Company core values and goals… Do they mean anything?

So what are core values and goals? They are a set of agreements, an action plan that says how we operate as a company and show where we want to be heading.

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Are there any benefits of this? Or is it just corporate buzz words?

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The values and goals that you lay out become the foundation of your business, it affects everything from your team to your clients, it's the way you operate. Even if you don’t purposely set these out, your company will develop them over time, but by taking control and setting these values in stone, you will be able to have a stronger grasp of what you expect from your business and where you want to take it…

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👀 Who do the core values benefit?

Staff members: staff retention is one of the biggest benefits and this is proving to be very challenging in today's markets. These core values define how your company conducts itself and interacts with its valuable staff members. A staff member also wants to work with a company that wants to give more back to them and they are willing to help the organisation to do that which in turn brings job satisfaction.

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The Client: the Client knows you operate to a high standard, from organisation to workmanship ensuring repeated workflow. This helps you maintain a high degree of professionalism within the industry, by valuing investment in resources, systems, training and staff.

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Management: The values guide them when faced with challenging situations on site for example. These values also provide the foundation for the internal culture, and how they help each other to achieve the goals and environment they want to have when at work. The goals help them stay on target and when reaching them then reward Management and staff alike.

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🕊 Live example of core values - SaintFG

Saints have an internal set of values aligned with our goals and then another set of values that are very client orientated which we use every day to deliver the highest of standards to our clients.

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We deliver on our famous core values every day and the benefits are pushed forward to our clients.

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Time - Gain more time for yourself.

Wealth Retention- Start building your fortune today.

Family - Such an important area of our lives, for them and you.

Peace of mind - The new rich - Work with Saint, learn to relax, knowing everything is working as it should be.

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Try to identify what your core values could be, passion, integrity, customer service and so on.

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🤔 How does this help your company?

As business advisors, we sometimes have to turn businesses around and quickly. We use core values as a soft way in, to talk to individual staff members and owners to see how it’s all been going. Is there a good feeling about the company and the way it delivers its service to its clients or are the staff poorly supported etc?

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Is there poor relations between departments and even with the client? After a big shakeup we try to get the staff to suggest and then work to a set pattern of words (Core Values) which would guide them away from the old habits. Sounds a bit gimmicky but it works. Some members will not like it and leave and that pain is not always a bad thing.

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When the new staff come on board, they should be formally inducted and told in a straight-forward manner about the company's core values. For the internal staff side, it could be punctuality, politeness, respect, clean working area, a safety shared approach, many things, but these keywords displayed remind them to keep to it and when someone does not, it leads to an action quickly. It stops the need of walking on eggshells with people and being nice. It’s the rules and the standard are high.

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🙄 What if Management does not follow?

It is a big eye-opener on the core values front. In a two Director firm, we could speak to each one separately and it seems we have two completely different firms with different approaches.

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This also starts the soft process of seeing the direction where either Director or Senior Staff member thinks the company is really going in from a goals point of view.

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We have had it in the past in discussions where one Director would say they want to actually slow down as a company, look to sell and retire in a short while and the other Directors is saying we want to get up to 40 men next year, miles apart and they work closely every day.

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This then answers why so many crosswords and miss directed actions. Their values, direction and in the end their goals do not match.

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It’s a very powerful process and can make or breaks the relationship.  Everyone needs to start to pull together with one vision going forward.

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Sometimes it's just best to get this out in the open, good or bad. Saint help to softly open up these conversations, from Directors to Staff, so people speak more freely, things can quickly get heated but if managed in the correct way this will show if the values and goals are misaligned or not.

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This does not make one party bad it’s just brought a moment of honesty.

Saint help you develop your internal and external core values and also realign Management to their end goals.

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😨 What can go wrong?

"it's not you, it's me" - The modern dilemma of a construction partnership...

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In some cases, this split in what each Director wants in core values and goals can be catastrophic. When people start a company they both have a good rapport and think they will be ok, 12- 18 months later the honeymoon period has worn off and reality is setting in, much the same as in a relationship, they come to realise it was a great idea but it just does not feel right to carry on. In fact, it’s the last thing they want, that's not good for the company. One partner can become difficult to deal with just due to the stress and the overwhelm of running a business and is losing sight of “is this really worth it?”

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One director may want to rearrange the firm and start over, employing a Manger only rather than having a fellow Director. This is not so much a conflict with the other Director personally its just they like to make decisions and asking all the time for approval is not the way they see real growth happening.

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Sometimes the other Director knows this to be true and negotiation then takes place for them to stay a Director but not in the role they were as it’s just not them either, a relief for both or they devise a way where the roles are established so the more strategic planning is held by one Director and the Operational planning, for example, is held by another.

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A Positive Process

So now we have lightly touched on some benefits that core values and goals can bring in the way of clarity to an organisation. Why not spend a short time and think in what way can you and your team can consistently deliver on your goals by using core values. Remember every major player has had to stop to think this through themselves from Apple to Adidas so you’re not behind, you are about to start your journey and pull ahead of your competition.

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🎉 That's a wrap!

I hope you found this article useful! If you need to speak in confidence about anything above, helping you identify areas for improvement in internal operations, how best to bring in a new era or the benefits like core values and goal setting please contact us through this simple form!