How Do You Ensure Your Personal Values Are Reflected in Your Company's Operations?
To help you ensure that your personal values are reflected in your company's operations, we asked CEOs and founders for their best insights. From integrating collective values into operations to ensuring high-quality, transparent customer service, here are the top twelve strategies these leaders shared. These insights offer practical examples and actionable steps to align your business practices with your core values.
- Integrate Collective Values Into Operations
- Implement Open Project Management
- Foster Community and Entrepreneurship
- Focus on Creating Value
- Prioritize Clean, Sustainable Practices
- Emphasize Integrity and Transparency
- Share Knowledge on Social Media
- Understand Clients Through Journey Mapping
- Hire Passionate, Excellence-Driven People
- Align Business Practices with Sustainability
- Encourage Individuality in the Workplace
- Ensure High-Quality, Transparent Customer Service
Integrate Collective Values Into Operations
As the Chief Culture Officer and business leader, our company has ensured that our team's collective personal values are deeply ingrained in our operations. Initially, our team collaboratively defined our individual value sets, and as a company, we selected the values that resonated with the majority, making them our top values. These values serve as the foundation of our culture, where all conversations, language, and messaging consistently circle back to them.
Our values of health, integrity, independence, success, and gratitude are not just stagnant ideals but are actively integrated into every aspect of our organization. For instance, we kick off each meeting involving three or more team members by reaffirming our status as a culture-first company with a shared mission of providing a premium client experience. This sets the tone for discussions that consistently reflect our core values.
In practice, our values permeate our leadership style, operations, culture, systems, and processes. Through various programs and initiatives, we ensure that each value is emphasized daily. Whether it's recognizing and rewarding actions that embody gratitude, promoting independence through taking ownership of roles, or fostering collective success through a team-oriented mindset reflected in our bonus and incentive structures, our values shape the way we work, interact, and achieve success together.
Implement Open Project Management
I believe it’s crucial for business leaders to infuse their personal values into company operations, or else things can go off the rails pretty quickly. For me, transparency is a big deal. I hate surprises (except for birthday parties), so I make sure our clients always know what’s happening with their projects.
For example, we implemented an open project-management system where clients can see the progress, timelines, and even the roadblocks we’re facing. It keeps us accountable and ensures we’re all on the same page. Plus, it saves everyone from those awkward “Where’s my project?” emails. It’s a win-win!
Foster Community and Entrepreneurship
As the Founder and CEO of Rocket Alumni Solutions, my personal values of community, recognition, and entrepreneurship are instilled in our company culture.
When I started Rocket in high school, I wanted to build solutions that recognize and bring communities together. This has guided how we design our products and interact with customers. For example, our interactive touchscreens are focused on highlighting the achievements of community members in schools, sports organizations, and civic groups.
Internally, we value entrepreneurship and curiosity. I encourage our team to take risks, test new ideas, and continuously improve our offerings. For instance, we ran 10 different marketing campaigns to determine the most effective SEO and landing-page strategies. The top performers are now standardized in our customer acquisition model.
At Rocket, your efforts and impact truly matter, which creates a fulfilling work environment. We leverage team members' diverse backgrounds and talents to solve complex challenges. Staff can see how their work directly influences customer success and contributes to building community pride.
Focus on Creating Value
My primary driver is to create value. What we deliver to clients must be exponentially more than what they are paying us to deliver. We do accounting, tax, and forecasting for small-business owners, and that 'creating value' often boils down to educating them about their financials so they can make good business decisions, saving on tax with a good strategy, and helping them make good forward-looking decisions with revenue and cash-flow forecasting.
Example: We have a client who opened a new dental practice and was overwhelmed with all the 'stuff' that comes with being a business owner when you've only been trained to do the work. It's a privilege for us to help guide them through taxes, bookkeeping, and keeping their financial house in good order so they can thrive and grow.
Prioritize Clean, Sustainable Practices
As a Miami resident, the ocean is my backyard, and its health is deeply personal. Witnessing the impact of pollution firsthand ignited a passion in me to be a part of the solution. Similarly, losing a loved one to suicide highlighted the importance of mental health. 5 SENS wasn't just founded on creating transformative fragrances; it stemmed from a desire to be a force for good 'for the people.' That's why we prioritize clean, sustainable ingredients and partner with organizations like Bring Change 2 Mind and Oceanic Society. It's about reflecting our values in everything we do, from the scents you wear to the world we create together.
Emphasize Integrity and Transparency
As the founder of a legal-process outsourcing company, ensuring that my values are reflected in our operations is a core principle that guides every aspect of our business. One key value I emphasize is integrity, which I believe is crucial in the legal industry.
To embody this value, we implemented a rigorous set of ethical guidelines and transparency practices that govern our interactions with clients and employees. For example, we established an open-door policy where team members can voice concerns and provide feedback without fear of retaliation.
This practice came to the forefront when a potential client requested services that didn’t align with our ethical standards. We chose to respectfully decline the business, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and transparency.
This decision, though challenging, ultimately strengthened our reputation and built trust with our clients and team, proving that staying true to core values can lead to long-term success and respect.
Share Knowledge on Social Media
We do this by actively sharing our knowledge and insights on social media. We believe this is where people want to hear it directly from the company's employees and founders and not read it on their website. We don't always share our exact mission statement on places like LinkedIn; however, our posts are signals that we do have this mission statement, and it is understood easily by both our content and the products and services we build. This also gives us a chance to get feedback and guidance if we are on the right track.
Understand Clients Through Journey Mapping
As Founder of KBA Global, I make sure our company's work matches what I believe in. I care about being kind, honest, and connecting with people. To bring these values into our company, we focus on understanding others in everything we do, from talking to clients to chatting with our team.
For example, we started a 'Client Journey Map' project to understand how our clients feel and what problems they face when they move. This helps us shape our services to give not just good solutions, but also kind support. By thinking about what it's like to be in our clients' place, we've built a company that cares about the people we help. This turns what could be a tough time into a journey with support.
Hire Passionate, Excellence-Driven People
A company is a reflection of its leader. If you can't instill your values into the very fabric of your organization, you're building a house on sand. It's about finding people who share your passion, your obsession with excellence. At Indema, we don't just make software for interior designers; we create tools for the mind. That means hiring people who see technology as a means to empower those designers to do their best work. We don't tolerate mediocrity because our customers didn't and don't.
Every decision, every product, every interaction should be a testament to our core beliefs. It’s not enough to say you believe in those values; you have to live and breathe it. That's why we push the boundaries of design, technology, and user experience. Our products aren't just functional; they are emotional. They reflect our belief in those values.
As a perfect example of this, we don't just push out updates blindly. We take our time because we don't tolerate mediocrity. We ensure that every feature is checked and double-checked so we can be sure to uphold our standards even through to new and exciting things. This commitment to excellence and innovation drives us to deliver products that truly empower our users while ensuring we stand true to those core values.
Align Business Practices with Sustainability
As a business leader, ensuring that my personal values are reflected in my company's operations involves integrating those values into every aspect of the business. For instance, one of my core values is sustainability. To ensure this is reflected in my company, I’ve made conscious decisions that align with this value, such as sourcing eco-friendly materials and adopting sustainable practices.
For example, when we noticed increasing customer interest in environmentally responsible options, I implemented a range of eco-friendly products and practices in our operations. This included using recycled materials for packaging and offering a line of sustainable floral arrangements. We also actively communicated our commitment to sustainability to our clients, which helped reinforce our values and build a stronger connection with our customer base.
By consistently aligning our business practices with my personal values, we not only foster a positive company culture but also create a brand that resonates with our clients and stands out in the market.
Encourage Individuality in the Workplace
One of the biggest personal values that I like to see reflected in daily operations is individuality. This means having employees feel comfortable being themselves while also staying professional during meetings and throughout their workday. From my experience, leading by example helps encourage these values to be practiced by the rest of the team.
Ensure High-Quality, Transparent Customer Service
As a small-business owner, my personal values are directly tied into my business. At YouWho Digital, we focus on providing high-quality services to small-business owners to ensure they can compete with larger companies.
Customer service is of utmost importance to me, so we always take special care to ensure every client, no matter how big or small, gets the same level of attention. My own personal values are also based on ensuring efficiency and living within my means. As a result, the services we offer fit into most businesses' budgets; we don't upcharge or overbill for hours to make sure clients are satisfied with both the value and price of our services.
Being transparent with customers is the best way to gain their trust. We've found that open communication, being honest about the services provided, and being upfront about the results they can expect is the best way to gain repeat customers.
