Identifying the Values that Define your Company Culture

During a normal work week, I spend more time at the office with my coworkers than I do at home with my wife and three sons. Think about it, maybe you see your family for an hour before work and 4 hours after work. That’s 3 less hours per day if you work a normal 8-hour shift. I’ve also thought of this as a major reason why company culture is so important. It’s where you spend your time, but it’s also what sets your mood for the return home. It matters, a lot.

Since we hired our first full-time employee in 2011, we’ve placed an enormous emphasis on hiring for both talent and culture fit. Our interview process is setup to optimize this, even paying candidates to work here for 8 hours. We want to see their work, but we also want to see how they do in our culture … and give them a chance to get to know us. It needs to be a success for both parties.

As a marketing agency, everything we do is collaborative. Creative work requires trust, mostly because it can be subjective at times and always involves some level of constructive feedback; so, if you can help it, you need to enjoy and respect the people you work alongside.

What Are Core Values and Why Do I Need Them?

The core values of a business define what’s most important to your company, serve as your primary navigational tool, and help you decide where to invest your limited amount of time and resources. At the most basic level, the definition of core and value are helpful:

1. Core: the most important part of something that is central to its existence or character.
2. Values: the importance, worth, or usefulness of something; one’s judgement of what is important in life.

Your core values answer one simple, yet monumental question: what characteristics of our company, if they went missing, would leave us directionless and without meaning?

When you have established what’s most important to your company, you’ll find that core values save you from falling prey to the shiny object that takes your attention away from what you do best. Maybe a customer asks if you offer a certain service or you lose one client because of a unique reason, and suddenly, you start making knee-jerk changes to how you run your business. A set of clearly defined core values keep you grounded and remind you what’s most important. As you consistently follow them, you’ll gain confidence in allowing your core values to make decisions for you.

We believe every business should establish and follow a list of core values – here’s 5 reasons why:

1. They differentiate you from your competition
2. They align your team
3. They encourage and provide a metric for self-evaluation
4. They help you make difficult decisions
5. They produce market momentum

We write a lot about branding and core values on our agency site. Go and checkout our article, “5 Ways Core Values Grow Businesses.”

Our team culture can be defined by these 13 values

1. Skip the Shortcuts: there’s no replacement for hard work. Skipping the shortcuts means you do things the right way, whether someone is watching or not.
2. Prepare to Adapt: a few other ways of saying this: embrace change, look for the pivot, don’t get caught flat-footed, the only constant is change – you’ve heard them all.
3. Set Goals & Measure Them: individual and corporate goals move you forward, inch by inch; measuring those goals moves you forward, yard by yard. Measurable goals are written down, given steps to complete, and shared with others for accountability.
4. Lead by Example: actions matter more than words 100% of the time, and it’s our actions that create our principles. Leading by example is the long-game; it’s the daily grind of striving to be the best version of yourself, regardless of the challenges you face.
5. Be Coachable: let’s be honest – no one wants to work with someone who already knows everything – or thinks they do. Being coachable allows real growth and gives you the foundation and respect to coach others. All good coaches and leaders were first led by someone else.
6. Be You: your personal values determine how you’ll act in the best and worst situations. They are your authentic self.
7. Work Passionately: what matters most is doing work that energizes, engages, and inspires you. Life is too short to do work you’re not passionate about.
8. Maintain Integrity: doing what’s right is as much for you as it is for others – it builds character and makes you proud of who you are. Doing what’s right respects the intelligence of those around you, empowers others to do what’s right, and breaks down walls.
9. Be Bold: find your lane, master your craft, and boldly lead in that area.
10. Own It: failing to own and take your role seriously stalls progress, disrupts unity, and unfairly burdens your team as they pick up the slack.
11. Offer Grace & Show Humility: showing respect for those around you creates inclusion, which creates a team that fights for each other and allows you to experience shared successes.
12. Work as a Team: there’s a big difference in working beside each other, working with each other, and working for each other. The goal of every great team is to work for each other.
13. Be Aware: awareness is what ultimately unites us. It’s what allows us to see into the lives of others and discover their strengths and needs.

These aren’t our core values, but are rather examples or visuals for what it looks like to succeed. As you’re building out your core values, don’t forget to highlight examples and recognize people when they demonstrate them.