Core values are key to strategy execution because they guide your organisation’s and employees’ behaviour. So how do you ensure these values work both internally and externally? Well, let’s first take a step back and look at what core values actually mean.
In a business context, core values are the beliefs that drive how the organisation behaves, how it makes key decisions and how it treats the people who work for it. They should weave into everything the business does, from leadership and client/ customer communications, to driving hiring and daily decisions.
However, values should never be standalone entities. They form part of a brand identity piece, so they should always support and build on the company’s mission (what you do and why you exist) and vision (what you want to achieve as a business). Essentially, core values are the principles that drive the way the organisation operates.
The Problem with ‘Empty Values’
What if a company creates values but doesn’t apply them?
This is very common and can cause a disconnect between the external brand promise and the internal employee experience. If a company doesn’t ‘follow through’ by practising or enforcing its core principles, then they become disingenuous and merely fancy slogans without purpose. This can have a negative effect operationally.
If an employee does not believe in the values of the company or they are either non-existent or inconsistent, it creates mixed messaging across everyday actions and leadership, which in turn can cause low morale, trust, and, crucially, performance. Values that are not backed by action become, essentially, corporate cliches that fail to guide employee behaviour.
The external face of the brand can also be affected. Audiences can sense when brand messaging and content don’t align with the truth. There have been various scandals over the years where apparent company ethos has not correlated with the end product or advertising. This can have detrimental consequences on financial performance, as target audiences turn away from the brands and negative PR ensues, not to mention the cost of crisis communication and reputation management!
Long-term credibility can wane, and it can take a long time to build brand reputation back up, if at all, depending on the severity of the fallout. In fact, recent statistics from GWI show 44% of online users want brands to be authentic and 44% expect innovation, signalling that realness plus progress builds credibility. It’s certainly food for thought.
Defining Core Values as Operational Tools
If brands do not change how they operate internally in tandem with the core values, this will not translate into external values and therefore will not show up in the work produced.
Celia Wilson, Operations Director at ICS-digital, says: “Having clear values helps guide decisions and set expectations day-to-day, which is essential for operational success.
The impact is seen in how we follow key processes, whether that’s collaborating effectively in planning or taking accountability in delivery. If behaviours don’t reflect these values, our processes can break down. Everything we do should link back to them, ensuring consistency in how we operate and in the quality of our output.”
When creating core values for a business, it’s important to consider:
- Authenticity: Values should reflect the company’s genuine beliefs, not just what sounds appealing or flashy for sales (or recruitment) benefits. They need to be deeply ingrained in all operational elements and translate to external brand messaging, so they need to follow through and mean something. Realistically, if they do not resonate with leadership, employees or the target audience of the company, they need to be evaluated.
- Relevance: They need to reflect the company’s mission - the reason they exist. They should be relatable and also unique. If your competitors have similar values, then they won’t truly stick or be impactful. It means they are not unique enough to create a solid brand, as there will be no differentiation. Both the employees (or talent the company wants to attract) and the brand’s audience need to believe in the values and relate to them in some way for buy-in that lasts for retention.
- Memorability: When considering core values, ensure the message isn’t lost from having too many. Clear-cut, easy-to-understand values work best, as they need to be memorable in order to work.
- Behavioural Goals: Core values are the principles that drive the way the organisation operates. So with this in mind, consider what behaviours the company wants to encourage in both employees and customers when creating the values. What end result do you want to achieve that won’t fizzle out?
- Impactfulness: There needs to be consistency at every level of the business. The values need to be followed through and be impactful. The brand’s values should be reflected in everything they do, at all times, embedded into operational processes and modelled by both leadership and employees.
An example of a company whose values are visible in public is IKEA. Its 8 key values focus on togetherness, simplicity and cost-consciousness, rooted in its Swedish Småland heritage.
These principles are communicated externally to build trust, create an emotional connection with consumers, and help to differentiate the brand in a very competitive space. This is true not just in terms of advertising and messaging, but in practical operational initiatives.
The marketing strategy communicates this messaging well, from its budget-friendly ‘Small Space’ collection, initiatives surrounding sustainable materials, and focus on simplicity and cost-consciousness, to the IKEA Family Loyalty Club and use of user-generated content tactics to build community, reward and togetherness.
Each external strategic initiative feels carefully crafted to represent the core company values.
Core Values and External Strategic Alignment
As with anything, be prepared for challenges. One challenge in particular that can cause companies to shift away) from their core values (also known as ‘strategic drift’ is having too much of a short-term focus.
When this occurs, organisations, for various reasons, end up focusing too much on ‘the now’, which can see them abandoning their values in exchange for short-term gain. This can lead to instability and long-term loss - after all, there is a reason for a business strategy being in place and guiding principles are one key element to keeping it functioning optimally.
It’s crucial to ensure core values align with both internal and external strategic alignment for success. To summarise, this means:
- clear messaging and storytelling
- staying authentic
- embedding values into internal processes
- ensuring customer and employee alignment
- finding your white space for core values in a crowded market
- using the company values as a filter for sign off as part of marketing plans.
