It’s a rare organization that hasn’t gone through the process of defining its vision, mission and values at one time or another.
So imagine my surprise when I saw the data from a recent study of 5,000 employees across the country that reports only 4 percent are “inspired by values and a commitment to a mission and purpose.” No, that’s not a typo.
How can that be? Well, another part of the study offers a good hint. It states, “Only 3 percent of respondents report they work for organizations whose purpose and values inform decision-making and guide all employee and company behavior.”
Here’s the bottom line: Companies shouldn’t be discouraged from developing and deploying clearly articulated values. They just need to do it differently so it’s more meaningful and actionable.
The typical approach
Consider the typical value-setting process that goes something like this: A small group of senior leaders goes away for a day or two with a facilitator to put together a plan that includes vision, mission, values, etc. The people who talk the loudest or who have the most authority are the ones whose opinions usually prevail.
At the end of the session, they congratulate themselves, take it all back to the corporation, send out an announcement about it, present it in a town hall meeting, put it in a binder, post it on the wall, occasionally call it out in conversations here and there — and that’s about as far as it goes.
A better alternative
By developing a cultural assessment instrument, a company may make values more meaningful, more reflective of the collective team’s views and more actionable. For example, 40 value statements could be created and validated to reflect different culture types through a rigorous research and development process.
Each person on the team (typically senior leaders and the next layer of management) completes the assessment, identifying from each person’s perspective the values that are most like and least like both the current and target cultures.
Putting values to work
Once identified, it’s time to work with the team on how to close those gaps — particularly where they have an impact on employee engagement. One way to do that is by having each manager identify specific actions that he or she will start, stop and continue to close the gaps.
Then they review those actions with one another first to get feedback and reinforce their commitment publicly. Later they review the action plans with the teams of people who report to them. Then they periodically reconnect with their teams and review the progress.
That’s just one way to make values more relevant and long lasting for an organization. Whatever approach you use, just make sure it doesn’t become a retreat exercise that turns into nice-sounding words on a poster that lead to 96 percent of employees being uninspired and disconnected from meaningful application of the values you want people to live by.
