You either love them or hate them. But all organisations have them. Some treat the creation of values as a box-ticking exercise, a hygiene factor; they know they must have them, but after a poor attempt at creating a set of values, these often end up forgotten and filed away, never to be seen again.
If you feel this way, my advice is to not waste your time creating them for your organisation or team.
However, if you believe that values could be helpful but need to know where to start to bring them to life, keep reading.
Values can be a crucial aspect of an organisation's culture and blueprint. They guide strategy, vision, and behaviour—what's expected of employees and what's accepted (and, importantly, what's not).
Moreover, employees, customers, investors, and suppliers are increasingly choosing to work with organisations that align with their values, making it essential to not only establish values but also to demonstrate them through your everyday operations and interactions.
To transition values from abstract ideals into tangible behaviours that resonate throughout your organisation, here are some practical steps to help you embed these principles effectively:
Spend time creating your values. Assemble a cross-functional team from different areas, roles, locations, and job levels within the business. Aim for diversity within this group to ensure your values resonate with all your employees and clients.
Engage someone external to facilitate the values workshop. This ensures the person leading the discussions is unbiased and not steering the direction of the outputs.
If you already have company values, spend time defining what these mean for your team and consider adding your own to supplement the overall organisational values.
Don't finalise after the first round. Reflect on your values and revisit them. Do they still resonate?
This step is crucial—assign behaviours to each of the values. This is what makes them tangible. Define what living by those values looks like.
Make them visible and integrate them into the business. Include them in your team's performance evaluations and hold people accountable for the associated behaviours.
Test the values against real-world examples that require tough decisions.
The wrap-up
Values can be crucial in shaping your organisation's culture and success. While creating and implementing values might not seem an immediate priority, they are essential for long-term success and coherence in your business practices.
Think of your company values as the backbone of your corporate identity—they define what your company stands for and guide how everyone, from top management to new hires, behaves and makes decisions.
Without a strong set of well-defined values, an organisation risks drifting from its mission or building a culture that contradicts its goals.
Don't just create values to tick a box. Invest the necessary time and resources to develop a set of values that resonate with internal teams and external stakeholders. Then, integrate these values into every aspect of your operations.
Values can be more than just words on a page; they are the principles upon which your company builds its future. Make them count.