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Running a business according to your values means that every aspect of your company —its strategy, decision-making, operations, and culture—is aligned with the core principles and beliefs that you as a person, and as company, stand for.
These values act as the foundation for how the company conducts itself both internally and externally.
Here are a few examples of WHY having a value-based company matters:
1. It Guides Decision-Making
Company values provide a clear framework for making decisions, especially in challenging situations. They serve as a moral compass, helping leaders and employees determine the right course of action that aligns with the company’s principles.
2. Builds Trust with Customers and Team Members
A company that consistently operates according to its values can build trust with its customers & employees.
3. Enhances Company Culture
Values are the foundation of a company’s culture. They influence how employees interact, collaborate, and contribute. A values-driven culture creates a greater sense of purpose and belonging, which can improve employee satisfaction and retention.
4. Attracts Like-Minded Talent
Companies that clearly articulate and live by their values tend to attract talent that aligns with those values. This leads to a more engaged and motivated workforce, as employees feel connected to the company’s mission and vision.
5. Creates Brand Differentiation
In a competitive marketplace, a company’s values can set it apart from others. When customers identify with a company’s values, they are more likely to choose its products or services over competitors that lack a clear identity or purpose.
6. Fosters Long-Term Success
A strong commitment to values can contribute to the sustainability and long-term success of a business. Values-based companies tend to be more resilient in times of crisis because they have a clear sense of purpose and direction.
7. Strengthens Accountability and Integrity
When values are deeply ingrained in a business, they foster accountability. Employees and leaders alike are expected to uphold these values, which promotes ethical behavior, transparency, and integrity throughout the organization.
8. Supports Consistency
Having a well-defined set of values ensures consistency in behavior and decision-making across the organization. This consistency helps build a strong, recognizable brand identity, both internally and externally.
In short, company values are not just philosophical ideals; they are practical tools that shape a business’s success, reputation, and overall impact.
Sooo, this is all great to know I’m sure – but HOW exactly do you go about this?! I’m going to walk you through our company’s values and how that plays out in the way everything runs and operates.
First things first in this process though – is to decide the values you want to bring to your business.
Seems like an overly obvious one, but you’d be surprised how many people never bother to create these. And if you don’t have any values you’re basing your business on, how can you make decisions and build a culture along the way according to them?
For us our values simplified look like:
Integrity, Freedom, Life & Family First
The exact words I use for this has shifted a bit over the years, but this is what feels like the most relevant right now. I’ll walk you through how each of these plays out in the company:
#1- INTEGRITY
It’s extremely important to operate from integrity in the company – for me and all of our team members. Integrity involves doing the right thing for YOU, even when it’s difficult, inconvenient, or not directly profitable in the short term.
It requires a commitment to honesty, transparency, accountability, and fairness in how you conduct your business, treat your employees, and engage with customers & clients.
For me, this looks like:
- Being open an honest on both sides within our team, and with our clients (even when we’re in the wrong)
- Taking pride in our work, being accountable and responsible for the work we all do
- Following through with commitments – IF ALIGNED TO DO SO (more on this in a minute…)
- Creating consistency between words and actions – ie, doing what we say we’re going to do
- Ethical relationships with clients and customers – acting in everyone’s best interest, not only the interest of sales
Something big I want to point out is, in my opinion, following through on commitments does NOT come at all costs. It does not mean following through no matter what, because I believe we are allowed to shift and change our minds.
For example, if a client you signed us has turned out to not be the right fit to work together – it could be in everyone’s best interest to not continue on with the project and follow through with it. (see my previous podcast episode about Turning Down Clients!).
Another example could be to change your mind on a marketing/launch plan in your company, or services you offer. If things are no longer feeling aligned anymore (because we naturally change and evolve overtime) it would actually be more in integrity to change rather than to follow through on the original plan.
#2- FREEDOM
This is a HUGE one for me personally and it’s been interesting to see how it plays out for my team as the company grew beyond just me.
I started a company to begin with because I wanted more freedom, and for me that looks like:
- Freedom of location – working from anywhere in the world, which I did spending 6 years in Australia
- Freedom with my schedule – working my schedule around family and life
- Financial freedom – not being limited by a salary someone else has approved and given me.
- Time freedom- Not exchanging my time for a certain $ amount. Being able to scale and give myself more time back
What’s been interesting is to learn what Freedom means to my employees. I asked them this in a questionnaire at some point and I loved seeing how they each interpret this for themselves.
To some, freedom meant being able to close down work and fully disconnect (not taking work home with them).
To some it meant being empowered to make decisions.
To some it meant not living paycheck to paycheck.
To some it meant to stop work and take the day off, and showing their kids that there is more to life than the corporate world.
And for some it has more similarities to me, with having the freedom to work from anywhere, at any time with a lot of flexibility.
I WANTED to know what this looks like for me team, because I want us ALL to live out our version of freedom.
This also plays into how I decide to structure our service and product offerings.
In order to foster more freedom, I’ve strategically chosen to:
- Scale and invest in support with a team
- Bring in digital products so not all income is based on services
- Focus on service structures that allow for easy systems and team involvement (vs. too many custom aspects that need more of my involvement and time)
#3- LIFE & FAMILY FIRST
This one is majorly tied to boundaries and how I choose to run the company – for myself and everyone on our team.
The majority of our team is working around younger children, and so flexibility with schedules is huge for us.
To me, there is no email or task that is more important than the needs of your family and your own health.
I ask no questions and have zero push back if someone on my team needs to cut the work day short, or take it off all together, to be there for their family or their own health. This could be a kid (or just you!) being sick, some kind of emergency or family need that may arise, or even something simple like chaperoning a field trip or picking up their kids from school.
I actively live this for myself as well. I work my work schedule around my son (who is about to be 3 years old at the moment, and we have our 2nd on the way!). I feel zero guilt about taking a normal work day off to be with him if he’s home sick, including having to reschedule some calls or slightly shift a deadline if necessary.
Having a flexible schedule and putting family first requires you to have clear boundaries in your company and with clients.
We choose to use email are our primary mode of communication for this reason – so we can respond and work according to our time zones and our own schedules.
And this goes for our clients as well! We want them to be able to respond to us at times that are convenient for THEM too.
I also WANT people in my company to take vacation time.
Life is about more than work. And getting away from work to rejuvenate, spend quality time with yourself and loved ones, and to simply just explore makes you as a person and how you show up better.
I am excited for my team members who put in for their vacation time and have never (at least not yet) turned them down for the request. My only requirement is we have an appropriate cover for that time they are away.
For example, if my project manager is taking a week off – I am her direct cover and so I will make sure I am fully available for that.
If my main designer is taking off – we typically split her tasks depending on what they are between myself and our Jr. Designer.
I would though want to avoid having multiple team members off at once. If that needs to be the case for any reason, we would take that time off as a company and schedule clients around it.
I also understand that when you’re working hourly as a part time employee, taking time away isn’t always easy since you’re paid based on the time you put in. I’ve definitely been there in the past!! It can be tempting to just adjust your work around short trips, or take work with you so you don’t have to sacrifice the $.
This is why I include paid PTO for all our employees, including part time, and a minimum of 3 weeks PTO for full time employees. We also have a floating holiday day you can take that can apply to a holiday that is not listed on our company holidays, or even a birthday or something like that.
I also like to throw in extra surprise paid days off outside what on our standard holiday PTO list – like Black Friday, some days surrounding Christmas, or days around other holidays sometimes that fall close to a weekend.
It actually makes me so happy to give them those extra paid days off, knowing how meaningful it is to be able to disconnect for a longer weekend vs. just the single holiday day.
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