How to Celebrate Core Values at Work: 5 Ways to Make Values Stick

TL;DR

• Core value recognition should be public and peer-driven if you want it to stick.

• Create a core value award for a range of behaviors, not just performance.

• New hires should see a team celebrate core values at work in the first 30 days.

• Build core value recognition into workflows and make events optional to boost engagement.

If a new employee wanted to review the company's core values, where would they go? Would they have to dig deep in the onboarding archives for that manual? Or would it be evident in Slack, docs, and dashboards?

Visibility is the first challenge in making core values known. When we celebrate core values at work, we make them stick. Keep reading to learn how to do both.

1. Include core value awards in your peer recognition program.

When a company has successfully mapped values to specific behaviors, employees become better at spotting them in the wild. They’re going to know how they should behave and recognize their coworkers for that behavior when leaders aren’t around.

From there, everyone needs proof that those values are, well, valued. They also need recognition for acts that aren’t strictly performance-related. Consider adding awards that align with values, such as:

• The “My Bad” Award for Accountability
• The Got Your Back Award for Excellence in Teamwork
• The Leveling Up Award for Continuous Growth & Learning
• The No Spin Zone Award for Honesty & Integrity

Sprinkle these in with sillier paper plate awards to ground the culture in shared purpose and meaning.

2. Celebrate core values in front of new hires.

You may well ask when you should distribute such awards. Settling on a cadence and sticking to it is pretty important if you want core value celebrations to become a team ritual.

However, awarding someone spontaneously has its benefits, especially if we’re welcoming a new employee. Most people have dealt with onboarding hype. You get psyched up for an experience that never really happens. Make core values a headline from preboarding forward, and show them it’s real in the first 30 days.

Who knows? Maybe it’s they who become a values champion right out of the gate. The positive reinforcement will come in handy.

3. Trim away a value that doesn’t get celebrated.

Here’s another reason we make core values a key component of recognition programs. Performing a reliable values audit helps refine your messaging and see which values your people are clinging to. Zero hits on a value probably means it’s vague or irrelevant to the team at large.

Before you toss the value, ask:

• Is it a generic buzzword?
• Do leaders model this behavior?
• Who decided this was a core value?

If you only have about three core values to begin with, have the team help pick a new one to replace the flop.

4. Start weekly meetings and celebrations with core value stories.

Celebrate core values at work by sharing a story during every standup and making them the purpose of shoutouts. As soon as this becomes a habit, pass the mic to employees so they can share where they saw values in action.

When you get a really good story, make a record of it. The time a support technician was so patient that a screaming, swearing customer ended the call by inviting them to their wedding, for instance. That becomes cultural lore. Put these in a doc where new hires can see how core values apply to the realities of the role.