Four Examples of Business Values to Help You Retain Tech Talent
Let’s Recap — What are Business Values?
Business values, company values, organizational values — they’re the same thing. Whatever you call them, identifying the values that comprise your culture is no easy task. You may have an idea of a few, and they might be accurate. But if they’re not present in your top performers (i.e., the employees that truly drive your organization forward in all that they do), then they’re not actually your values.
Understanding what these attributes are is important because they help to define your internal culture, as well as your hiring process. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, summarized this concept perfectly:
“We believe that it’s really important to come up with core values that you can commit to. And by ‘commit,’ we mean that you’re willing to hire and fire based on them. If you’re willing to do that, then you’re well on your way to building a company culture that is in line with the brand you want to build.”
We’ve put together some examples of business values to help you get started in identifying these attributes or ones like them within your organization.
Vision
Your company should have a vision statement along with a mission. If it doesn’t, strongly consider developing one. To some people, a vision may seem like an unnecessary bit of propaganda. This couldn’t be further from the truth. When an organization believes in and pursues its vision by focusing all activity around the end goal, amazing things can be achieved. Otherwise, everyone is just working toward what they think is the goal. With fractured efforts, what they’re really doing is achieving nothing.
Assuming you have a vision statement, what’s important is to evaluate candidates for your tech positions against it. Do they have a similar vision? Consider what the goal of the position is as well. For a developer, the position codes new products. If the candidate’s vision is to obtain a management position (with no mention of making a meaningful contribution in the role they’re interviewing for), he or she might not be the right fit.
Drive
Another example of business values is drive. This is a broad attribute with a few sub-attributes that should be considered when speaking with a candidate. These include enthusiasm, engagement, and follow-through.
Enthusiasm is exactly what it sounds like. But according to a survey conducted by RingCentral Glip, more than 90 percent of workers say they’re motivated and driven. Remember, anyone can say they’re motivated. While you won’t know for sure if a candidate is truly motivated until they’re hired and working, pay close attention to how they present their enthusiasm in the interview. Are they acting enthusiastic about the role without wanting to know more about it? Or are they genuinely engaged in understanding?
For engagement, consider how the candidate is acting during the interview. Are they asking you questions? Are they curious? Do they seem genuinely interested in the role? Or are they just letting you pepper them with questions until they get to find out compensation?
A final example of drive is follow-through, which applies in the interview and once they’re hired. Are they thanking you for the interview? Do they ask more questions? Do they offer additional details, insights, or examples of their work or qualifications? If you requested information during the interview, do you receive it shortly afterward?
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Communication
One of the most important examples of business values is communication. Nothing happens if nobody knows about it. How information passes between one person and another within an organization must be carefully understood by those interviewing candidates, as well as by the candidates themselves. Employees who model great communication will not only keep others informed so work can progress, but they’ll also give thought on how to best communicate.
Candidates for your positions must understand that communication is the thing that keeps business moving — whether their position is more of a client- or public-facing role than that of another that might focus exclusively on coding new applications. Ask candidates what communication means to them and what their preferred communication methods are. If they match those of your organization, it’s a good sign.
Expectation
While expectation might not seem like an example of business values, it’s actually an incredibly important one because it underscores what employees are understanding about your organization. What your employees know about your business governs how they go about doing their work. Expectations help to frame how they do their work, collaborate with others, and collectively move the needle.
If you hire someone without clearly communicating what the expectations for the role are and what the expectations are for achieving goals to help the company, that person will be blind as to what they need to do, what’s considered OK and what isn’t, and how to fit in overall. Clearly define expectations around what your organizational values are and how they influence the position to ensure your new hires have a clear path forward.
Interested in More Examples of Business Values?
CultureFit has helped countless companies define their business values to attract and retain better candidates for their open positions and retain that talent for the long-term. Download our latest eBook to learn more about identifying your business values.
