Quick quiz: Does your business have its core values written down somewhere? Do you make sure your employees know what they are? Do you tell your customers what they are?

You might call core values the heart of a business. They describe what you want your company to be, things like “honest,” or “customer-centric.” Besides shaping how your company does its work in the present, core values can affect your future as well, since they’ll influence what you look for in new employees.

We’ve written before about how stating your core values clearly and making them familiar helps companies thrive. So today, we want to talk about how you can promote your core values within your workplace.

How to Keep the Core Values in Mind

The thing about core values is, if you want them to stay core to your business, they can’t just be core to your leadership team. They have to become core to your employees as well. And since employees don’t (usually) come up with your list of core values, you’ll need ways to help them remember what the core values are.

ZENTX’s leaders like having games and pop quizzes (with prizes) related to our core values at some of our weekly all-team meetings. They’re a fun way to encourage us to learn and remember all ten of our core values. But, of course, not every company is small enough to assemble every employee every week. Those companies need a strategy to help their employees remember the core values without reminding them in person.

As with most memory work, repetition is key. And that’s where displays that promote your core values can be helpful. Once the display is in place, it reminds employees of the core values every time they pass it.

What do Creative Core Values Displays Look Like?

We’ve had the chance to create several core values displays for our clients. They don’t have to be fancy; Michigan Sugar, for example, opted for some simple — but eyecatching — vinyl banners to hang in each of their factories. But sometimes the displays are fancier. When we outfitted a suite at the Dow Diamond for Three Rivers Corporation (TRC), the project included a series of fourteen panels alternating between photos of TRC’s projects and statements about its core values.

With the glossy acrylic and high-quality photos, this core values display stands out. That way, TRC’s employees get reminded about their company’s core values in a space that’s meant for celebrating and fostering the company’s community. The display works with the environment to build company spirit and ensure people remember the values that are central to that spirit.

Using creative, visually-appealing displays to promote core values means they’re more likely to catch people’s eye. And that means people are more likely to remember the core values. Core values displays can be memory aids, motivational tools, professional decorations, and a way to attract customers and employees alike. That’s a pretty impressive set of benefits, if you ask us.