The Difference Between Values and Culture

The holidays are often a time for reflection, as each new year lends itself to thoughts about what comes next personally and professionally.

If you are among those thinking about your professional future, you're probably giving some thought to the values and the culture of where you work or where you hope to work. In the eyes of many, the concept of “values” and “culture” is similar. While they do share similarities, they really are not the same, and it’s important to understand the distinction.

In a nutshell, values are eternal; they never change. For instance, the values that guide our business decisions at Henry Schein have always included integrity, honesty, ethical behavior, and respect for the dignity of others. 

Culture, on the other hand, is the way we implement our values. Culture adapts and changes with the times, as it must. The attributes of culture include teamwork, cooperation, speed, persistence, and overcoming adversity. 

Here are two quick examples that demonstrate the distinction, one specific to Henry Schein and one that all of us should recognize.

In 1997, Henry Schein decided to close our distribution center in the Long Island town of Port Washington. This was not an easy decision, but customers demanded better service. Our Port Washington facility was located just outside New York City, and our trucks had to spend hours getting through huge volumes of traffic leaving Long Island. To better serve our customers, improve our transportation network, and accelerate product delivery, we relocated our eastern distribution center to Denver PA, almost 200 miles away.

But we were determined not to leave behind our values, culture, and Team Schein Members (TSMs). Many dedicated TSMs moved to Denver from Port Washington to help launch the new distribution center. But we knew that some TSMs would not be able to come along. Those individuals were provided resources to increase their skills and train for new positions – both within Henry Schein and outside. Our culture needed to adapt in order to maintain our values. We made sure to treat TSMs honestly and with the utmost respect as we met the challenges of a changing world.

Technology’s Impact

Another example that is common to all of us can be found in how we use technology. One of our eternal values at Henry Schein is open communications – the freedom and encouragement to discuss issues with any TSM in a respectful manner. While this value will never change, the way we communicate has changed dramatically in the almost nine decades we’ve been in business, as it has for any business as established as ours. We’ve moved from pencil and paper to teletype, then fax machines, and then email. We’re now exploring the latest instant messaging platforms as the next advance in communications.

With each new technology introduction, the culture of communication has changed, primarily by getting faster, which ultimately ensures that we connect to our customers and each other in the most efficient way possible. Yet the value of open communications is eternal, no matter what technology we use.

Perhaps one of the best ways to distinguish between values and culture is to think about our favorite quote from Jay Schein:

“This is what we are really about: A concern for people and a concern for results.” 

 “A concern for people” – that’s our values. “A concern for results” – that’s our culture. Our concern for people – our values – don’t change and never will change. But how we deliver results, how we work together, what practices we emphasize to reach our goals, can and must change in order to adapt to customers, technology, and society.

Regardless of the industry or profession, find yourself an employer that aligns with your desired values and culture. There will always be changes down the road, but, when they arise, a successful organization adapts its culture to maintain its values.