- Value [1] Organizational Culture
- 1. Core values are the building blocks of organizational culture. The core values of an organization are the foundation of
the corporate culture. Organizational core values do more than just promote ethical business practices. The system of core
values that a business owns will shape the culture of the enterprise, the decision-making criteria of your managers and the
actions of your employees. The more strongly defined the organization’s core values, the more likely that this value system
will serve as a code of conduct that promotes and guides strategically-aligned behaviors within managers and employees.
- Value [2] Cultural Improvement
- 2. The process of defining, measuring, and improving core values can be an excellent vehicle for improving organizational
culture. There are many benefits to be realized by utilizing core values to drive cultural change, but perhaps the following
are most significant: - The process defines a shared set of beliefs and commitments to the way the employees of a business
want to behave and treat each other - The process guides decisions and emphasizes what’s important to the business as plans
are developed to change and improve the organization - Measuring provides a way to quantify perceptions (ratings), understand
context and experiences (comments), and understand which core values appear to most influence overall belief system satisfaction
- The process enables organizations to track progress, both formally and informally
- Value [3] Common Language
- 3. Core values provide a common language to address unacceptable behaviors in a less threatening way. Core values help fill
in the spaces where HR policies have gaps. The story of an organization with a rumor-spreading employee comes to mind. It
is shared here to illustrate the point that core values reinforce desired behaviors and help manage those that fall out of
line with expectations. Several instances occurred where an otherwise productive and valued staff member created office turmoil
as a result of spreading rumors about other employees. When the employee was tracked down as the source of the rumors, the
area manager stepped in to confront the individual and put a stop to it. The employee insisted that the rumors were true and
that no company policy had been violated in talking about other employees in this manner. Fortunately, the manager was able
to point to the organization’s core values as a reason to stop the negative behavior. The employee was reminded of two core
values being violated (paraphrased here): - Employees will be open, honest and respectful in both internal and external communications
- Employees’ actions will contribute to creating a positive work environment The employee agreed with the manager and stopped
the negative behavior. This story demonstrates an example where core values helped a manager address a pattern of unacceptable
employee behavior in a non-threatening way that defused and rectified a bad situation.
- Value [4] Nonthreatening Methods
- Value [5] Priorities
- 4. Core values guide decisions and emphasize what is important to the business as the organization continues to change and
improve. Organizational leaders need their employees to act as their proxy, serving as delegates of the business that promote
a shared set of common objectives and possess the same organizational DNA as top-level managers. Management must be able to
know that decisions made and actions taken by employees will protect the organization and portray it well. “Values-aligned”
managers and employees benefit the entire organization by demonstrating predictable and favorable decision-making capabilities
and behaviors that are reflective of the executive management mindset. When management provides the core values “compass”
to help influence and guide behavior, those closest to the action in the organization can respond with appropriate decisions
and actions.
- Value [6] Change
- Value [7] Improvement
- Value [8] Predictibility
- Value [9] Performance
- 5. Core values influence business performance. Organizations with strong cultures rooted in shared core values tend to have
much happier employees. Happier employees help businesses be more productive. In fact, there is empirical evidence from the
Strategy Institute For Thought Leadership that suggests core values directly correlate with business performance. Indexed
survey data related to core value perceptions and employee satisfaction can be viewed relative to business financial performance
– all indexed in relative terms on a scale of one to ten for five different companies... businesses with higher core value
index scores outperformed those with lower core value index scores. Likewise, employee satisfaction was noticeably higher
in those same organizations.
- Value [10] Happiness
- Value [11] Discovery
- 6. If core values have not yet been established, they can be discovered by following this process
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