Having core values is something that is often overlooked, but that is present in all organizations. Merger and acquisition specialists such as Michael Giuffrida believe that people need to understand that all businesses have these types of values. By being able to recognize them, individuals will find it much easier to fit into company culture, particularly if they are applying for new jobs. This is true regardless of where someone works, be that Southington or Hartford. However, geographical differences are important as the core values of an organization in one place will be different to that of a different place.
Michael Giuffrida on Core Values
Research has shown that core values are an integral part of all business operations. The better the leadership is within an organization, the more consistent those values are as well. People can rely on them and live by them. Indeed, even if there are high levels of employee turnover, business difficulties, or financial trouble, the core values remain the same.
It is up to a leader to ensure all members of staff understand the core values. They must emulate them and live by them themselves, effectively leading by examples. Good core values help to create an appropriate company cultures that people can identify with and align themselves to. It also means that those people who apply for positions immediately have clarity in terms of whether or not they will fit into the organization as a whole, which is another reason why it is so important for them to be properly articulated.
At the same time, it is important to recognize that it can be very difficult to properly define what a company’s core values are. Most have some awareness of their different values, but determining which ones are “core” is a lot more difficult. This is about organizations highlighting why they are unique in what they do and good at what they do. How they then communicate their core values, once identified, varies tremendously. For instance, some organizations provide prospective employees with a list of core values before their application and asks them to formally agree to them before offering them a job.
Core values do have to be completely unique to each organization. For a HR professional to simply look up a list of values will not be enough to truly define culture. A true core value is one that always remains the same and it underpins the success of the organization. This is why it is important for companies that don’t have a formalized culture think about a way to define what drives their success and what sets them apart from all the other businesses. By creating a proper definition, clarity on core values usually follows automatically.
The importance of this cannot be stressed enough. It is something that prospective employees need to become aware of, but also the competition and any prospective buyers. If one company in Southington is intent on acquiring one in Hartington, for instance, then it is vital they understand each other’s culture to increase the chances of the acquisition being successful.
