Company Core Values: 8 Strong and Inspiring Examples  

In the current work climate, your work isn’t just confined to holding a job; it’s a reflection of an individual’s core values. It is necessary that company core values are well-aligned with employees’ values to sustain an engaged workforce.  

Company core values fundamentally shape your employees’ perception of their job. They influence decisions, drive behaviors, and lay down a tone for your culture. According to Gallup, only two in ten employees feel connected to their workplace culture. 

These company core values become a foundation only when they are lived every day and modeled by leadership and management. That’s when employees get acknowledged for the behaviors and actions that bring your company core values to life. 

So, what exactly are company core values? 

What are Core values of a Company? 

Company core values are essentially cultural fundamentals that define the principles and beliefs across your company and its employees. Some of the most successful companies have core values that reflect their founders’ values and vision.  

Company core values are not just corporate-oriented statements on your website. They must have an underlying meaning and purpose, as they: 

• Influence employees’ mindset at work 

• Define how employees interact with customer and amongst each other 

• Hold company leadership and management accountable  

• Enhance company growth with vision and purpose  

• Are characteristic to every company  

Now, more than ever, employees understand the significance of work-life balance, knowing what their company motto is, and the effect of its practices on communities, individuals, and the environment. 

Employees want to be associated with workplaces that have purpose and integrity and are living by their company core values. Also, they must value development and growth opportunities that satisfy, motivate, and challenge them at the same time. 

Important Company Core Values with Value Examples  

• Integrity 

It’s essential that during chaos and tricky situations, you remain transparent, ethical, and honest. Integrity is about standing by your values and principles despite all circumstances. 

 It develops a great deal of trust between teams and fosters credibility with customers. 

Patagonia is a prime example of exercising integrity as one of their company core values. Patagonia builds integrity directly into their supply chain transparency and production practices. Their business practices are a direct reflection of their values in manufacturing and supporting activism. 

• Customer Obsession

Placing customers at the center of your company means knowing what they need, what problems may arise, and meeting or exceeding their expectations. That value requires more than service; it requires empathy, it requires anticipation.  

Amazon has 16 leadership principles, with Customer Obsession being the first one. It is this intrinsic value that propels their relentless innovation, product development, and support mechanisms around the world and makes Amazon the gold standard for corporate core values designed around customer satisfaction.  

• Innovation

Being innovative means that we stay inquisitive and adventurous and try to push the limits to find improved alternatives. It allows teams to adapt and evolve continually, which should be a key element of any contemporary business ethos. 

Innovation is a day-to-day practice at Google. Google allows its employees to dedicate 20% of their time to whatever they want and has launched products such as Gmail as a result. It demonstrates the extent to which organizational values, such as innovation, can compel industry-defining change.  

• Teamwork and Collaboration

This core value is focused on collaboration towards a common goal, respect for diversity of thought and contribution, and, through that, mutual respect and encouragement. Working together creates synergy, and quicker solutions is a cross-department need. 

Microsoft touts its cross-functional collaboration among its global teams. Their products, such as Teams and Office 365 are just the outcome of their inner company culture about collective success.  

• Accountability

To be accountable means owning up to the results, owning up to the mistakes, and the lessons learned. This fundamental value encourages accountability, encourages results, and fortifies company culture. 

Netflix promotes freedom with accountability. Accountability is one of the major expectations laid out in their culture deck. Employees are given freedom and are expected to deliver—this is a great case of values leading to scalable excellence.  

• Diversity and Inclusion

D&I stands for diversity and inclusion and means respecting, celebrating, and giving power to diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. It enhances teams, drives innovation, and creates a workplace that is more reflective of society. 

Salesforce lists “Equality for All” as one of its four corporate values. Mosaic works to promote inclusivity through public reporting and internal initiatives, a contemporary example of what core values can do for business and society.  

• Excellence

In product development, customer service, or internal processes, excellence means always striving for the best. Brand trust as a core value enables continuous improvement for businesses. 

At the heart of this excellence is Apple’s unshakeable dedication to design, usability, and innovation. A clearly defined core value translates into every product and all customer interactions, which shows just how powerful a company value of this kind can be. 

• Sustainability

By its own definition, sustainability implies that your business decisions are made with today in mind but not harming the future. The need for environmentalism and the long-term thinking that comes with it are increasingly appreciated by employees and customers. 

Unilever is another brand that embeds sustainability in their strategy, starting from product innovations and progressing to net-zero targets. This is a great demonstration of core values enabling profit for purpose.  

What Company Core Values You Should Consider  

So, here you have some core values that can inspire you about identifying some for your own organization: 

• Empathy 

• Respect 

• Adaptability 

• Learning 

• Responsibility 

• Transparency 

• Trust 

• Passion 

They are conversations that touch values that establish the basis of solid, growth-oriented businesses of tomorrow. 

The Power of Values in Action 

Setting the company core values is only half the battle. To be effective, they need to be rooted in your culture—from recruitment to leadership and from marketing to service. Zappos demonstrates that doing everything in alignment with your company values makes you a brand differentiator. 

These are not just examples of value statements; they are strategies driven by behavior.  

Where Does Antlere Come into Play? 

At Antlere, our opinion is that company core values should dictate how an employee should interact with a customer and vice versa for the company core values. Antlere: As a foremost helpdesk software, How Antlere enables businesses to convert their values of transparency, responsiveness, and customer-centricity into repeatable day-to-day actions at scale. 

Antlere makes it easy for companies to lead with their values at every touchpoint through smart automation, conversational insights, and collaborative tools. Because amazing support is not merely a matter of fixing problems but of living your values in the moment.  

Final Thoughts 

Core values are more than mere statements; they are the lifeblood of your company. They establish your why, inform your how, and define every relationship. When companies live their values, they do more than earn customer trust — they create lasting cultures.