As an entrepreneur, I’ve had my share of “Aha!” moments while building a new business from the ground up. And I have to say, identifying and being able to articulate the Trainertainment Core Values was one of the biggest.

In fact, our Core Values are so intrinsic to the Trainertainment world that we pay tribute to them exclusively on our About page. That’s right – there’s no history about me or a story about the Trainertainment beginnings. Rather, our business is all about these Core Values:

• We Believe in Fun – Being, having and promoting fun
• We Believe in Intentional Learning
• We Believe in Being In Service to One Another
• We Believe in Taking Initiative
• We Believe in Being High Performers

Each Core Value is intrinsic not only to how each Trainertainment team member conducts themselves professionally but also to how we want Trainertainment clients to conduct themselves. I firmly believe that the right Core Values can determine a business’s success both internally and externally.

What’s at the Core of YOUR Culture?

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been looking at Company Culture and how it not only affects but also defines a business. Last week was all about Mission & Vision, and this week is about – you guessed it – Core Values! BusinessDictionary.com offers this definition:

“Core Values – A principle that guides an organization’s internal conduct as well as its relationship with the external world.”¹

In principle that sounds great, but how does this translate into practice? Imagine you are the business owner or hiring manager, and you need to fill a spot on your team. Hiring the RIGHT person from the get-go will save you time and money in the long run. But how do you know who will be a good fit – and who will not?

That’s where your guiding principles, or Core Values, come in. Let’s look at Trainertainment as an example. When interviewing potential team candidates, we want to make sure that the candidate is a good fit. As an example, we always ask a “new hire”, “What’s the last book you read?” We need this potential team member to know we are serious about intentional learning. There’s no way to be a great teaching company if you aren’t consumed with learning.  That’s how we manage the expectations of any new hire and vice versa. So, if a candidate is not all about fun, learning, being in service to others, taking initiative, and reaching for the stars – then they will likely not fit our company culture and, as a result, perform poorly and be unhappy in our environment.

Are you incorporating Core Values into your Hiring Process?

Think for a minute about how you are hiring and training team members. Are you incorporating your Core Values into the processes? Are those in leadership roles upholding those values in day-to-day dealings with employees AND customers? If not, then we can help you get there! Our signature Hiring & Training Processes will help your business not only attract the right candidates but also train them to become loyal and passionate team members.

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