By: Melissa Barlock
Why company core values are important
Last week we talked about some qualities that every great leader, or company owner, should have. Dental clinics are often independently owned and operated, and thus dentists are often required to take on a dual role as both practitioners and business owner-operators. As such, we discussed how refining your vision into a set of core values is a key first step in establishing a successful business. Remember that your core values act like a compass: they are meant to point every employee in the right direction in terms of their attitudes and behaviours. If you’re still not convinced that establishing a set of core values is necessary, or even important, consider the following reasons as to how they can be useful and why you should adopt some.
Company culture:
Your core values provide direction and help to set the tone of the working environment, that is, your company culture. Whether you know it or not, or like it or not, your company has or will have a company culture. This encompasses every facet of your business, from scheduling and how your employees dress, to how they make decisions and interact with others. More importantly, the culture is what employees and clients say about the company, both positive and negative. For example, an employee may complain, “I hate working there; no matter how hard I work or how good I am with the customers, the boss is rude and unappreciative.” Alternatively, that same employee may exclaim, “I actually look forward to going into work; Dr. Singh is so nice and the people there are fun to work with.” Similarly, a customer may gripe that “The dentist was condescending and didn’t seem to care or listen to me, I’m never going back there again,” or proclaim that “The staff there was so friendly, and the hygienist took the time to explain all of my options to me; I’m definitely going back there next time.” I think you get the idea. These are real-world scenarios, and they are symptoms of your company culture. Your company culture becomes your reputation, so establish your core values early on and hold you and your employees to them; if you don’t, they will be defined for you—for better or for worse.
Hiring:
If you recall, the employees you hire should have not only good technical skills, but also the right values you are looking for. What values are those? Your core values, of course! Without a clearly defined set of core values, you won’t know what you are looking for, and therefore don’t know what you’ll get. For example, the person you hire may not be enthusiastic, prioritize customer service, value teamwork, or be interested in working extra hours to weather storms of high volume. An uncooperative employee can be toxic to a company, and by that time you’ve already wasted time, energy, and money into hiring them. On the other hand, the right employee can be pleasant to work with, reduce employee turnover, help bolster the company in achieving it’s goals, and be a magnet to clients. The key take-away is to hire people, not paper.
Work practice:
Your set of core values is the magnet, and the attitudes and behaviours of every person in the company should align with its magnetic field. This is the true purpose of your core values. That’s not to say that each employee shouldn’t be unique, and won’t harbor additional values or personal goals. On the contrary, diversity can add significant value to a company. The point I’m trying to hit home is that those deep-seeded, meaningful, important, fundamental character traits that you value should align with the staff. That way everybody has the same standards and objectives, expectations are clear, and performance is consistent. Additionally, people that share the same values like to work with and support one another, are more cohesive, and manage tasks more effectively. Morale will be higher, employees will be happier, and they will want to stay with the company and be a part of its growth and success. Naturally, clients will sense the synergism, will feel welcome, and will regard the business as more professional and be confident in the services it provides. The result is long-term fulfillment and success.
Expectations:
As I touched on, having a set of core values helps to establish standards, but they can also be the benchmark by which to measure excellence and recognize achievements. As healthcare providers, employee value to a company is often in the form of soft skills and client satisfaction, the benefits of which may not be as directly measurable as in, say, a sales position. Therefore, having a benchmark can be especially useful if you have some type of rewards program in place, for considering raises, or even just for offering words of appreciation and positive reinforcement to exemplary employees. At the other end, having a benchmark can be useful for handling employees that are falling short of expectations. By hiring people that align with the company core values, being explicit about them, and maintaining them in the workplace, expectations are clear and workers must take ownership when they are not holding up their end of the deal. Agreeing to work there is like implicitly signing a verbal contract to uphold those values, and holding employees accountable to themselves can take some of the burden off management when it comes time to intervene or make changes.
Retention:
I’ve already alluded to this, but employee retention, having core values and clear expectations, strategic hiring, a positive company culture, and excellent work practices are all intimately intertwined; it really is hard to have one without the others. Core values not only act as a compass, but also a solid foundation on which every other aspect of the company is built. When employees see potential in a company, sense stability, and are happy to work there, they are much more willing to stay, and clients are too. From a business standpoint that means less cost and more revenue, and from a human standpoint that means a bigger family.
I hope I’ve convinced you that having a set of strong core values is worthwhile. Next time I’ll discuss how to choose your own core values, and go over my company core values and some other examples.
Enspire Dental Opportunities is looking forward to working with you.
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