Core Values: The Silent Fuel Your Operational Engine Is Missing

In the bustling engine room of  any business – its operational practices – efficiency, productivity, and consistency are often the primary focus. However, a crucial, often overlooked ingredient can elevate these operations from merely functional to truly exceptional: alignment with the company's core values.

Core values are more than just aspirational statements painted on office walls. They are the fundamental beliefs that guide a company's decisions, actions, and interactions. When these values are deeply integrated into the day-to-day operational practices, the benefits ripple outwards, creating a more engaged workforce, satisfied customers, and ultimately, a more successful and sustainable business. 

What are business core values?

Effective Core Values are key enablers to your strategy execution in three ways:

1. They inspire your employees and create a sense of pride.

2. They guide the organization on how to make tough decisions.

3. They speak to the manner by which the company uniquely pursues its vision.

As an example, take a look at these inspiring and informative core values from Starbucks:

• Vision:  To be the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world, inspiring and nurturing the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

• Core Values:

  • Craft

  • Courage

  • Results

  • Belonging

  • Joy

• Starbucks provides more detail to its employees, describing ‘how’ they expect everyone live out each one of these core values, for example, RESULTS:

  • We consistently achieve our goals with focus, integrity, and drive

  • We continuously innovate to stay ahead

  • We exceed the expectations of the people we serve

Former Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted in "Harvard Business Review" Strategy Execution succinctly described the reason for shared core values: they “define a framework on how you operate and how you behave.” 

Truly effective core values are both qualitatively felt and quantifiably measured. Starbucks' core value of 'RESULTS' exemplifies this.  The detailed definition provided by Starbucks enables every role and process within the company to gauge performance against this value. Managers can utilize these details to motivate teams and establish clear metrics for recognizing and rewarding demonstrated results. Employees, in turn, understand that achieving goals and exceeding expectations are critical to realizing the company's vision. The clarity around 'RESULTS' reinforces integrity and innovation as essential mindsets.  

One last note about the characteristics of core values, and truly, this is a whole additional topic, size XL! Every Core Value applies to every role AND every Core Value aligns to and supports the Vision statement.  What I especially love in the Starbucks example is the word choices that perfectly evoke a desired feeling…  the key words from the vision that stand out to me are: “premier”, “nurturing”, “human spirit”, “neighborhood”. Its open for interpretation, but for me, these align to the core values of Craft, Courage, Joy, Belonging.   

But how exactly does this alignment and feel good core values translate into tangible operational advantages?

To answer this question, I’ll focus on 3 key areas:

• Enhanced Employee Engagement & Motivation

• Improved Consistency and Quality

• Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

1. Enhanced Employee Engagement and Motivation:

I’ve worked in the midst of highly passionate people who are committed to pursuing and completing the highest level work on behalf of the business and informed by their experience or quality research.  If a business points these folks towards a goal… they will indeed pursue that goal.  Maybe at all costs.  For example, they pursue that goal, but without collaboration… What are they breaking? They pursue that goal, but without principles around security… What are they risking? Or, they pursue that goal, but without considering the expense… What else doesn’t happen because of their spending commitments?  

You get the picture.

Many companies will praise those dedicated and creative souls for their relentless pursuit of the company vision, but are they taking advantage of their core values to gain the maximum efficiency in that value creation? When a company defines and integrates its core values throughout the business, it will harness that energy and lead it towards the problems to solve as well as guide the WAY to solve them. 

When operational processes reflect the company's unique core values, employees feel a stronger sense of purpose and connection to their work. For instance, if a core value is "Collaboration," operational practices that encourage teamwork, open communication, and shared problem-solving will resonate with employees who value this principle. This alignment fosters a more positive and engaged work environment, leading to increased motivation, productivity, fewer risks, and lower turnover rates.   

When core values are clearly defined and embraced by leadership and employees alike, they become a living part of the company culture. In my experience, the clarity gained from activating these core values is often missing.  To deploy the engagement power of core values, they must be consistently reinforced through various channels, including town halls, employee hiring and onboarding, manager-employee meetings, and team interactions. This frequent emphasis on core values streamlines decision-making, and it empowers employees to hold each other accountable to upholding these principles.

Clear and well-understood core values reduce organizational friction by providing an organic path to a framework for decision-making at all levels of the organization. When operational challenges arise or new processes need to be implemented, referring back to the core values helps guide choices that are consistent with the company's fundamental principles. A company steeped in its core values will reap the benefits of streamlined decision-making, reduced ambiguity, and ensure that actions are aligned with the overall business strategy and ethical considerations.  

At Coach What Matters, we collaborate with customers to build purpose-inspired core values which are the backbone of a decision making guide for senior leadership, management and empowered and accountable teams.

2. Improved Consistency and Quality:

Core values act as guiding principles for all operational activities. When these values are embedded in processes, training, and performance expectations, it leads to greater consistency in how tasks are performed and services delivered. If "Quality" is a core value, operational practices will naturally prioritize rigorous standards, attention to detail, and continuous improvement. This consistency builds trust with customers and enhances the overall quality of products and services.  

According to a survey results collected by Gallup, “Less than half of B2B customers (46%) strongly believe that the companies they do business with always deliver on their promises.”*  

To improve on the above statistic in your business, inspect your current operational processes: determine where the value is delivered.  Are those processes fundamentally in alignment with and supportive of core values?  Is the business measuring value delivery & core value alignment? Where can there be improvement and where is the most impactful improvement? 

3. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty:

Customers increasingly choose to do business with companies whose values resonate with their own. When operational practices reflect core values like "Customer Focus" or "Integrity," customers experience genuine care, transparent communication, and ethical dealings. This fosters positive interactions, builds trust, and cultivates long-term loyalty. Additionally, when employees embrace a core value like “Customer Focus”, those highly engaged individuals that I mentioned earlier, will lead their peers to develop and implement enabling strategies for gathering and acting on Voice of Customer, thereby, enabling an environment where continuous improvement and listening to customer needs is valued. Consistent positive experiences, driven by value-aligned operations, are a powerful differentiator in today's competitive market.  

A company whose operational practices consistently reflect its core values builds a strong and authentic brand reputation. When the internal workings of the business align with its external messaging, it creates a sense of integrity and trustworthiness in the eyes of the public, investors, and potential partners. This positive reputation brings sustained, repeat business and a stream of customer testimonials. Additionally, it attracts new customers, enhances investor confidence, and creates valuable partnerships.  

In the Coach What Matters Blog: “The “Why” Advantage: Shifting the Demand Curve” CEO & Founder, Cesar Flores wrote about using your organization’s ‘Why’, or core purpose, as a powerful differentiator. Align your core values to that “Why” statement to strengthen your company’s value proposition even further.

Ultimately, the most important point to remember is that aligning operational practices with a company’s unique core business values is not a soft, feel-good initiative; its a strategic imperative for achieving operational excellence. Its the unseen engine that drives employee engagement and empowerment, ensures consistency, and enhances customer loyalty, among other positive outcomes. Ensure your business embeds ownership and accountability of core values. Transparently illustrate how living the core values is measured. Consciously integrate fundamental beliefs into the daily workings of your business to unlock a powerful source of competitive advantage and build a more sustainable and impactful future.

Core Values: Engage with what matters most!

*Gallup by Louis Efron, Dec 14, 2022: Are Your Company Values More Than Just Words?