It’s understandable that there is a great deal of cynicism when it comes workplace values. As customers or employees, we have all experienced shoddy service when values displayed on posters were not followed in real life.
It’s one thing about values in an organisation that can be tricky – not everyone understands them. Some people care deeply about them and are willing to work hard to live them.
Some are at best unmoved, untouched and unaware.
Your personal experience will determine how you perceive good and bad. It can also influence your perception of brand performance and reputation.
Try explaining it to someone else and they will still see it as an intangible, ‘fluffy concept’ that’s not worth prioritising. They just don’t get it.
When is it a waste to spend time on values?
- Leaders who don’t believe in values but reference them in communication, decision making and behaviour. AKA “Tick box/lip service”
- If values aren’t translated into behaviours or outcomes that people can relate to, then they haven’t progressed past the branding team. AKA “Values wall”
- People are confused when they see an organisation claiming to stand for a certain set of values, but then acting in a different way or contradictory. AKA “Say one things and do another”
It takes a combination of leadership commitment and belief, energy, and deliberate organisational tactics to reap the benefits of values. Values are useless without this. They can even damage people’s integrity, causing apathy, and worse.
Values and their ROI
Although it’s difficult to quantify values, more and more leaders are recognizing their importance. A culture that is rooted in meaningful values can lead to exceptional performance.
It is interesting to see how culture and values can be a key component of a sustainable and winning edge in sport. You can ask the All Blacks, or Manchester City, how important values are for their success and pride.
We can all think of examples where an organisation has brought their values to life, creating a great experience for its employees, customers, and stakeholders. This is a solid foundation for success.
What values will help you become the organization you desire to be?
These are the rare exceptions. Customer and employee experiences can be wildly inconsistent depending on which team, leader or individual we are dealing with. You may wonder if the organization has any values and why certain employees appear to be from a different organisation.
Both employees and customers have many choices and understand the importance of finding a match in terms of value. Brand loyalty and employee retention are both impacted by a cohesive culture that is distinctive and reliable.
Why is it so difficult to get the values right?
Three main challenges exist:
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Selecting the correct values
What values mix best supports your organisation’s mission and strategy? What values will help you become the organisation that you desire?
values fall into three categories:
- Permission To Play. These are not necessarily stated values, but you need them to be credible. Integrity
- Core is often unique to an organisation and in its DNA, but may not be stated explicitly. They can be undervalued and overlooked, so reaffirming or repositioning these values can have a powerful impact.
- Aspirational – These represent what an organisation aspires to be and are therefore future-focused.
It is best to have a mix of employees from all levels, including those in leadership, management, and on the front lines, choose the values. The group then creates a model to share and shape with the rest, codifying the values into simple behaviours.
When you embed people, they will feel more ownership, understand and buy-in if more people are involved.
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Educating people about the values
Engagement can take two forms, depending on the way step one was conducted. On one extreme, it could be achieved by a roadshow event involving everyone in the company. If budget and time are available, it is best to combine both.
There may be an emerging aspirational quality that must be claimed.
This stage can be a trap if it’s done superficially, without time or space to dialogue and develop understanding and learn. Each person needs to be able to relate to the values, and understand how they can be used in their daily decision-making.
The time you invest now will be rewarded handsomely in the future.
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Embedding and refining
Work practices, people processes and values must incorporate behaviours and values. They are often woven into the fabric of many organisations but they may not be brought to life by their day-today practices.
It is not enough to embed values once. As you develop a shared understanding about the values, they will become part your DNA. When you share stories about when people got it right, and when they failed to do so, you build confidence and motivation.
Review the values periodically. Check proactively if the values still serve their purpose or if one has been fully incorporated and can be removed. A new aspirational values may emerge in an organisation when its context and strategy change.
For more information on how Pecan can assist your organisation in values design and embedding Find out about their Culture Change That Works Service, and contact them .
