Values are Worthless if This Doesn't Happen

Most organizations know the importance of values.
 
They often have nice, fancy posters hanging on conference room walls, espousing them.
 
Maybe even listing them, with an inspiring piece about their importance in the employee handbook.
 
And that's about it.
 
They don’t go any farther in embedding them in the culture, perhaps because they don’t know how.
 
Or maybe they think that putting them on a wall, or in a handbook, will magically bring them to life.
 
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩.
 
Because having values woven into every area of the organization such as onboarding, training, feedback, recognition, performance evaluations, meetings, decision-making and general day-to-day communication, is critical.
 
Even worse, is how frequently there is a mismatch between the stated values and the reality.
 
For example:
 
✅ Accountability: No-one is ever held accountable, and everyone knows it.

✅ Professional Honesty: If people are honest with one another, someone is punished for it.
 
✅ Transparency: No-one ever knows what is going on, and news travels almost exclusively through the grapevine.
 
The truth is that companies that don’t weave their values into everything they do, or that don’t follow what they say they believe, would have been better off not having developed values to begin with.
 
Even though that is obviously not a good idea, and sends its own troublesome message, not to mention the lost opportunity.
 
💠 𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 75.5% 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙨.
 
But, arguably, at least there is a degree of honesty, by not pretending to be something it is not, by espousing a set of values that are simply not true.
 
Leaving employees feeling as though they cannot trust what leaders say, eventually becoming resentful and indifferent, the antithesis of engagement.
 
Yet engaged employees stay longer, are absent less, are more productive, and provide better customer service.
 
In addition, they become an organization’s brand ambassadors, where great candidates want to come and work.