Values are defined as “important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is good or bad and desirable or undesirable. Values have major influence on a person’s behaviour and attitude and serve as broad guidelines in all situations.” It’s something most of us have developed over our life, from our parents, society traditions or by ourselves.
So why are values important for businesses?
Values are important for business, because they assure a set of guidelines that drive the company. They are essentially the backbone of the stories that you tell to your customers and they can me a major differentiator in today’s market that is highly competitive. It engages communication within the business and even though a business may grow, values are still the core of a company, keeping it unified.
Values for every business vary and they usually link to the business culture or ethos. Two examples of businesses that have different values, but are both very successful are: Amazon and Netflix.
Amazon calls its values, Leadership Principles and they are Customer Obsession; Ownership, Invent and Simplify; Are Right, A Lot; Learn and Be Curious; Hire and Develop the Best; Insist on the Highest Standards; Think Big; Bias for Action; Frugality; Earn Trust; Dive Deep; Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit; Deliver Results. As you can see, Amazon is quite demanding and strict in their values but they have indeed managed to grow as one of the biggest companies in the world right now. You can read more about Amazon’s principles at: https://www.amazon.jobs/principles.
Netflix has a different approach to their values they focus more on the human side and encourage its employees to relate to their values as normal people rather than employees. Netflix is proud of its companies culture an values, and making it seem more as a family business than Amazon. Amazon calls it values, real values and they are: Judgment, Communication, Curiosity, Courage, Passion, Selflessness, Innovation, Inclusion, Integrity and Impact. You can read more about Netflix’s principles at: https://jobs.netflix.com/culture
Overall, values are necessary even in agencies and when creating your businesses values, keep in mind what you want to achieve, how you are different and make sure that your values are clearly defined. Depending on where you want your business to go keep in mind that values are important and that they should be aligned with your business culture.
