Many leaders, owners and managers are so focused on tangible results that they fail to see how the intangible core character traits of their staff connect to the bottom line.
Organizational values outline the behavior and character guidelines that your employees need to exhibit in order to fulfill the mission. The big idea here is that having clear, concise core values provides a deeper sense of belonging and focus as the work gets done. If you’re looking to create some magic within your team then it’s time to re-consider, or re-engineer your core values.
What you’ll see in many non-profit organizations is an overemphasis on values, leading to exhaustive, impossible-to-remember lists of crucial character traits and scrutiny of every detail. To much time is invested in the intangible core—time that could be better spent on important activities like donor acquisition and mission fulfillment. Besides, a list on its own isn’t going to drive or change behaviour.
Values are often misunderstood and under appreciated… but they don’t need to be for this one, very simple reason: Your organization is only as good as the people you have working for you. In addition to contributing to the overall success of your company, core values will become a beneficial Human Resources tool for hiring decisions.
As an aside, value-driven organizations also have more successful marketing campaigns as there’s a stronger sense of purpose embedded into a promotional message. A marketing campaign that is rich with authenticity will always be more memorable and more sharable. Remember, a brand is more than a logo… it’s also made up of the attitudes, beliefs, personalities, and character of those humanoids who are responsible for your brand.
Employees who jive with your values become advocates for your brand and you can’t buy that kind of love. So how do you attract and keep great people? Create a company culture where they can thrive, pay them well and then get out of their way and let them do their job.