Recently I presented at an insurance conference to an audience composed mostly of people with “C” in their titles. It seemed a good time to do a little on the spot survey.
I asked my group of CEOs and CFOs whether their companies had defined their unique corporate values. About half raised their hands. Those that did could only list some of those values without stumbling.
The values, however, were all the same, so how hard could they have been to remember?
Integrity, teamwork, respect, customer focus, learning, people. I could have listed them all myself without even asking. At least, I suggested, no one mentioned “thinking outside the box.”
A brief discussion followed. I proposed that since all their organizations listed similar values any employee should be able to switch companies within that industry and not even notice a change in atmosphere.
Of course not, I was told. Each company was unique. You could sense it as soon as you walked in the door. That’s what is meant by organizational culture, they declared. Reluctantly, they agreed that their values did not particularly reflect the culture of their firms in any concrete or meaningful way. They were words unlinked to action and thus empty rhetoric.
I encouraged them to think more deeply about what culture meant. Culture grows out of what people do. Organizations, if you haven’t noticed, are very picky about what their employees do. They want them to engage in a particular set of actions which, when repeated over time, achieve desired results.
Values, therefore, are not just words on the back of a business card, they are the actions which are acceptable within the organizational culture. In fact, the range of desired behaviour is so important that it needs to be set by those at the top and cascaded throughout the organization. That’s why it’s so dismaying when a roomful of CEOs can’t name their own corporate values. As stewards of the culture, they should be thinking continually about how to direct the actions of others in ways consistent with those values.
Like everyone else, my CEOs had come to believe that values and culture could be superimposed on an organization, created like a marketing campaign to suit the needs of the moment. Witness the recent “War For Talent” in which so many companies felt they had to create the image of a wild and wacky culture that Gen X and Y would find appealing. The truth is, while projecting a successful or fun culture to employees, investors and the media may seem like a sure-fired means of branding an organization, real culture and heartfelt values must be exhibited through the consistent and persistent actions of executives towards their employees. And then be exhibited by those employees to each other and to the customer.
Otherwise, when executives articulate values, with the best of intentions, but act contrary to them, the result is employee cynicism. The values, employees realize, are only surface coating meant for the outside world. It’s like the organization that lists “people” as a value, then fires everyone after a rough quarter. Or the one that declares “learning” sacred but cuts training and development from the budget. In other words, values are supposed to mean something. And executives decide how meaningful that is.
When values are meaningful, culture and work habits reflect them. Employees can even tell stories about “corporate legends” that typify them. There’s no need for managers to watch every move or for employees to consult their “rule books.” People live the values, act accordingly, and the results follow.
Here are some general guidelines for developing your company’s values.
- State values not just as words but clear behaviours. Values do not waver with the market and are never situational or compromised. They should be less than six in number.
- Articulate values to each level of management and have each level pass the meaning and interpretation of them to the next. Values only reach people and affect them if they see their direct manager live and act accordingly.
- Make certain that values are brought into the business decision-making process. Ask about decisions in light of values. Consistency is the foundation for a strong culture.
- Hold people accountable for actions that violate values. Those that do should never be promoted or rewarded.
- Celebrate those that live the values, especially those that live them in tough times.
So next time you are asked what your corporate values are, tell the truth. State those things that make your company unique. Tell people about what is consistently celebrated and rewarded. If you paint a picture that is different from reality, your company employees recognize the shallowness of that and lose faith. Unfortunately, the attitude in the room last week was more common than not. The volumes of business books, the plethora of business magazines, the bombardment of business television have reinforced if not glorified the success of certain firms, oversimplifying value statements into buzzwords and headlines.
Make sure your organization doesn’t fall into the same trap.
David Cohen is president of Strategic Action Group, and author of “Inside the Box: Leading with Corporate Values to Drive Sustained Business Success”.
