Business values | Business Queensland

Business values can help you make decisions, foster a culture of teamwork and collaboration and create a positive working environment.

There are 3 main types of business values—principles, beliefs and standards of behaviour.

Standards of behaviour for business outline what is acceptable business practice. From a customer viewpoint, these standards demonstrate the business values and outline the type of service they can expect to get when they deal with your business. For example, the business will:

They can relate to how people should behave, the way managers should act, how work should be done and how staff should treat each other at work. For example:

Beliefs and attitudes are views that you hold to be true and influence your actions.

Principles are the concepts, such as the following, that you believe are fundamental for your business and its success.

Steps for developing business values

A clear set of values that are agreed upon and understood by everyone in the business are important for success. If your business is yet to establish a set of values, the following process can help you to identify and develop them.

1. Reflect on your principles, beliefs and values

The first step is to think about your personal principles and beliefs and link these to the values that you have for your business.

Ask yourself:

• What do I value in other businesses as an employee and as a customer?
• What values do I hold that will be core to my business?

2. Assemble a team of people to work on value creation

Assemble a team of people that can work together to create and draft the business values.

If your business is trading and has staff, choose people that understand the business culture, demonstrate leadership skills and are key to the business function.

If your business is new and does not have staff, find trusted people from outside the business to help (e.g. mentors, friends and business advisers).

3. Brainstorm your business values

Once your team is assembled, you can brainstorm ideas for business values by doing the following.

• Identify the categories of values that are most suitable for your business. Common business value categories include:
  • business growth
  • customer service
  • decision-making
  • teamwork
  • leadership
  • staff
  • business culture
  • social community
  • environmental sustainability.
• Challenge the team to create impact values—these are values that outline the positive impact the business can have on other people and the environment.
• Draft your values. They shouldn’t be long, convoluted statements— 1 to 2 words or a short phrase is usually enough. You may need to give a brief explanation but avoid making the values too complicated. Simple, to-the-point values are more easily recalled by staff and embraced by customers and stakeholders.