Are Strong Core Values Central to Your Company Culture?
Core values are what your organization believes in and stands for. Core values are the principles and beliefs that guide an organization and it’s employees. Many organizations’ core values include words like honesty and integrity.
It’s easy to write the words. It’s much more difficult to integrate them into your organizations culture.
Office Pride’s Core Values Are Their Business Culture
A really great example of a company that lives their core values is Office Pride, a commercial cleaning company franchisor. I first learned about Office Pride when a friend lent me his copy of their terrific book, Office Pride Culture Book.
As I was read their book, I discovered a company culture with a concept worth sharing. When Todd Hopkins founded Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Systems®, he laid out core values for the brand that reflected his strong beliefs. Over the last 27 years, Hopkins and his company have maintained a strong commitment to those values.
Todd describes his companies core values as decision filters. Todd writes how the company culture is defined by their core values because, “Our core values filter the outcome of what we, either impulsively or mindfully, decide to do.”
Office Pride’s Core Beliefs and Values are as Follows:
- Honor God
- Always Do What is Right
- Increase Brand Value
- Demonstrate Honesty, Integrity, and Hard Work Ethic
- Total Customer Satisfaction
- Go the Extra Mile
- Persevere with a Servant’s Attitude
- Accountability to Commitments
Your Core Values Have to be Central in Your Life
In order to work for you, your core values have to be central in your life. You have to keep them in front of you. You have to memorize them. You have to live them. You have to always be conscious of how they guide your daily behavior with your customers and employees. Simply writing them down without acting on them is just a wasted writing assignment.
Your Core Values Have to be the Filter for Your Life
Let’s go back to Mr. Hopkin’s concept of how core values operate as the filter for your life. If you have your own company, or work for a company, take the time to understand the companies core values.
Do the core values align with your beliefs? Can you live and work by these values? Is this the culture that you want to be a part of? If you answer yes to these questions, let these values be the natural filter that guides the way you live and treat others.
