The Dilution of Value

VALUE is one of those words that is used so frequently that it has lost meaning.? We use it so often and in so many ways that eventually it becomes jargon, and the meaning becomes diluted.? As a matter of fact, in our family company we hold VALUE as one of our core values or beliefs.? We say we believe in value and repeat it on a regular basis. Yet when we share and explore the stories around the word value, we rarely ever get a story that relates to it.? Why is that?? I think the reason we don’t see the meaning of the word is because we overuse the term so frequently that we have diluted the real meaning.?

Recently, we engaged a consultant to advise us on our family business.? After he had gotten to know the company and closely inspected our business, his first comment was very interesting.? He said, “You guys have an incredible, positive culture.? You cooperate and care for each other.? You foster an environment where people are willing to help support one another. The side of the culture that I can see that is often missing though, is a culture of performance.” This perspective, although hard to hear, was important feedback and feedback is the breakfast of champions. If performance is supposed to be part of our culture, where does it exist in our core values? It is in the lost meaning of VALUE.?

What is value? From the Oxford Language Dictionary: Value: “the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.” This is a simple definition and I think we all fully understand it abstractly, but how do we apply it to working in an organization and on a team?? This is where taking something abstract like the value of value and looking at it in the real world. It is seeing how it can and should shape your day-to-day workflow individually and on a team.? When it comes to people and the value they provide, there are two types of VALUE: Intrinsic Value and Value that is Created.

Intrinsic Value

This type of value is often missed and never should be.? This is the worth that EVERYONE has.? Every person has intrinsic value.? This means that EVERY person on your team, in the company, and on the planet has value. Each one brings something to this world. Each person has value.? The individual that is good at their job, bad at their job, lazy, or hard working all have intrinsic value.? They are of value because they are part of the great human family.? Each one is a person just like you and me and everyone else.? As a person they have value. They deserve respect.? Everyone deserves respect because they have intrinsic value as a human being.? Regardless of position, title, abilities, or the lack thereof, every individual deserves respect because of the value inherent in them as a member of the human family.? This does not mean that every person should be on your team just because they are a human, but it does mean even though they might not be good enough to be on your team, they deserve respect.

Created Value or Performance

Created Value or Performance is your ability to add value to the team.? This type of value is critical for your team and for the entire business to survive.? Every person must create more value as they learn. ?If they can’t or don’t create value--the team, the business, or the organization cannot survive.? This is regardless of position or tenure.? If you can’t provide created value, you are dragging everyone else down.?

Exceptional

So how do we create value?? To look at how we create value we first must look at our objective, our goals, and our mission.? We need to make sure the value we create aligns with the overall mission and goals of the organization. In our family business our mission is to “Deliver an Exceptional Customer Experience.”? Everything we do should be centered around the customer and delivering that exceptional experience.? To provide value that is in line with our mission we must be able to give each customer an exceptional experience.?

What does this mean?? When a customer begins their journey with us every job affects their experience. If, during a transaction, every employee delivers an exceptional experience and just one person messes up, this creates a problem for the customer. The only thing the customer will remember in the transaction is the problem.? This means that in order to deliver an exceptional experience we all must become exceptional at our jobs.? Any one individual that is not exceptional at their position means that we are not fully living up to our mission statement and we are not providing the value we say we want to provide to that customer.

This means the core value of VALUE is that we are exceptional in our currently assigned roles. This is the expectation that we should set for ourselves and our fellow team members because anything less is not fully living up to our mission statement.?

Win The Day

One of the sad realities is that many organizations do not explicitly tell employees the value they expect them to be creating on a regular basis.? Employees might have a job description, but they so often don’t know the day-to-day metrics that they are expected to meet.? Every person should know how to win their day.? They should know what to shoot for and how to hit it daily.? Because we all have different jobs, roles, responsibilities, and are in different stages of training, this must be done on an individual basis with their manager.? Each manager should clearly define for each individual how they win the day and how they provide value on a regular basis.? They should define it and then track it.? How many times are we winning the day versus not winning at all? How are we doing at creating value day in and day out?? This helps every individual know what they need to achieve every day so they will be able to go home at night knowing they won that day.?

Adding or Subtracting

When it comes to adding value to your team, the interesting thing is there is no middle ground.? You are either adding value or subtracting it.? The only time there is middle ground is during the initial training period.? While you are learning the job you might not be able to provide full value. You will subtract value from the team while you are learning and growing, but after this initial period you then find that you are either adding value to your team or subtracting it.? You are key in moving your team forward, or you are the person that is weighing down your team.?

Often, we don’t see how this affects the entire team.? We only think about ourselves and the value we are getting.? When we look around at team members not only on our team but across other departments and throughout the organization, we see people that are not adding value. They are not only dragging their team down but are dragging the entire organization down.? If a team member is not providing value to the team they should, with respect, be asked to leave the team. This does not mean that they need to be removed from the organization but that they might not be on the right seat.? We could look at moving them to a position that is better suited for them where they are able to add value to the organization.? In the end however, one person dragging the team down is not worth the failure to the whole and we should be willing to move on.?

Performance is not optional. VALUE creation is the reason why we are here and the reason why we have it as a core value.? If we cannot perform our duties, we should not have them. As we provide value to our customers this value is returned.? As we continue to grow and create value, this value returns in opportunities, growth, and a healthy organization that provides for us all.?