The Value in Company Values

Here’s the thing, I’m a marketer, through and through. I like all things lead generation, branding, messaging, and data evaluation. I say ‘bring it on.’And I usually love talking about these things. But for my latest post, the thing that’s been really on my mind is company values.

There’s a reason some companies are successful and some companies struggle. It always starts with people. The foundation of the way those people interact is built on their company’s values. Whether they are officially named and celebrated or unspoken actions between different departments and levels within your organization, each company has a set of values. And in my opinion, they make or break you.

Respect your Coworkers Time
Lengthy meetings, failure to follow up, poor communication can all lead to inefficiencies during the day and extension of project timelines. Some of the best places I have worked valued the importance of our time and put clear and thoughtful communication first and foremost. Conducting meetings efficiently, defining clear action items and delegation of tasks with deadlines will always reduce confusion and increase productivity. The most important part of this is that I always felt really confident in the job I was doing and knew that my time was spent wisely.

Collaboration
At LTM, we work remotely. We all live in the Denver Metro Area, but we each have a home office where we do the majority of our work. This increases the importance of communication and collaboration. We constantly email, chat, text and hop on a call to talk through a story idea, brainstorm blog topics and discuss conference submissions. In my career, the environments that fostered collaboration were always the places I experienced the most success. Helping to bring a coworker’s idea into fruition is always rewarding and it gives employees a sense of empowerment and trust in each other.

Integrity
Hands down, this is the most important company value to me. If someone I worked with showed a lack of integrity … well, let’s just say I always saved their emails. Operating with integrity makes the difference in someone wanting to sign you as a client, hire you as an employee or be on the same team. Knowing you can trust someone to do a job, do it well and be up front when they need help or own a mistake is invaluable in today’s marketplace. It makes a difference in all professional relationships, be it between client and supplier partner, employee and supervisor or two team members. Knowing you work with a group of people you can count on creates a sense of security and confidence in the job you’re doing.

In the workplace, these values act as a foundation in which employees can use to make decisions. They directly affect the workplace culture, and the evidence lies in the way its employees interact with each other and outside partners and ultimately leads to success in all areas.