True Values Are Measured in Everyday Actions

“Our core company values are customer-centricity, honesty, and innovation.”

Sound familiar? Are these also your company’s value promises? Chances are, at least one of these made it onto your list, as they are among the most commonly cited values.

Values are typically defined during workshops as part of the strategic process. Unfortunately, these discussions rarely delve into what the company genuinely is at present and what values are actually reflected in its day-to-day operations.

For instance, if a company’s daily focus is on maximizing its business results by, say, compromising the quality of its product components, it cannot truly be called customer-centric. Similarly, since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, we’ve seen far too many examples of companies proclaiming honesty as a value while concealing their business dealings with Russia.

At their best, values serve as guiding principles in decision-making, strengthening a company’s identity and organizational culture. When values are grounded in everyday realities, they become natural to implement, and employees can easily support value-driven leadership.

Declaring values on websites, annual reports, or internal communications becomes empty rhetoric if there is no genuine substance behind them.

Is it time to reevaluate your company’s values and identify the true factors driving your daily operations and decisions? Could these uncover your company’s unique way of working and your competitive edge?