Back to Basics: What Are Corporate Values?

Corporate values are the guiding principles that define who a company is, what it believes in, and what it wants to be. They are the roadmap that shapes how a company's employees interact with others both inside and outside the company. Corporate values should be determined through a company-wide approach that incorporates input from all employees, to ensure buy-in and a shared sense of purpose. To make company values operational, leaders must live them out, they should be communicated through storytelling, and ideally reinforced through a values-based employee recognition program. Strong corporate values should be specific, memorable, and unique to the company.