What's with company values?
Gayle Smerdon, PhD
An author and keynote speaker on Workplace Culture and Wellbeing
They're everywhere
Some 80% of organisations have their value statements listed on their website. So lots of places have them.
They're not believed
Gallup found that only 27% of employees strongly agreed that they believed in their company values.??
They're not understood
Gallup also found that only 23% of employees strongly agreed they could apply their company values.
They're ineffective
A study from MIT Sloan?examining?how well organisations walk?their values talk determined no?correlation?between their?officially stated?values and their?culture.
Yet workplace values are touted as:
And they are demonstrated to:
So you have to ask yourself - what's going on with values???With benefits to activity and outcomes, relationships, workplace culture, performance, decision-making and engagement, why are so many workplaces missing out on maximising their values?
Working with organisations, I often see one or more of these three ingredients missing when it comes to getting the most from their values.
They are?Poorly Expressed
The values mean everything and nothing either because they are so generic or so esoteric that they are meaningless.
Keep them clear, simple and sticky, so they are unforgettable and people know what they mean and how to act on them.
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They are?Poorly Embedded
Values ... What values? No one speaks about them, uses them in their work, or thinks about what they mean for behaviours.
People should be bumping into the values all the time in communications and the structures and processes of the organisation - induction, performance conversations, coaching, recruitment, etc.
They are Poorly Embodied
There is neither talk nor walk, as leaders don't discuss or model the values. And there is no reward or accountability to reinforce their usefulness.
Values are not strange ideas floating in the universe but embodied in everyday actions. Discuss them in meetings, when making decisions, when struggling with your behaviours and that of others. And speak up for the great and about the poor values you observe.
In an environment of constant change and increasing uncertainty, our purpose and values are the ground that provides constancy. And human beings need the right amount of change and constancy to thrive. Shore up your values by seeing them well expressed, embedded and embodied in your organisation and create the springboard for positive change, business success and a healthy workforce.
Until next time,
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1 年Gayle Smerdon, PhD Workplace values are usually derived at the upper echelons and are often seen as motherhood statements that are unrelatable to those that are meant to embody them in their every day work. Agree with Marie-Claire Ross, GAICD - same problem.
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1 年Spot on! Workplace values are crucial yet often overlooked. They should guide us through uncertainty. Thanks for raising this important topic!
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1 年Sadly, you could have written this 10 years ago and the problems were the same.