When sentences like "That doesn't suit us" or "That's not how we want to work here" are uttered in meetings, values are already present - but often vaguely, unspoken, or contradictory. That's precisely why it's worth seeing defining company values not as an image project, but as a leadership task. Because values have an impact anyway. The only question is whether it's conscious or accidental.
Why defining company values is more than just a workshop
Many companies have three to five nice terms written somewhere on a page: respect, innovation, responsibility. The problem is not that these words are wrong. The problem is their interchangeability. If everyone understands something different by them, it creates room for interpretation rather than guidance.
Values are useful when they simplify decisions. They help with priorities, collaboration, leadership, and also with the question of who fits into the team and who doesn't. Without clearly defined values, culture quickly becomes a random mix of habits, individual interests, and daily moods. With clear values, a common standard emerges.
Especially in growing teams, the difference becomes apparent. As long as everyone works closely together, many things can be clarified informally. With more employees, more responsibility, and more interfaces, that's no longer enough. Then something is needed that goes beyond individual people.
When is the right time?
The short answer: sooner than you think. Many companies only deal with values when conflicts arise, turnover increases, or leadership seems inconsistent. In such cases, values work is often a repair measure. However, it is more effective when used preventively.
The process is particularly useful during growth, leadership changes, reorganizations, or when the company realizes that its aspirations and daily reality are diverging. Even after mergers or when developing new teams, clarifying values is not a luxury, but a foundation.
However, there is an important trade-off. Those who carve values in stone too early, before the company has truly understood itself, quickly produce empty formulas. Those who wait too long allow problematic patterns to become more deeply ingrained. Good values work therefore requires maturity, but not perfection.
Defining company values: How it becomes concrete
The biggest mistake is to start with terms. At the beginning are not words, but experiences. Companies should first look at: When were we particularly strong as a team? What behaviors contributed to that? What situations made us proud - and which ones felt clearly wrong?
From these examples, patterns can be identified. Perhaps it shows that openness in the company doesn't mean saying everything all the time, but addressing problems early. Perhaps responsibility doesn't stand for maximum control, but for reliability without micromanagement. It is precisely at this point that values become useful.
A good process runs in several loops. First, real stories from everyday life are collected. Then, recurring principles are made visible. Only then are they condensed into a few clear values. Less is almost always more here. Three to five values are more realistic for most companies than nine or twelve.
Crucial is the translation into observable behavior. The value alone is not enough. "Trust" is too abstract. It only becomes helpful when it is clear how trust is recognizable in everyday life. For example, by not withholding information, by keeping promises, and by being able to openly address mistakes.
Who should be involved - and who must decide
Values are not credibly created in the quiet chamber of management. At the same time, it also doesn't work if 40 people democratically haggle over every word. Both miss the target.
A process with genuine participation and clear decision-making is sensible. Employees from various areas should contribute their perspectives, because culture is created everywhere in everyday life. Leaders must listen, recognize patterns, and maintain the framework. The final responsibility then lies with the company management. Not for reasons of power, but because values are only effective if they fit together strategically and culturally.
The middle management level is particularly important. It is here that it will later be decided whether values are lived or merely communicated. If team leaders do not understand, support, or ignore the values under the pressure of daily business, the entire process loses credibility.
Which values are really useful
Not every positive-sounding term is a good company value. Good values are distinguishable, relevant, and suitable for everyday use. They describe what should actually shape this company in its way of working together.
A warning sign are terms that would fit everywhere. "Quality" or "professionalism" are often more expectations of good work than true cultural values. Overloaded word lists rarely help either. If everything is important, nothing is guiding.
Values that can withstand tension are better. For example, a company can uphold "clarity" and deduce from it that difficult topics are addressed directly. This is not always comfortable, but that is precisely the point. Values should not just sound nice. They should provide orientation when things get uncomfortable.
From value to behavior
This is where most initiatives fail. Values are adopted, visually prepared, and presented internally. After that, little happens. This is almost never due to a lack of design, but to a lack of anchoring.
Every value needs a simple translation into behavior. Preferably in two directions: What do we actually do? And what do we consciously not do? This second question is often even more helpful. If a company emphasizes "personal responsibility," that could mean: We don't wait for perfect instructions. We take responsibility for results. And we don't quietly pass problems on.
This is precisely where values become measurable. Not in a mathematical sense, but in what is observable. Teams can check in retrospectives or feedback sessions whether the desired behavior is actually visible. This is how a concept becomes a common standard.
For this step, structured reflection formats are particularly suitable. Playful methods can help to quickly imbue abstract terms with meaning, because people achieve clarity more easily through selection, prioritization, and conversation than through theoretical discussions. This is also why many coaches, HR teams, and facilitators work with haptic tools - they bring language to something that was previously only vaguely felt.
Values are reflected in decisions, not in claims
The real test comes not in the workshop, but in everyday life. Values become visible in hiring, promotions, conflicting goals, and in dealing with mistakes. If a company says "people first" but consistently rewards performance only through availability, the message is clear. The lived value trumps the stated value.
Therefore, it is worthwhile to scrutinize the most important company processes for their alignment with values. Do recruiting and onboarding fit? Does leadership reflect the values? Are the behaviors that are officially advocated rewarded in meetings? If not, cultural friction arises.
How far one can go also depends on the company's reality. In highly regulated or operationally driven environments, values often require a different language than in creative knowledge organizations. This is not a flaw, but context. Values must fit the company, not the trend list.
Typical mistakes in the values process
A common mistake is speed without depth. Then terms are collected and decided in an afternoon. This saves time, but later costs acceptance. Another mistake is over-intellectualization. If values are formulated in such a way that they only fit into strategy papers, but no one uses them in team discussions, they are too far removed from everyday life.
Copy-pasting is also risky. Those who orient themselves to competitors or adopt standard values may get a clean document, but no identity. Culture only works if people recognize themselves in the values and at the same time feel challenged.
And then there's the classic: defining values, but not drawing any consequences. If toxic behavior is tolerated, even though it clearly contradicts one's own values, the issue immediately loses weight. Culture is not measured by statements, but by boundaries.
How values stay alive
Values work is not a one-time project. Good companies regularly bring their values back into the conversation. Not as a compulsory exercise, but as a guide. This can happen in team reflections, in leadership development, in employee appraisals, or in strategic decisions.
What is important here is a language that people actually use. Not highly polished, but clear. If teams can say: "That was brave," "Fairness is missing here," or "This decision fits our claim to responsibility," then values have arrived.
If you want to make it easily accessible, you should not only explain values, but also make them tangible. This is precisely where values work becomes strong: when people choose, discuss, prioritize, and realize why something is important to them. This not only creates understanding, but also connection. And it makes the difference between a mission statement and a lived culture.
If you want to define values in your company, don't start with perfect formulations. Start with real situations. Everything that makes up your culture - and everything it can still become - is already there. Become a Valueneer in your company and make visible what truly supports you.