Like many companies today, iuvo Technologies has a set of core values. Our core values are: Trust, Respect, Humility, Take Initiative, Embrace Change, Experience Matters, Collaboration, Open Communication, and Relationships Are Key. Fortunately, a while before the SARS-CoV-2 related pandemic began, senior management made the decision to tightly integrate these core values into every aspect of the business.
The point of core values, for any organization, is to provide a set of guiding principles around the everyday work people do. As guiding principles, they must also be something that at a minimum the senior management team believes in. Additionally, the senior management team must live these core values, only paying lip service to them is an excellent way to quickly undermine morale, respect, and authority.
When the core values become integrated into all parts of the business is when the real benefits start to kick in. People can use them, not just as a tool to improve their job performance, but also as a way to recognize success in colleagues as well. Management can use them to guide organizational goals and investments.
No organization has unlimited resources, particularly these days of staffing challenges, so determining where to invest the available resources is a critical decision. The simple answer of “what has the highest return on investment”, is never simple. Measuring the return can be surprisingly complicated, and forecasting when that return is realized can be like picking lottery numbers. However, when comparing two options, asking the question “what fits with our core values better?” often has a real answer.
The first step to executing goals, is effectively communicating them to the staff needed to carry out the work. Starting with how the goals align with the core values makes the communication more effective on many levels. It reinforces the company is serious about the core values. It provides a framework for staff in how the work should proceed. Most importantly, the company can start to realize returns on the investment immediately, because the very execution of the work has an innate value.
In the MSP business we are faced with constantly changing technologies. The solution to a problem yesterday is often not the same solution tomorrow. Trying to train folks to solve problems by rote, or going through a giant run book isn’t efficient. In a former role as an IT Director, I found outside consultants that always needed to check the book, to be of little value, and often a waste of time; many Internet search engines are better and faster than any book. However, working within the frame work of robust core values addresses this. Core values provide a foundation to support less experienced folks, knowing others “have their back”. For people with time under their belt, core values also provide guidance on what is expected, what success is, and how it is measured.
With the pandemic, remote work suddenly exploded in organizations with little or no prior experience in equipping remote employees. Particularly when managers often had a high level of staff supervision, this change was unsettling. Now the manager is thinking, “are folks working?”, “is the work they are doing what we want?”, or “is it being done the way we want?” with no easy answers. Core values come to the rescue here as well. If everyone is working to the core values, on projects that also match up, the above questions answer themselves.
While iuvo was already largely remote, whether staff was at client sites, or working from home prior to COVID-19, going fully remote was no issue at all. We haven’t missed a beat throughout the pandemic. Embracing core values, from the company’s founders, to the newest staff member, played a large part in this.
Mercenary. The word has many negative connotations, most well-earned. Staff shortages is a common news story these days. The first step in addressing a staff shortage is not to lose good people in the first place. It is always easier, and less expensive to NOT replace a good person. Even if no one leaves, growth creates the need for additional staff. A company without strong core values only has two tools to attract talent: interesting work, and money.
Interesting work can be a challenge in it own right, truly interesting work attracts a lot of people. A company that is doing interesting things will be faced with a lot of competition. Which company will the best folks choose, the one that is the “best” place to work. The “best” companies live their core values.
Throwing money at folks can work, for a short time, but often isn’t sustainable in the long run. Many NFL teams over their salary cap still have terrible records. Also, when people are just working for the money, they are more likely to still be unhappy, and then it becomes a whole group of unhappy folks, who have no good motivation to excel. This isn’t the description of any type of successful organization.
Finally, core values shouldn’t be used a tool to punish or threaten folks, as soon as that is done, the core values are dead. When everyone is working to the core values, no one will want to be the person that lets everyone down. Threatening staff, makes the positive feedback impossible.
There are many other benefits of strong core values, from having a positive reputation, to great work ethics. Often the very things that “money can’t buy”. It is likely all successful organizations have strong core values, even if in some cases they are formalized. However, formalizing core values, and including them in all parts of the business can be a great first step to future success.
To learn more about our core values, check out this page, or contact us.