Culture Over Compensation: Why Building a Great Team Starts with Values
All businesses want to build cohesive teams to help drive their organizations forward. However, getting to this point is rarely an easy accomplishment, especially when it comes to the expectations modern employees have of the employers they work for.
For many businesses, the first place they look when trying to establish a great team is their hiring budget. Being able to provide a generous compensation package is often a great way to attract a wider range of individuals and locate more capable individuals. Unfortunately, though, being able to provide a higher paycheck isn’t a guarantee that the team you build will stay motivated and fully engaged in the work they do.
To establish a winning team, a mindset shift is essential, moving the primary focus away from employee compensation to establishing the right business culture.
Why Employee Compensation Only Gets You So Far
So there is no confusion - placing importance on employee compensation isn’t wrong. Most industries today operate in highly competitive arenas, with all types of organizations doing what they can to attract and retain great employees.
However, simply relying on your hiring budget to hire and motivate employees isn’t a sustainable business strategy. In fact, focusing only on the level of compensation you’re willing to provide can actually lead to certain negative consequences. These can include:
Developing a Transactional Mindset - If compensation ends up becoming the primary motivator for your employees, it can quickly create a disconnected working environment. Just like remodeling a home, focusing only on the cost of materials can limit your ability to create a finished product you’re proud of. Similarly, if a paycheck is an employee’s chief concern, it can lessen the amount of passion individuals have for their roles and limit their willingness to do anything more than “what they were hired to do.”
Creating a Culture of Entitlement - There is nothing wrong with being compensated for the work you do. However, if the only motivating factor for an employee is to get paid, it can feed a sense of entitlement instead of helping individuals stay motivated to help the company succeed.
Ignoring Intrinsic Motivators - Focusing too much on compensation can drown out the need to help identify and use other intrinsic motivators for employees. This includes making employees feel valued for who they are as both an employee and an individual. Finding ways to acknowledge and reward hard work without just additional financial gain can be a great way to give a larger sense of purpose to employees and help them grow.
The Motivating Power of Company Values
At one point or another, most businesses establish their mission statements and core values. However, the core values that define what your business represents should be much more than just checking off some boxes before starting a brand marketing campaign.
The values you establish for your business should shape everything about your business - from the products and services you provide to how you treat your customers and employees. Having a strong set of values is an important element for helping your employees feel more connected to the work they do and becoming more committed to the success of the organization.
Below are some of the benefits that living up to your company values can provide to employees:
Better Employee Engagement
No one wants to feel like a mindless drone when they come to work. Giving your employees something to be passionate about and that connects with them on a deeper level is critical to avoid this from happening. Your business’s values can be something your employees relate to and help keep them motivated to contribute more of themselves to helping the business live up to it.
More Effective Teamwork
A great way to help employees work better as a team is by making sure they feel like their goals are aligned with each other. Offering employees a shared sense of community and purpose helps to avoid employees feeling like they need to work in silos and encourages more collaboration and a willingness to share more ideas while providing more support to one another.
Improved Employee Retention
Attracting great quality employees to your organization is only one part of the equation. Creating an environment where they’re able to perform at their best while not feeling like they should be looking for employment elsewhere is a whole other challenge. When you work to establish and live up to certain values, it helps employees feel more confident in the direction of the organization and helps them avoid feeling like there are better opportunities somewhere else.
How to Create a Values-Driven Business Culture
Letting the values of your business help to create and maintain your company culture takes time and effort but can offer significant returns. Below are some effective strategies you can follow to start creating a values-driven business culture:
1. Define Your Core Values
Your core values shouldn’t be something that an individual executive decides on their own. It’s important to involve employees in the process to ensure the values really reflect the organization's identity and resonate with the team. To do this, you could consider setting up team workshops or conducting employee surveys to gather input and create a set of values that everyone can get behind.
2. Communicate Values Effectively
Once your values are defined, communicate them clearly to everyone in the organization. Make them highly visible, just like a homeowner who proudly displays their home remodel designs. Try to display your values in common areas and incorporate them into company branding wherever applicable. You’ll also want to reinforce the values regularly in team meetings and when making various company-wide announcements.
3. Integrate Values into the Employee Lifecycle
During the hiring process, you’ll want to make sure that the individuals you’re considering have a good chance of aligning with company values. This may mean not just focusing on the candidate's skills or capabilities but also asking them certain behavioral interview questions to make sure they’re the right fit. During performance reviews, you should also evaluate how well employees are living up to these values and provide helpful feedback as needed.
4. Lead by Example
Leaders at all levels of the organization should embody the company values in their own actions and through the decisions they make. Employees are more likely to embrace the values if they see their leaders consistently demonstrating them in their daily work and when holding themselves accountable.
Help to Inspire Your Team
Building a great team requires more than just offering a competitive salary. By prioritizing your company’s culture and values, you can create a workplace where employees feel motivated to put their best foot forward for themselves and the organization.
Entrepreneur, technologist, and passionate business leader sum up the core of Dalip Jaggi, co-founder of Revive Real Estate, a PropTech company with a goal to democratize house flipping. Since its 2020 inception, Revive has since become the smartest solution for homeowners to maximize their home’s sales value across the nation.