Book Demonstration
You may think that corporate values or mission statements are nothing but meaningless fluff, typed out by a marketing intern with nothing better to do. And fair enough, some of them probably are… but for most successful organizations, company values actually form a very important part of the business.
Done right, corporate values can give your company the very guidance it needs to succeed, informing everything from how you treat your employees, to the way you talk to your customers.
So we thought we'd take a few minutes to share with you the "secret" of a good, strong set of values. And by the end of this article, maybe you'll be able to test your own mission statement against our 5-point rule of thumb?
Take any set of corporate values from any successful company, and you'll notice that there are almost always a handful of common themes running through them. We call these themes "orientations", and they effectively give us the precise recipe to a highly effective vision statement – one that will serve you for many years to come.
These five orientations are:
You can put this to the test right now, if you like! Take any company you admire, navigate straight to their "About" page, and find their corporate values. You'll find that in almost all cases, all five of these value orientations are present.
But if you don't want to test it yourself, don't worry – we'll be looking at some examples later. First though, let's talk about why each of these orientations is so important.
Most successful companies have one or more values linked to a longer-term goal or vision. Perhaps that's a statement about an ideal future they believe in, or maybe it's a big goal they are working towards.
Having a vision orientation is important, because it shows that your business is working toward something bigger than the next quarter's results. It gives people a reason to believe in you for the long term, and generates excitement and energy.
Having a strong visionary leadership orientation can help you to attract ambitious and high-performing talent, can increase customer loyalty, and can drive high levels of interest from investors.
A customer or market-oriented value, is one that reflects how well you know the people you serve. After all, how many companies succeed if they don't truly understand their customers' needs?
These types of values focus on delivering great outcomes for the people who buy from you – whether that's through great service, innovative products, or simply listening to what customers want and actually acting on it.
This orientation is important for building trust, especially in environments where competition is fierce. It builds loyal customers who will buy from you again and again, and it tells people that if they just put a little bit of faith in you, you always deliver.
An ethical orientation doesn't mean you simply try to avoid bad behavior. It means you have values that actively steer you towards making good, strong choices – choices that benefit the people, or the environments, your business comes into contact with on a regular basis.
This might mean that you prioritize sustainability, or that you're transparent with your supply chain, or perhaps you support your community. It could even be a firm commitment to DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion).
Ultimately, you will know which ethical issues you're likely to face as you go about your business – and you will know which ethical issues your employees and customers are most likely to care about. Having an ethics orientation as part of your values shows that you understand this, and that you're willing to do something about it.
Work-oriented values tend to be very internalized, focusing on the way your teams work together and the kinds of results you expect from them. These values may cover topics such as quality control, health and safety, or even operational discipline.
Having a strong work-oriented value is particularly important in businesses where process matters, such as manufacturing, engineering, logistics and healthcare. But actually, it matters no matter what kind of business you run – after all, shouldn't all business leaders care about the quality of their product and the safety of their teams?
Think of this orientation as less of a 'where you want to be' and more of a 'how you're going to get there'. These values should be practical, pragmatic, and should prove that your teams are miles ahead of the competition.
No set of values should be without a human-oriented statement, and that's because at the heart of every organization is its people.
This type of value set is all about empathy, respect, and care. There are many cross-overs here with ethics-oriented values, in that your human-oriented values should show how you treat your employees, and how you treat the people you come into contact with every day – be that suppliers, customers, partners, or even total strangers.
Having strong human-oriented values demonstrates a culture of inclusion and psychological safety, and will help you to attract loyal and happy workers who naturally spread the good word about your company. These values are especially powerful in organizations that want to be known for their culture — but you must make sure these values go beyond mere lip service, and that you're living and breathing them daily.
We mentioned earlier in this article that you could probably pick any successful organization at random, and find all five of these value orientations in their mission statements. So let's put that to the test!
Our first example is a company that's had a reputation for reliability for nearly 100 years.
A quick look at their Global Vision page will instantly reveal 12 core values that really "drive" the company, if you'll pardon the pun. And it's not very hard to map every single one of these values to one of the five core orientations!
Take a look:
You might disagree with how we've categorized some of these, but we think you'll agree that all five are present. It's interesting to note, too, that you don't need to restrict yourself to one value per orientation – many successful companies have multiple values associated with each.
Let's jump forward a decade, to an organization established in 1948: The NHS.
Now, most people will be quick to admit that the NHS has its flaws. But almost everybody has some degree of respect for it as a core British institution. And it is yet another great example of an organization that does a great job of incorporating the five core value orientations into what it calls its "constitution."
Take a look at its six values, and you'll quickly see what we mean:
The NHS may have focused their values into fewer categories, but it's clear to see that all five orientations are present.
For our final example, let's head over to Sweden – or maybe just Meadowhall? – and examine arguably the most successful flat-pack furniture brand in the world: IKEA.
Like most good organizations, they publish their visions and values on their website, which you can read here. And like most good organizations, it's no surprise to see that they all connect to the five core orientations we've been talking about.
We could go on with our examples, but we'd be here all day. Do you think it's fair to say that successful companies tend to cover all of these values, sometimes many times over?
We want to leave you with two more very brief examples of companies we believe are driven by these five core values.
The first is ourselves – we've worked hard to define our vision, and you can find it right here.
The second is you! Whether you realize it or not, the things that are making you successful can probably be mapped to these five core orientations. So why not head over to your About page and take a look at what's written there? You might be pleasantly surprised.
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