Does your company have values? Really?

Values are that in which we believe and under which we adjust our behaviour. Values are not created in a strategy meeting, they are already inside the organisation, and the key is to discover, express and live them. Ask your team: What are our fundamental values?

Values do not have the goal of distinguishing your company, but of guiding and inspiring the people who work in it. Our personal values guide our actions, so the same must be true for the company. If there are no clear and common values, in the case of a testing event, each employee will react according to their own opinion, creating relevant misalignments.

Values reinforce the company′s mission. They must be coherent and aligned with the mission. Target customers will be those who identify themselves with your values, because they′re the same as theirs. Patagonia, Apple and Wal-Mart are clear examples of empathy between brand′s and customer′s values.

Apple established creativity and changing the world for their customer′s benefit as its values. Steve Jobs reflected this in his 1997 ad, titled “Think different”: “Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do”. Creative, rebellious people identify with Apple and want their products.

Long-term successful companies stand by values that remain unchanged and a purpose which is always the same. Are your values represented in your service? What legacy will your company leave to the world?

If the values are clear, they are a magnificent guide for every company member at the time of making difficult decisions.

On Wednesday, September 1982, a twelve-year-old girl named Mary Kellerman and a twenty seven-year-old postal worker named Adam Janus, both citizens of Chicago, died under strange circumstances. Hours later, Janus′ brother also died. All three victims had taken extra-strength Tylenol. Cyanide, a deadly substance, was discovered in their bodies.

At the time, Tylenol was the clear leader of the United States′ painkiller market, a 680-million-dollar market. Johnson & Johnson had spent more than 155 million dollars in publicity for the brand since 1976, and its sales represented 15% of the company′s income statement.

On the next day, Johnson & Johnson found small quantities of cyanide in the quality control department. It was a substance used to test the purity of the source materials, a requisite from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).

That same day, James Burke, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, took the immediate decision of recalling 31 million Tylenol bottles from stores, with tremendous economic and reputational consequences. Shares took a plunge in the Stock Market.

Why did he do it? Why so fast? Because he looked at Johnson & Johnson′s Credo, which stated: “We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services”. The Credo (created in the forties) was very clear: people are first and everything else comes second; it was important to Johnson & Johnson, and its CEO was up to the task. This action was decisive in turning Johnson & Johnson into a committed, trustworthy reference for all in the pharmaceutical industry. They lost to win. And won, because, once the product was back in stores, sales skyrocketed.

Walt Disney′s founder set imagination and to convey the good through their movies as the company′s values. This has been a central guide that has set a course for Disney during their years of existence.

Nodstrom takes customer service to the extreme of recommending a competitor′s store if they are aware that others have a better product.

Google has creativity and innovation as values. Consequently, they devote huge resources to searching for innovative and creative persons. They invite employees to dedicate a day every week to work in whatever they like, encourages them to take risks and has the Google Founders Award for those teams that have done extraordinary work. In a survey, 90% of employees answered that Google pushed them to be creative not only at work, but also into balancing their work-private life. This company has created a work environment in which everyone can speak freely and constantly seek innovation.

Sony′s values are: to be pioneers, not to follow others, to do the impossible, and to encourage people′s creativity and ability.

Extraordinary companies do not choose certain values because they are in fashion at the time, but because they are a reflection of themselves, of who they are. Sometimes are values that go against the current.

Patagonia is a case for authenticity. In the company bulletin board, weather conditions for surfing are posted and, if they′re good, employees can leave work to go surf. All their buildings are designed keeping the environment in mind, with solar panels, natural light and natural heating and ventilation systems. Employees see the company as a family, not as a workplace, climbing together on weekends, and the company has a staff turnover of less than 5%.

Most businesses aren′t clear on what their values are, others have set values but do not follow them, and their employees either don′t know about them or have forgotten them.

The way to find values is to take an honest look inside and seek those that are truly fundamental to your company. Don′t seek for more than four. These Values consolidate over time, they get inside the culture of the company if followed consistently. If they are betrayed, then they will dissolve and lose their significance.

It′s useless to try to invent values that are not already in the company. If you do, employees know the true values and will not be deceived and buy into any untrue values.

The values you find must guide your actions when they are beneficial to the company′s results, but also when they′re not, because they′re above any results. As we saw earlier with Johnson & Johnson, they are fundamental.

If the market is incompatible with your values, there′s a need not to change Values, but to change markets.

If you don′t like the values in your company, then start to work on changing them, because it will take time.

In order to identify which are your fundamental values, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras use the Mars Group test. Imagine you′re asked to recreate your company′s attributes in another planet, but only have room for five people in your spaceship. Who would you send? Those persons who better understand and follow our fundamental values, who best represent the genetic core of the organisation. Take a pause here and do this exercise.

If you started a new entrepreneurial project tomorrow? Which values would it have? Would you keep them even if they come out to be a competitive disadvantage? Only in that case would they be true and enduring.  

Not everybody will fit in with the values of your company, nor share them. Values are going to help you figure out who should be in and who shouldn′t.

Patagonia chooses employees according to their values. They hire backpackers, concerned about the environment and with an entrepreneurial spirit. “You can teach a backpacker to do business, but you can′t teach an MBA to climb”, says their president.

Zappos is an online shoe retail company in which service culture is very strong. After showing the company, its culture and values to potential new hires, then offers them 2,000 dollars not to get in. They′re happy to lose those who choose the money, because they lack sufficient enthusiasm to deserve to work there.

You should use selection interviews to evaluate if the person fits in with your values and if they carry them inside. Only in that case will they become passionate about your purpose and make it theirs. Do you hire people according to their values, or to their abilities?

Oakley, the high-performance sports sunglass manufacturer, only hires people who practice sports and who are highly competitive. They only want employees who are passionate about what the company does.

It′s not about words or pretty and accurate phrases, it′s about the true values of the company, expressed through phrases or not. Don′t look for the statement, rather, seek to understand the true values of your organisation. If you dont like what you see, change them or change companies.

@EnriqueQuemada

www.onetoonecf.com