Meaningful Corporate Values

Values initiatives have nothing to do with building consensus—they’re about imposing a set of fundamental, strategically sound beliefs on a broad group of people.

?Values are of different types

Core values?are the deeply ingrained principles that guide all of a company’s actions; they serve as its cultural cornerstones.

Aspirational values?are those that a company needs to succeed in the future but currently lacks. A company may need to develop a new value to support a new strategy.

Permission-to-play values?simply reflect the minimum behavioral and social standards required of any employee.

Accidental values?arise spontaneously without being cultivated by leadership and take hold over time. They usually reflect the common interests or personalities of the organization’s employees.?

Organizations that want their values statements to really mean something should follow four imperatives.

First, understand the different types of values: core, aspirational, permission-to-play, and accidental. Confusing them with one another can bewilder employees and make management seem out of touch.

Second, be aggressively authentic. Too many companies view a values initiative in the same way they view a marketing launch: a onetime event measured by the initial attention it receives, not by its content.

Third, own the process. Values initiatives are about imposing a set of fundamental, strategically sound beliefs on a broad group of people. That’s why the best values efforts are driven by small teams.

Finally, weave core values into everything. It’s not enough to hang your values statement on the wall; it must be integrated into every employee-related process — hiring methods, performance management systems, even dismissal policies.

If you’re not willing to accept the pain real values incur, don’t bother going to the trouble of formulating a values statement.

Source : HB Reviews

Nazia Tabassum

HR & OD Professional