In the business world, where money and profits seem to determine all degrees of success and failure, it’s easy to overlook capital that has no immediate monetary value.

But a recent study by the American Institute of CPAs and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants offered some surprising insight on how executives view their non-financial assets. According to the survey, 75 percent of CEOs agree that more emphasis needs to be placed on measuring the value of their companies’ non-financial assets, such as intellectual capital, community standings and customer relations.

Of course, as a small business owner or entrepreneur, it’s the easiest thing in the world to overlook these components of running a business.

When you start your company, naturally you’re concerned about small business financing, inventory, logistics, sales – all of which have precisely measurable financial criteria. Community involvement and employee engagement, on the other hand, are anything but fiscal measurements. Sometimes, they may not yield any discernible monetary value, but that doesn’t mean they have no strategic importance. Some might even argue that community and employees are just as important as the first sales or establishing a business line of credit.

With that in mind, let’s look at some ways small business owners can give back to their communities and create a bond with their employees. If mastered, these tricks can turn a fledgling startup into a local sensation.

Community

“It’s important to realize that being part of the community is not just networking,” writes Matthew Shampine for Inc. magazine. “You need to focus on building real relationships: Be authentic in your desire to contribute. Remember it’s a two-way street and you should always offer to help out the others in the community.”

What’s key in the above quote is the idea of authenticity. It’s one thing to attend a town meeting once a year or hand out your card at a local baseball game. It’s something else to sponsor that baseball team, to speak publicly in regards to a proposed ordinance or to donate money to local schools. In that sense, you can’t feign concern. You need to be concerned. After all, your community is your customer base. If you don’t a mutual relationship of trust, loyalty and appreciation, then your business is certain to suffer in the sales department.

Shampine points out a few more ways how getting involved in the well-being of your community can be beneficial in the long-run.

- You will perceive a more honest perception of your specific industry when you spend time with others in the community, namely in how their objectivity and ignorance toward it.

- Members in the community will offer feedback and help to improve your products or services. This also applies to launching your company website, making product changes and offering new services.

- As you contribute to the betterment of your community, you will build your own credibility. This will make it easier to start conversations with others you may need in the future.

Employees

It’s an age-old question: What do your employees want? The first thing you need to realize is that this question is apocryphal. It’s impossible to answer because it’s based on the assumption that all “employees” (plural) act and desire in the same way. They don’t. So the first thing you need to understand is that they all have different motivators, and it’s your job to understand the individual circumstances of each worker. This is the first step toward building trust and loyalty among your staff.

That being said, there are some consistent demands that most employees share. For one, every worker wants a degree of autonomy. They want to be able to tackle a project according to their own work habits and tendencies and, more importantly, they do not want to be micro-managed.

“Autonomy and latitude breed engagement and satisfaction. Latitude also breeds innovation,” writes Jeff Haden for Inc. “Even manufacturing and heavily process-oriented positions have room for different approaches. Whenever possible, give your employees the freedom to work they way they work best.”

Then there’s the concept of expectations. Everyone has them – employers and employees alike. As a small business owner, you need to find a balance between what you demand of your workers and what they demand of their jobs. It’s also important to realize that expectations shift with changes to the business. Growth, expansion, relocation, wage raises, marketing – all these changes can impact expectations, so make sure you understand this as times change.

Haden points to six other things that your employees are sure to demand: targets, input, mission, consistency, connection and future.