Values are concepts that inform beliefs. They inform what is good and right, they motivate behaviour. They inform the culture of a business: what it focuses on, produces and rewards.
Values, culture and business effectiveness are closely linked. Misalignment carries costs to personnel motivation, turnover and engagement.
In a recent survey, 82 organisations gave views about the role of coaching and climate change. We’d asked: what values do you consider essential for a successful business or workplace? The above word cloud was generated from their answers.
The standout words are integrity and trust.
So far, so obvious. But…
… values are notoriously tricky: your idea of honesty might not be mine! However, it’s fair to assume that in the above organisations in which respondents listed integrity and trust, staff and customers enjoy a strong sense of safety; they can trust that their ideas will be heard and considered.
Additionally, a workplace demonstrating the value integrity might enable open and transparent consideration of mistakes and equitable of treatment of staff at all levels.
In my experience, both as a leader and a coach, when people can remember their company values they’re often described in derisory way. Clients describe a list that is generated during a workshop to be inserted into the planning and promotional documents. They are seldom routinely revisited and investigated in relation to the messiness of the day to day life of the workplace as experienced by the teams or customers.
It’s often when they’re trashed that values get noticed! I worked for an organisation which listed inclusion as a core value. We dismayed as pay inequity, building design, recruitment processes and project work routinely excluded certain groups and staff. I believe it was disillusionment that fuelled the high turn-over in that organisation.
Right idea: wrong questions?
Did our survey ask the right question? What if we’d asked: How important are clearly articulated values for effective business? I imagine most would say “Very”.
And if we’d followed this with: How clearly are the values of your business reflected across all aspects of your workplace? How often do you reconsider them in practice? What is a lack of clarity costing you? You can imagine the responses.
Costs
When asked if they agreed with the statement that their current workplace reflected their values, 20% of our survey respondents answered: neutral, disagree or strongly disagree. Workplace culture is a common area of concern for clients considering professional satisfaction and effectiveness. What is their disillusionment costing them in low motivation? And what is it costing the business they work for?