclusion and diversity
- Private
- Supplier Responsibilities
4. Flexibility to change according to the development of the company
As the company's business model and company market grow, their core values will also have to be updated. Managing 10 people is certainly different from managing 100 people, and the more diverse the corporate culture, the more complex the core value set of the company is required.
For example, Netflix's Original Culture doesn't say anything about inclusion or ethics. However, in updating their cultural framework, they proceeded to add “Inclusion” and “Integrity” as two of Netflix's ten core values.
Although the time to use corporate core values is long, depending on the actual situation, managers should re-evaluate whether they are still suitable for the organization's culture or not. Usually, the most appropriate time to re-evaluate the core set of values is about 6 months - 1 year.
III. 5 steps to help define the core values of the company
Because it is a fundamental element in all operating policies of an enterprise, building a set of core values will require a lot of time and human resources to be able to consider and decide correctly and appropriately. best. Therefore, let's learn 5 steps to help managers determine the core values of the company.
1. Identify personnel in charge
Identifying the individual or team responsible for building core values and maintaining them is extremely important.
Agree on how to keep accountability, ensuring that core values are maintained in the day-to-day operations of the company. Elements of an organization's core values will be associated with daily activities to the company's sales policy and development plan.
2. Find out the internals of the company
Core values are formed based on the available resources of the business. Therefore, determining what factors the business currently has is extremely important.
Some internal resources of the enterprise can be identified through the 5M . model
- Material – The necessary materials to be able to create the product/service that the business provides
- Machine – Equipment, machines that businesses use to create products
- Man – Human Resources
- Method – ways to implement and operate a business to create products
- Measurement – Stats that businesses need for reporting
If you are a new business and have never built a core set of business values, you can refer to the core values of some of the world's leading corporations:
For example, Microsoft has a list of 6 core company values:
- Innovation
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Charity
- Environment
- Trusted calculator
Adidas: Adidas' Core Values, are defined as a set of behaviors at the core of the company culture and they want to see in their people.
Their core values are:
- Confidence
- Cooperation
- Creation
3. Analyze the resources of the company
Some questions help managers clearly identify important factors in building their core values:
- What drives the business in the market?
- What do we want our company to be known for?
- What makes your business different from competitors?
- What motivates employees to join the organization?
Readers can refer to some of the values that the organization considers important:
- Integrity: Integrity in behavior, how to do work, etc.
- Orientation of business goals: Clearly defining specific goals that the organization is aiming for will help managers and employees make easier decisions.
- Social construction factor: Contributing to building society is one of the responsibilities of every business in the market. Therefore, the business of the organization must contribute to the development of society
- Human resource policy: Is one of the important factors that directly affect human resources in an enterprise.
Depending on the different businesses, each factor that they consider important to their business will be different. Therefore, building core values cannot be "imitation" of any company.
4. Remove inappropriate values
As Gino Wickman said: “The core values are somewhere in the list of elements you just created. So let's proceed to narrow it down."
In order to be able to conduct a distillation of the list of important values of the business, the administrator should perform the "Keep, discard and combine" removal process to be able to conduct a selection of 10-15 real options to the organization.
5. Check and make the final decision
To be able to create a complete set of core values of the business, the administrator needs to bring it to the final stage by re-checking the list of 10-15 options above from which to select 5-10 values, most important to your company. Typically, a company will have 3 to 7 core values that are tied together and represent their organization.
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