Aligning Your Company and Employees Values for Success

Julie Starr • June 28, 2023

Ensuring your employee's values align with your business and branding isn't always a 100% successful venture. Not everyone will have the same thoughts and ideas on different aspects of life, and that is fine. However, regarding your company and its values, you need to have your employees onboard and work towards the same goals as you are to ensure success and continuity across the board.


Be Clear

Defining your company goals and objectives is vital. What exactly are your core vitals, and what are you working towards? Once you have definitive answers, you need to work on ensuring they are clear and well-communicated from the top down. If your senior management isn't practicing these values, then you cannot expect all employees to tow the company line too. Be clear and consistent about what you expect and ensure everyone is on the same page.


Training

You cannot expect everyone to be competent in carrying out their work and raising awareness of the company's values if they are unsure of what they are doing or what it entails/ this is where training comes into play. You can implement an LMS in your company to help you carry out training modules and to teach employees how you expect them to behave and what is involved in following company guidelines to support values. The more they know about your values and how best to put these into practice, the easier it will be to make sure everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.


Connections

To help employees see your vision more clearly, you need to connect them to what it is you are trying to do. For example, if your goal is to make software accessible to more people, show employees the benefits your software can have on different people and its use in different applications. If they can see the end goals and the aim in real life, they will be able to connect with it more easily and support your development while working towards meeting your goals and values.


Reward Innovation

There is nothing that screams unity more than employees and employers working together to meet a common goal. If you are clear about what you expect from employees and what your business is about, then you can foster an environment of creativity and innovation that pushes the boundaries of these values and help you to explore what is possible within these parameters.


Allow your employees to push forward on creating new ideals and goals, support them in doing so, and recognize their efforts accordingly.


Stay Connected

One of the best ways to drive home company values is to emulate them yourself and ensure you are on the ground with your team engaging and supporting them as much as possible. It is one thing to preach about what you stand for, but it is another thing to put it into practice and show your employees firsthand what you want for your company. The chances are if they see this behavior coming from the top, they will be more likely to get on board and align with you easier than simply being told to.


Conclusion

Aligning your employee's values to that of your company means you need to model the behavior you want them to follow and ensure you are putting measures in place to communicate values and policies to ensure everyone knows exactly what is expected of them.

5 Everyday Items That Can Quietly Boost Your Brand

By Julie Starr • July 17, 2025
The best branding doesn’t always come from big campaigns or expensive graphics. Sometimes it’s the smaller stuff that leaves the biggest impression. Things people actually use, touch, or carry with them. That’s where your brand can quietly make its mark without needing to shout about it. If you’re only focusing on social media and business cards, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Here are five overlooked ways to get your name out there that feel natural, useful, and more personal. Thank-you slips If you’re already sending out orders, there’s no reason not to include a short thank-you slip. You can easily get these made through any decent online print shop , and they’re usually pretty cheap to run off in small batches. Just a simple note that says thanks, maybe with a reminder to follow you online or a cheeky discount code for next time. It’s quick, thoughtful, and makes the whole order feel more finished. Customers notice that kind of detail, especially when everything else they buy online comes with zero personality. You don’t need a complicated design either. Just something clean with your logo, a message that sounds like you, and maybe a social handle. The point is to give them a reason to come back or remember your name without it feeling forced. Branded zip pouches If you sell physical products, offer services, or run events, small zip pouches are surprisingly effective. Think of the kind you’d use for stationery, receipts, or travel bits. You can get your brand printed on the side and hand them out with purchases or include them in welcome packs. People keep them because they’re actually useful. They get tossed in handbags, school bags, or glove boxes and your logo just keeps turning up. Cleaning cloths for glasses or screens This one works brilliantly if you’re in tech, health, beauty, or anything involving screens or eyewear. A simple microfibre cloth with your branding on it can go a long way. Everyone needs one. Whether they use it for glasses, a phone screen, or their laptop, it’s something they hang onto. It’s not the kind of thing people throw away, and that means your name sticks around too. Receipt envelopes You might already use little envelopes to hand over receipts or business cards. Branding those envelopes is a small change that makes a big difference. Instead of someone getting a scruffy bit of paper in a plain sleeve, they’re handed something that feels a bit more finished. You can even add a message inside. Doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. A simple “thanks for visiting” or “see you next time” is enough to add a personal touch. Wet wipes or mini hand gels If your business is in hospitality, food, or anything hands-on, branded wet wipes or pocket-sized hand gels are surprisingly popular. People actually use them, especially at festivals, food stalls, pop-ups, or kids’ events. They end up in handbags or cars and stick around longer than you think. They don’t scream “marketing” either. They’re practical, and when done right, they make your business feel thoughtful. That’s what good branding does, it shows you’ve thought ahead.

How Student-Led ‘Energy Audits’ Are Cutting School Costs (and Lighting the Way Forward)

By Julie Starr • July 14, 2025
What happens when students stop waiting for adults to fix things and start conducting their own energy audits? Money gets saved. The lights get switched off. Data gets analyzed. And a quiet revolution in sustainability begins—inside schools that once overlooked their own inefficiencies. Across the globe, student-led energy audits are proving that change doesn't always need to come from a policy shift or a major capital budget. Sometimes, it begins with a clipboard, a spreadsheet, and a group of curious minds asking: Why are the hallway lights on at noon when sunlight floods the building? The Energy Detectives These audits aren’t science fair projects. They’re rigorous investigations, often done in collaboration with facilities staff, local environmental nonprofits, or even engineering mentors. Students go from classroom to classroom measuring electricity usage, checking for phantom loads , and identifying where heat is escaping in winter or air conditioning is leaking in summer. One high school in Ontario saved over $12,000 a year after its Grade 11 physics students ran an energy audit and suggested simple changes—LED upgrades, motion sensors in bathrooms, and smarter heating schedules. They didn’t just propose ideas. They pitched them with spreadsheets, thermal images, and payback timelines. It worked. Learning That Pays Off—Literally Unlike textbook learning, these audits blend real-world math, environmental science, economics, and persuasive communication. Students aren’t just learning about sustainability. They’re doing it. And the savings add up. From dimming overlit hallways to reprogramming HVAC systems that run all weekend for empty buildings, students are surfacing blind spots that administrators often overlook. In some districts, their findings are influencing energy policy. Elsewhere, the audits have inspired school boards to hire sustainability coordinators—often alumni of the student programs themselves. There’s something poetic about a school funding new books or laptops from money saved by students who found out the vending machines didn’t need to be plugged in 24/7. Why This Matters More Than Ever With education budgets tightening and utility costs rising, every dollar saved is a dollar that can go back into classrooms. And here’s where it gets interesting from a family finance perspective, too. If you’re a parent setting aside money for post-secondary savings, every bit of school efficiency helps. Fewer energy costs might mean more programming, better STEM facilities, or even bursaries. That raises a broader point: when families save for their children’s future, they often look into RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). And many wonder—is a RESP deduction available on my taxes? While contributions themselves aren’t deductible, the gains grow tax-free, and students often pay little to no tax when they withdraw the funds during school. A Movement Worth Replicating These audits aren’t just an exercise in environmentalism. They’re leadership labs. Students learn how to spot inefficiencies, speak up in board meetings, and make a business case for change. They don’t just flip switches—they shift mindsets. And they carry these habits into adulthood. The result? A generation growing up not only with climate anxiety, but also with tools to tackle it.