As well as supporting changes in technology and ways of working, I’m sometimes asked to advise on the roll-out of new values or support a values refresh. Leaders often want to explore how to best set these projects up and communicate the new values so people ‘get it’. Where should you start?
For me, values are probably one of the most important parts of an organisation’s culture. They help employees (and other stakeholders) understand what an organisation stands for. If they are developed well and are meaningful, they become less of an abstract concept and importantly, tangible to everyone.
It’s also important to highlight that values are hugely personal to each of us. As values expert, Jackie Le Fevre of Magma Effect says, “Values are universal, we all have them.” I’ve found from personal experience that being clear on your own values can be helpful when considering these at a wider organisation level.
With all this in mind, when I make recommendations, there are a number of things I usually take into consideration. Here are my top six pointers.
Think about why values are important for your organisation
My description above explains why I think values matter. If I ask this question of a leader and I get a standard answer of ‘because we need them’, or I hear a standard management consultant definition, then there is more work to be done.
Being clear on why values matter for your business is, in my book, a pre-requisite from the start.
Why do you want to create or revisit your values?
Is it because an organisation is growing, and you need to articulate what has worked since you founded the business into something more tangible to attract new talent or investors? Are you seeing gaps appearing in what you say in your values and what people are doing (including the senior leadership team)?
There may be a host of different reasons, but you need to be clear on yours from the outset.
Don’t develop values in splendid isolation
One of the biggest mistakes I experienced earlier in my career, was a set of values being created by a consultancy with our leadership team on a team-building day. I was then asked to share what were essentially value statements, with the rest of the business. There was little context, practically no ‘why’ behind them and zero involvement from anyone else. Guess how well the engagement with the values went?
The best examples of where values don’t just exist on a wall, they are lived by everyone, happens when effort and time is taken to work collaboratively with teams across an organisation. An added benefit of this approach is that you’ll really unearth what makes your organisation unique to the people who work there.
As with any change you want to get people behind, if you don’t involve them in the process and try to impose it on them instead, you will absolutely get the opposite effect.
Leaders have to live them too
Values apply to everyone in the organisation and that includes leaders and managers. Once values are agreed through the process followed in 3. above, actions and decision-making should be aligned to them. Nothing more to be said on this one.
Look for stories and share them
I’ve worked with several organisations that actively encourage employees to tell and share their stories. This helps everyone to see what good looks like. These can be stories of how a job was done, feedback from a customer or a new idea that's helped to drive down safety incidents. Because it’s being spontaneously done by people who are proud of what they are doing, it’s all very genuine.
Mind the gap between the say and do
Values and behaviours sometimes get confused (I’ve done it myself). I describe behaviours as your values in practice – it’s how they show up. So, when there’s a gap between what you say and then what you do in the way you behave, it will be really obvious, particularly if you’re a senior leader. And, it will very likely be called out.
A word of caution. If people in your organisation see that behaviour repeated by senior leaders – especially when it’s been called out and it continues – it can break trust. They may just vote with their feet and leave.
Values are powerful things. When they are meaningful to everyone, developed collaboratively across an organisation, well-defined and embedded, they are positive and importantly, their importance becomes very concrete to your employees and other stakeholders. They can be hugely positive for building trust, engagement and connection.
So, how are your values shaping up?