how core values affect remote work culture.
by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud
a company’s core values are the cornerstone of its culture, and people are the biggest asset a company can have.
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defining your core values and hiring the right people is essential for the success of your business.
in “traction,” gino wickman describes the “right people” as “the ones who share your company’s core values. they fit and thrive in your culture. they are the people you enjoy being around and who make your organization a better place to be.”
at summit cpa, we defined our core values as a team, and we specifically hire for our core values. our values aren’t just words on a wall. they are integral to every part of the organization – from hiring to promotions to processes we put into place. we don’t just list them; we live them.
here are our six core values:
- humor – humor is our number one core value. we love to have fun together! we start our team meeting every week with a joke, a fun fact and a discussion topic that helps us get to know each other better.
- empowerment – in order for us to grow, our team members need to be empowered and trusted to do their jobs independently. our employees have complete autonomy over their own schedules, and we do not micromanage the work that people do.
- adaptability – change is inevitable. in order to stay ahead in our industry, we need our team members to embrace (and aggressively pursue) change. the software programs and apps we use today may not be the ones we’re using five years from now. we can’t get stuck in the way we’ve always done things; we have to be ready for new things that come along.
- collaboration – we have to be able to work together effectively in order to develop our team and serve our clients. we’ve found that our team has actually become more collaborative being distributed because communication has to be intentional. we’re not physically in the office together, which means we’re not running into one another in the hallway and having a quick chat about a project we’re working on. instead, we have to make time to get together and be organized and direct in our communication in order to get things done.
- curiosity – we want our team members to always be asking, “why are we doing it this way? is there a better way to do it?” we’ll never become better by doing the same thing over and over again just because that’s the way it’s always been done. we also want our team members to be just as curious about finding potential solutions as they are about identifying issues or inefficiencies. curiosity should lead us down the path of figuring out how we can be doing things better and presenting proposed solutions and recommendations.
- candor – we believe that speaking the truth makes our team better. we don’t sugarcoat things, but we aren’t hurtful, either. we have to be willing to give each other candid feedback if we really want to help each other improve. we want to develop the trust and transparency that will make our team stronger in the long run.
we believe that defining our core values, hiring people who believe in these values and acting out these values in everything that we do has helped us develop the best team in the world!
obviously, your core values will not be the same as ours. they have to properly reflect the identity of your company. if you do not have your company’s values already identified and in working order, the following table contains a list of potential core values that you can adopt as your own. don’t pick too many; the experts say five to six is the right number.
| accountability | friendship | peace |
| achievement | fun | perseverance |
| adaptability | future generations | personal fulfillment |
| adventure | generosity | power |
| altruism | giving back | pride |
| ambition | grace | recognition |
| authenticity | gratitude | reliability |
| balance | growth | resourcefulness |
| beauty | harmony | respect |
| being the best | health | responsibility |
| belonging | home | risk-taking |
| career | honesty | safety |
| caring | hope | security |
| collaboration | humility | self-discipline |
| commitment | humor | self-expression |
| community | inclusion | self-respect |
| compassion | independence | serenity |
| competence | initiative | service |
| confidence | integrity | simplicity |
| connection | intuition | spirituality |
| contentment | job security | sportsmanship |
| contribution | joy | stewardship |
| cooperation | justice | success |
| courage | kindness | teamwork |
| creativity | knowledge | thrift |
| curiosity | leadership | time |
| dignity | learning | tradition |
| diversity | legacy | travel |
| efficiency | leisure | trust |
| environment | love | truth |
| equality | loyalty | understanding |
| ethics | making a difference | uniqueness |
| excellence | nature | usefulness |
| fairness | openness | vision |
| faith | optimism | vulnerability |
| family | order | wealth |
| financial stability | parenting | wellbeing |
| forgiveness | patience | wholeheartedness |
| freedom | patriotism | wisdom |
here are a few comments from some of our past and present team members:
what does our core value “humor” mean to you?
“humor means using laughter as a tool to make interactions with others more enjoyable. it helps to make meetings a little more fun, which tends to strengthen relationships, whether it’s between co-workers within summit, between summit team members and our clients, or between summit team members and other individuals. i enjoy making people laugh, but i am careful not to go too far or say something inappropriate for a laugh.” – patrick smith, onboarding consultant
what does our core value “empowerment” mean to you?
“to me it means feeling that i have the resources i need, whether that be tools or skills or support from others, to make decisions and solve problems and reach goals, all the while knowing that those around me support my doing so. it also means that i own what i do. i am responsible for the outcomes of my decisions and actions. and it means that i do my best to empower others by offering support, encouragement and whatever else i am capable of supplying.” – deb shimel, it manager
what does our core value “adaptability” mean to you?
“because we are aggressive with change, i think ‘adaptability’ means keeping an open mind on the purpose of a change in our company. i’ll be the first to admit that ‘change’ is not easy for me, but when looking at the larger picture, adapting and changing is more palatable.” – david danic, director of tax
what does our core value “collaboration” mean to you?
“collaboration is a very important core value to me. it’s what makes working from home manageable! it means that i know i am never alone when it comes to any challenge i might face during the day. all of our work is handled with a team approach. as a cfo and the director of accounting at summit, i am on a lot of different teams: i am part of my clients’ teams (both internal and external), i am part of the cfo team, i am part of the leadership team, and most importantly, i am part of the summit team!” – jamie nau, director of accounting
what does our core value “curiosity” mean to you?
“curiosity means seeking to understand things and acquiring knowledge. in the context of our business, it means having the desire to learn more about our processes and how to use them efficiently, as well as learning more about our clients and how to apply that knowledge to the work. i believe it’s one of our core values because curiosity means that we are striving to learn more and to do a better job. to stay ahead of the curve, it’s important to have that curiosity.” – patrick smith, onboarding consultant
what does our core value “candor” mean to you?
“candor means that when you express yourself honestly you do it in such a way that you take the other people’s best interests into consideration. honesty is brutal and self-motivated. candor is kind and focused on others. i never feel as though i have to read the candid person’s mind. expectations are clear, and i always know where i stand with them and why.” – amanda legere, it specialist
how remote work affects culture
summit cpa is a distributed accounting firm, and i strongly believe that this has had a huge impact on our ability to grow. when it comes to hiring, we are not limited to the area of a physical office as most accounting firms are. having a physical location really limits the talent pool and how quickly a firm can onboard new talent. instead of receiving one or two résumés per week, we get nearly 2,000 résumés a year. the talent pool is so much larger than the norm!
we can be more selective with the people we hire. not only do we get thousands of applicants for job openings, but the quality of the people we get is incredible. it’s not just people who couldn’t find a job in a brick-and-mortar location, it’s people who are coming from brick-and-mortar jobs who don’t want to fight traffic and spend so much time away from their families. we’re not hiring people just because they live in the area, and they’re almost perfect for what we need. we can actually look for the highest quality candidates who fit our model.
this has significantly impacted the growth we’ve experienced – more than 150 percent consecutively over the last three years! if we were a local company, not distributed, it would have been very tough, if not impossible, to make everything work. this should become the norm for accounting firms rather than an exception. as technology continues to advance, the world is becoming smaller and borders are being eliminated.
one of the concerns i’ve heard people express when i talk about running a virtual firm is that they don’t think it’s possible to develop strong relationships remotely, both internally and with clients. that’s simply not true. you can actually get to know your team members and clients a lot better when you’re meeting with them on a regular basis, sitting with them and seeing them in a video conference. you get to know your team members and clients on more of a personal level, which is the opposite of what many people think. the key is being intentional with face-to-face video communication.
it doesn’t feel distant. if you’re meeting on the phone, that may be different, but video conferencing makes a huge difference. you can see a person’s eyes, the expressions on his/her face. you can tell whether or not a colleague or client is paying attention and if you are being understood. you can screenshare and interact. a client can bring team members onto the call if needed. if you can’t make the meeting, it’s not a big deal because a team member can take over. clients love it. it’s more of a personal touch.
we have found that working together remotely has an incredibly positive impact on both client relationships and company culture!