Core Values Don’t Make A Truly Human Culture

“Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves.” Stephen R. Covey

My first exposure to organizational culture introduced me to values, beliefs, behaviors and rituals of an organization. I embraced this concept and started applying it in my business and also taught others who attended my business training. However, things started changing for me as I started studying people-centric organizations.

It doesn't make sense to employee people and then try to tell them what they should believe and how they should behave in the workplace. In the name of designing culture, businesses have turned people into robots.

When an organization has set of values and behaviors for everyone who works in the organization and also promote and compensate based on that there is a chance that people will lose their uniqueness and authenticity. They will become like everyone because the culture of the company expects them to think, believe and behave the same way as everyone. They become predictable.

When people become predictable, there potential gets caged and their humanity imprisoned. Most of them live double life. The duplicity is a result of being expected to live one kind of life at work in order to keep their work and get ahead while the other is what they live among their people at home.

People should be allowed to live their different values, beliefs and behaviors in the workplace. Expecting the to align to a set of values, have a set of beliefs and act in certain ways is a way to control who they are and make them become who they are not. The business of a business is to help people become all they are created to be and not make them a kind of persons you want them to be. That may be part of the reason people experience burnout.

Success in business should the result of helping employees become what they are created to be and make their specific contribution to a team which results in impact of the business. No one should pigeonhole people to determine their growth and who they become. The mental and emotional stress of trying to become who you are not to please a boss so as to keep a job can be fatal. Most employees are one person in the workplace and another at home.

Ina Truly Human Company, the culture is determined by the kind of environment it creates for people to work in. The combination of caring for their employees, promise of their purpose and promise of value to the employee is what creates the culture. Any organization that has a set of values and behaviors it expects people to conform to doesn’t really care for its people. If you care for them you will give them room to be their authentic self and be proud of them as they are.

Whatever the C-suite model or how they treat your people will determine the environment or climate they create in the workplace. For instance, some people may identify listening as a value. Those who don’t feel listened to at home, will not listen to anyone in the workplace. They may pretend to be listening but won’t.

However, if the leaders of the business care for the people and listen to them and then train them to listen, they will feel respected and then go home and listen. What we call values are simply soft skills that we can each people. If you see them as values, you expect people to behave that way. But if you see them as skills, you will train and equip people to live it.

These three factors are responsible for the culture of your organization. Either you are intentional or not, they will make up what your workplace is all about.

1. Care For Your People: When you care for people, you create an environment where they feel valued, respected, dignified, appreciated for what they do and that they matter. You will never do anything to hurt the people you care for. Everything you do will be for their benefit. You won’t force them to be who they are not, but rather inspire them to be all they can be. You will also care for their lives outside the workplace. This creates the employee experience

2. Promise of Purpose: What is the purpose of your company promising everyone who will join your bus? If your purpose is all about making money, you promise to them will be that you are using them to make money. Its only a matter of time before they start reacting. The purpose of Truly Human Companies is to impact people and community positively. The promise of being part of a cause that will make the world a better place by taking care of people will create an inspiring, optimistic and challenging environment for everyone. This will bring out the best in people. It will create an environment that identifies, develop and unleash the potential of people. This creates meaning

3. Promise of Value: The promise of value is your employee value proposition. People-Centered Culture is based on what people need and wants. It’s an environment that gives people freedom, growth and opportunities. The company doesn’t decide who people should be, but create an environment based on what people need and want. This makes up the employee value proposition. When you promise them an environment that is safe, trusting, gives them a sense of belonging, connection, autonomy, independence and ownership you will get the best from them.

When companies foster a culture where employees feel valued, they matter, what they do is important and are supported to grow and achieve their full potential, they will give more to the company. This will translate into high performance and productivity, better customer experience, stronger financial results and most importantly happy and fulfilled employees.

Your primary responsibility as a business leader is not to determine values and behaviors as culture but to create the kind of environment where your people’s potential will be cultivated and developed and then released without hindrance and control. Everyone blossoms in an environment where they feel affirmed, cared for, trusted and freed to be all they can be and create all the value they can create. That should be the way to design the culture of your business.

"Choose the right employees and set them loose." Carlos Slim

Do you hire people based on culture alignment? No. Hire based on purpose alignment. If you are changing the world and they want to change the world with you, you have a highly inspired team that will give you all that you need. They will join you for the cause your company is fighting. You can train for soft skills but you can never train anyone to have same purpose as you. When employees have common purpose with a company and are treated with care, they feel like family and take ownership in this business. To understand this and design it into your business, make plans to attend the Truly Human Business Model Design Masterclass on zoom.

In January 2022, I will be holding a Truly Human Business Model Design Masterclass. In this Masterclass, you will learn how to design a people-centered purpose for your business, employee value proposition, truly human culture, employee and customer experience and more. It will be on Zoom. If you are interested to joining, kindly email me at [email protected]

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