Core Values Won't Change the Culture. Action Will.

As you probably know, Uber’s reputation took a hit earlier this year when one of their engineers, Susan Fowler, shared her experiences of sexual harassment and a culture that condoned it on her blog. After accusations of sexual harassment and gender bias, Uber has been trying to claw their way back into the good graces of its customers and employees.

Uber appointed a new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, who has been attempting to salvage their reputation by going back to the basics - and by basics, I mean core values.

Khosrowshahi just released the new core values – which were created in an attempt to transform the culture “from the bottom up.” I am so happy to see that he involved his entire workforce to create them, something I always recommend.

It got me thinking not only about how important core values are to building a positive work environment, but also sustaining it. I’ve also been thinking about all the organizations out there who don’t actually use their core values. I see it all the time. Organizations create core values, put them up on some random page of the website, and then forget about them.

While I applaud Uber for taking a step in the right direction by creating core values, we’ll have to wait and see if the CEO and the rest of Uber actually take them to heart and live them daily.

Based on my experiences as a consultant who repairs cultures like the one Uber is running from, here are four steps they should take immediately, now that they have updated core values:

1.    Turn their core values into core competencies. Core values should be injected into the performance management system so that people can be held accountable to them. One way to do that is by turning the core values into core competencies.

Since one core value is, “act like an owner,” then what this actually looks like must be defined, and added to any documents that are a part of the performance management system.

Currently, “act like an owner” says employees will essentially: seek out problems to solve, help each other, take action, finish what they start, and own up to mistakes.” So far, I fear that not all of these descriptors are measurable, and I think that’s an issue for accountability.

Managers have to able to measure employees on their ability to live this core value, and leaders have to be able to measure department heads and managers on their ability to do the same. This is the reason core values need to read as core competencies, which means the value would define measurable behavior.

2.    Advertise, market, communicate. When you ask most people what their organization’s core values are, they will say, “I don’t know,” or, “We don’t have core values”. With the new values being finalized, Uber needs to plaster them everywhere, and I mean everywhere. There should be emails, plaques, posters, brochures, billboards and more (okay, maybe not billboards). The point is, the values need to be all over the place to remind everyone at all levels that these are the rules for behavior.

3.    Train managers how to create the right work environment. “Manager bootcamp” training courses are everywhere. They teach managers about leadership, managing performance, dealing with conflict among employees… but rarely do you see building a positive workplace on the training agenda.

This, my friends, is the one constant I see in all my clients. The clients who call me because they have negative workplace culture, have a negative workplace culture because no one was living the core values. And no one was living the core values because no one knew how to perpetuate them.

Managers need special training in what the core values really mean, how to ensure the core values are brought into everything the managers and employees do on a daily basis, how to step in when someone acts out of line from the values, and how to take complaints from employees when someone else oversteps the boundaries.

From there, managers should be measured on their ability to actually create and sustain a positive work environment inside their own work team.

4.    Create a strategic plan around the core values. Uber is moving in the right direction, but they still have a long way to go with culture change. Creating the values aren’t enough, you have to live them. So gathering up a team to create a strategic plan focused on integrating the core values into Uber daily life is next on the agenda for them.

This whole thing goes back to what I am all about, building positive work environments where employees can thrive. That’s why I launched a new online course - The Workplace Culture Makeover Masterclass. I provide actionable steps for organizations to transform culture and get bottom line results. The course is perfect for any HR professional or leader who wants to change the culture but doesn’t know where to begin.

Or, if you are simply interested in getting more strategic with HR, my Strategic HR course is on LinkedIn to get you started!

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