Getting to the Heart of the Matter- Training Core Values
THE QUARTERLY TEAM MEETING
Our Q3 results were strong. Taylor reported that we were retaining our best employees, and the Nashville and Hendersonville locations were benefiting from extreme teamwork. How are we doing it? I believe one of the answers is Core Value training.
It’s a company’s PRIMARY recruiting and retention tool, and it’s what defines a company’s competitive edge. It is a highly underutilized organizational tool in today’s fast paced business culture.
Creating our Core Values took a grueling six months. At the time I wondered, “How many companies take the time to do this?” And secondly, “What do most companies do with them?”
Sadly, most businesses today simply post them on their website, or hang them in a frame in the office. Sometimes, they just end up in the operations manual. What a huge waste.
WHAT ARE CORE VALUES?
The Core Values of a company are the guiding principles that dictate behavior and action. They are meant to challenge, inspire, and to be wrestled with. A company’s values should be timeless…. If a business is exponentially growing and change is constant, its what keeps the company stable and centered.
Think of Core Values as the HEART of the company.
LEFT HAND/RIGHT HAND TRAINING 
Every day, we try and improve our skills. If we want to be a better brick mason, we depend on our team leaders to train us, or go to school for certifications. We think about our technical skills as our LEFT HAND.
But what about soft skills, the emotional side of our business? Mandy Burage, our Petra Business Coach says, “When we look at the talent assessment we’ll often times say that you can train for hard skills and teach someone how to use a piece of equipment, but soft skills or core values are much more difficult to train.”
Core Value training is the emotional/soft skill training. It’s sometimes referred to as the company’s “vibe.” It’s the RIGHT HAND. Maybe some companies don’t train soft skills because it’s deemed too difficult.
HOW WE DO IT AT MILOSI
At Milosi, our Core Values are alive and are a part of every process we have. We close every Daily Huddle by repeating them. It’s like a powerful amen…SO BE IT! When we see them being lived out in one of our employees, it was recognized and commended. We award one person each year with our Core Value Awards Christmas Party. Our annual reviews are based on how well we execute the them. In our conference room, our Core Values are displayed in giant letters on the wall.
CORE VALUES CHANGE PERSONAL GROWTH 
Core Values help the decision making process. My co-worker Chris William said “Working with and saying the Core Values daily, changed me on the inside.” For me, Milosi’s Core Values started showing up everywhere- in my parenting, in my spiritual life. The more I said them, the more I thought about them. Suddenly, it wasn’t just Milosi’s Core Values, they were MY Core Values. They were ingrained in me.
“LET’S GROW BEAUTIFUL TOGETHER”
Our dream or vision at Milosi is “Let’s Grow Beautiful Together.” It’s easy to think about a landscape company creating beautiful designs and building beautiful outdoor living spaces. I believe we do that.
But seeing our Core Values alive and growing makes me realize that it’s not only landscapes we grow beautiful…it’s our people.
