Most companies have a list of values: integrity, collaboration, customer focus, innovation. Many employees see them as decoration. But values do have a real job in goal setting. Goals describe what you will achieve. Values describe how you are expected to achieve it.
The "what" and the "how"
Two salespeople both hit their target. One does it by building long-term client relationships. The other does it with aggressive discounts and promises the delivery team cannot keep. On a results-only scorecard they look the same. On a values-based one, they do not.
That is why many performance reviews assess both goals and behaviours. Understanding your company's values tells you how your results will be judged.
Did you know? Enron's published corporate values were Respect, Integrity, Communication and Excellence. Its collapse in 2001 is a classic reminder that values only matter when they shape how goals are actually pursued.
How to connect values to your goals
1. Translate each value into behaviour. "Collaboration" is vague. In your role it might mean sharing data with other teams, asking for input before decisions or helping colleagues hit their deadlines.
2. Pick one value to build a goal around. For example, if "customer focus" is a value, a goal might be "Call five customers a month to understand their problems and share one insight with the product team."
3. Check your other goals for conflicts. If a target could tempt you to cut corners on a value, name it and set a guardrail: "Hit the sales target without increasing average discounts."
Personal values matter too
Your own values affect which goals motivate you. If you value learning, development goals will energise you. If you value fairness, you may struggle with targets that pit colleagues against each other. Knowing this helps you choose goals you will actually pursue, and spot when a company is a poor fit.
When your personal values and company values overlap, work feels meaningful. When they clash repeatedly, goal setting will always feel like a chore. Our article on company culture and goal achievement explores this further.
Using values in your review
Values give you language for your achievements. Instead of "I delivered the project", say "I delivered the project and kept the other teams informed at every stage, which reflects our collaboration value." It shows you understand what the organisation cares about.
The bottom line
Values turn goals from "hit the number" into "hit the number the right way". Translate them into behaviours, build at least one goal around them and use them to explain your results. For how values and goals fit into wider business planning, see our Business Planning and Goal Setting course and our guide to aligning personal and company goals.