Defining your organization’s values is the first step in building a successful culture, but ensuring they produce the right business outcome is a different story. Values can be positive, but they also need to be credible, genuine and authentic to your organization.
If your company culture isn’t where you want it to be, start the change by looking at four possible reasons for the disconnect.
1. Overly Aspirational Values
A recent MIT Sloan Management Review study of company value statements revealed a gap between what companies say they value and what their culture shows they value. The disconnect occurs when companies are overly aspirational about their core values, focusing on the culture they want instead of the one they already have.
Many founders think they need to go out and invent a whole new set of values when trying to bring real change into the workplace. Instead, it’s much easier to nurture the values and culture that currently exists. If you have a garden that’s already full of desirable plants that have the potential to grow, you probably aren’t going to pull them out and start from scratch. You’re going to continue watering and caring for those plants to help them thrive.
At my company, Pattern, we quickly realized that instead of dreaming about what we wanted to be, we needed to define who we are as a company now and focus on our strengths. Values like these are more meaningful and resonate with employees.
2. Overdosing on Values
Your core values tell your organization’s story. You want your employees to connect with your ideals and use them as a guide for making decisions. If employees don’t find them relatable and straightforward, you probably won’t be able to nurture or reinforce them.
If you asked your employees to name your company’s core values, could they remember them all? If not, it’s time to shorten your list. Unfortunately, many companies focus on quantity, not quality — I’ve seen some with as many as 20 core values. At that number, educating everyone is impossible. Airbnb had this problem. When they found their employees couldn’t remember their six core values, they reduced them to four.
At our company, we also have four values, and everyone knows them. I don’t have to talk about these principles every day because they resonate and mean something to the employees. This helps employees attach to the culture right from the start.
If you find your company’s values are easily forgotten, pare the list down by identifying those with the most impact on helping your employees do their jobs. Keep those. Cut the rest.
3. Failure to Reinforce
Once you have identified who you are as a company and established your values, develop and nurture them purposefully throughout the organization. However, avoid being too heavy-handed.
Recognition programs can help employees connect with, nurture and reinforce your values. Using social currency, look for small ways to recognize and celebrate employees who exemplify one of your core values in their work. This helps reinforce the idea that they’re doing things the right way.
We have several ways to reinforce our core values at our company, and we always ensure we are authentic in how we do it. For example, an employee may have come up with a terrific, new way to analyze our data set. At the next all-hands meeting, we’ll spotlight the employee’s success. Everyone gets excited, and it gives the person time to shine. It may also spark other employees to develop new ideas, and it helps us instill our values as a habit in the workplace rather than a rare occurrence.
Another way we cultivate our values is to hold a “values week.” We dedicate a day to each value, which helps remind everyone what they mean. We also give an award to celebrate successes: a plaque the employee displays on their desk during the week.
However, we’re careful not to take gamification and financial incentives too far, because we believe they can take away from the values and who we are as a company. Core values are something to be ingrained in everything we do, and employees should use them because they believe in them, not because they expect to be rewarded.
4. Not Checking the Ego at the Door
Though some may disagree, CEOs don’t create a culture — employees do. Unfortunately, some leaders lose sight of that and make the cultures and values discussion about themselves. This can lead to a decrease in morale and productivity because employees no longer feel the values are about the company.
I have seen instances where the CEO decides to throw a big holiday party and requires the employees to attend. The CEO gives a speech, and it’s about their interests, not those of the company. The employees would probably rather have dinner with their families than attend this party where their CEO makes everything about themselves.
If you cross the line and put the spotlight on your accomplishments, you’re showing you don’t respect your company’s core values. You will probably create a culture your employees won’t like, and that’s the quickest way to lose your talent.
Deploy Your Values for Good
A business is not a business without core values. They have the ability to transform an organization and engineer its growth. Employees want to work for a company they believe in and trust.
If you don’t think your values are working for your organization, it’s time to reevaluate and give them a reset. Establish clear, meaningful, and authentic ideals that align with your business goals.
