The Value of Values
Every organization has values. It’s not enough just to have values, because values can drive companies toward mediocrity and failure, just as they can drive them in good and profitable directions. It’s important that the values are the right ones that ultimately produce the type of behaviors that will achieve the company’s stated goals.
I operate from a belief that values are important because they drive attitudes; and attitudes determine behaviors; and behaviors produce outcomes. That’s why I see clearly how a company’s values ultimately impact the bottom line (i.e. outcomes).
Companies that give little thought to the values that flow through their organization are often victims of their own doing without realizing the source of the problem. If your goal is to achieve Culturetopia (a high performance, high fulfillment culture), one of the first questions to ask about your company is this: What are my company’s values?
It’s a simple question but it could lead to great things.
There are two ways this question can be answered. Typically, the first and easiest answer is found by looking at the formal statements made by the company to its employees. These values statements can often be found in the “About Us” section of the company’s website or they could be hung in a nice frame in the corporate boardroom. They might be reiterated at annual meetings or management conferences and met with nods of approval or rounds of applause. These values statements are expressed to shareholders and to the world at large — “This is who we are!” Those are called expressed values.
Unfortunately, expressed values don’t always represent reality. Because what we say isn’t necessarily what we actually believe or represent how we behave.
The other way to answer this question requires greater analysis. If you really want to know the true expression of your company’s values, take a look at the attitudes of the employees followed by the way the people in the company behave. These are called implicit values and represent the true, honest implied values that the company actually lives by. What gets measured? What is emphasized? What behaviors are rewarded? What is talked about the most in meetings? Answer these questions and you’ll begin to get a sense of what really matters to the company which may not be consistent with what’s written on the website, on the walls, in the boardroom.
If you really want to know the values of your company, look at what your company does, not what it says. Working backwards from behaviors to attitudes to values can be a sobering process but an honest and true assessment of your company’s core values.
It’s a great place to start, but it’s only a starting point.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
About Jason Young. Author, speaker and consultant. Jason Young has been called a “rare breed” when it comes to developing leaders, teams and customer service initiatives. As a former senior-level manager at Southwest Airlines, Jason learned the value of a successful workplace culture. During his 10-years with the airline consistently rated No. 1 in customer service and employee satisfaction, he was a key driver in creating and developing the company’s innovative training programs for its successful leadership and customer service culture that have become renowned in the business world. Today, Jason shares his vision in developing successful corporate cultures and workplace environments with forward-thinking companies, including Starbucks, Coca Cola, Radio Shack and Tyson Foods, to name a few. He has even captured his philosophy of creating high performance cultures in his new book, The Culturetopia Effect. Find out more at www.culturetopia.com