To make a difference in your organisation, you must find ways to instil values in your staff. Such values will create a culture that produces motivated, happy and empowered people.

While you can hire people based on their knowledge and skills, values take time to develop. Your dedication and commitment at imparting these values over time will make the investment worthwhile.

Benefits of having business values

When you successfully impart values in your staff, you’ll find that a healthy culture develops. If your business is spread across physical boundaries or is made up of people from different cultures, then having values helps to improve communication across these boundaries.

Values are an important catalyst for change. Having values will also help you team move forward and upwards despite obstacles they may come across along the way.

You as the leader will need to decide on the core values on which you would like to shape your business and build your people. Here are a few core values for you to consider.

5 Core Business values

It’s not hard to make a decision when you know what your values are ~ Roy Disney

1. Accountability

To be accountable is to be willing to take responsibility for your actions or inaction. Your chances of success as a business is improved when all staff irrespective of their role within the organisation know what it means to be accountable and responsible. Staff members know that they are responsible for delivering tasks to expected standards. Everyone understands the impact their role plays within the overall organisation.

Successful leaders use tangible methods to install accountability. For example SMART goals, incentive programs and progress monitoring.

2. Integrity and Honesty

Integrity and honesty is crucial for all communications within the organisation and across boundaries in communication with customers and other external stakeholders. Integrity in the workplace creates an atmosphere of trust and confidence. Integrity will  help your team to complete its task on time, exceed expectations and honour promises.

3. Innovation

Good leaders and companies encourage employees to think outside the box. You must not be satisfied with just working with traditional solutions. There is always a new and more efficient way to solve a problem. Only an environment that fosters innovation and creativity will produce this newer and better ways.

A good way to foster innovation is by discussing best practices amongst teams and departments during meetings. Recognition should also be given to employees who come up with innovative solutions. This serves to inspire others. In todays world of increasing competition and change, you cannot afford to be complacent. You must seek to be better than what you were previously.

4. Fairness

To be fair is to always go for a win-win solution to all transactions. This means that there is some benefit to both parties to the transaction.

Consistently working with a fair business mentality will ensure that your vendors, customers and suppliers will return to do business with you again and again.

5. Discipline

An environment of discipline requires that the individual adhere to certain behaviours that merit rewards. Contrary behaviour should also attract sanctions. Your job as the leader is to model by example the code of conduct you like. Here, everyone benefits because all staff are inclined to put their best feet forward, be at their best behaviour and adhere to the rules and regulations.

This list is not an exhaustive one. I am sure you can come up with many more business values worthy of emulation. Why not leave a comment and share some of your business values.