How to refresh your company values

Written by Jerome Parisse-Brassens

Do you feel your company values may not fully represent who you are anymore and therefore need updating? If so, you’re not the only one. At Walking the Talk, we are currently working with many of our clients who wish to do exactly that: refresh their values.

There may several reasons why you may want to refresh your company values. Some of the most common ones include:

·????? You have defined a new vision or strategy for the next 5 to 10 years. The current values were set-up to enable your previous strategy. You need new values to enable your new strategy.

·????? Your values were established a few years ago and they represent your culture of the past. Your organisation has evolved and needs a new set of values.

·????? Your values were never embedded in the organisation and have remained words on the wall. You are now re-focusing on your culture and want to signal change. You might be thinking about rewording your values or about redefining them.

·????? Your environment has changed. Increased competition. New customers. New geographies. Your values need to adapt to the new world you now operate in.

·????? Your values are still the right ones, but the way they are worded is not inspiring. You feel you need to redefine them to take people with you on the journey.

·????? You have too many values and you want to help people focus. We often see organisation with up to 6 or 8 values. Our advice is to go for three, in any case not more than four. With too many values, you run the risk of confusing people, not being clear on who you are, and taking years to embed them.

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