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The One Mistake With Your Company's Core Values
"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."
As we approach this Fourth of July, many of us will celebrate by having a picnic with our friends and family and possibly watch a fireworks display. After all, we are celebrating the independence of our country from Great Britain. Our forefathers, while creating the Declaration of Independence, wanted to make certain that our nation's core values would be written for eternity. These values include Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In other words, we are willing to fight and die for the ability to have these in our lives.
In most organizations you will find a list of its core values on the company's website or in its' annual report. The definition of a core value is a trait or guiding principle used by an individual or organization when making decisions. Imagine that a core value acts like a rudder on a ship guiding a vessel to its destination. An example of a core value acting as a rudder is a school district I recently worked with whose core value is safety. When a budget crises arose, all aspects of keeping students, employees and community members safe while at school was never compromised because this value was held so tightly by the Board of Directors, parents, teachers and administrators.
So what is wrong with most organization's core values? The answer is they don't keep them alive. In other words, these organizations had a retreat, created core values, posted them on their website and washed their hands of them. Developing a core values statement is easy; living those core values is difficult.
Here are five ways to keep your core values alive:
- Define them. Many core values are listed by may not be clearly defined. I advise the leadership team to write short definitions of what each value means to the organization so there is clarity around their meaning.
- Use when hiring all employees. The company's core values should be used in the advertising, recruiting and interviewing of its employees. If your company values "respecting others" then use this phrase in the hiring process. Ask job candidates to demonstrate a time when they "showed respect" for another person.
- Survey employees once a year on where they see the core values in action and when they see others violate the core values. This survey should go out to all employees and the results need to be reviewed by top management. Consistently "walking the core value talk" is the only way for the values to begin to take hold, especially if top management is the violator.
- Use when evaluating employee's performance. Most organizations that conduct performance evaluations focus mainly on the job tasks. I encourage a review of how the employee demonstrates the core values of the organization as well. Another strategy would be to catch employees demonstrating the core values and reward them on the spot with gift cards, etc.
- Survey your suppliers and clients. Organizations often send out customer satisfaction surveys and I encourage questions be developed around core values as well. Don't forget the suppliers in this process because many times they end up being your best spokesperson or even a potential client down the road.
Question for You:
Does your company have a list of core values? Do you know what they are or where to find them?
Action for You:
If you are a leader, make the core values come to life by living them yourself. If you don't have any developed, bring your leadership team together to create 5-7 values that will help guide you in decision making. Share these values with employees, customers and suppliers to gather feedback on when they are lived or violated. Use them in your hiring and evaluation processes to build awareness and create a culture of authenticity. If you are an employee that notices your organization does not have core values listed, encourage leadership to develop, define and share them.
"Authenticity empowers communication."
James L. Nicodem
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