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If you’re aware that your organisational culture is not what it should be, or that there are business-wide behaviours and thinking that are far from best practice, then you may require your organisation being taken on a “Values Creation Journey”.
Whenever I work with a new business I have two initial questions regardless of the nature of the industry or profession: “Can I have a copy of your org chart?” and, “Do you have a set of values and how much traction do they have with frontline staff?” The latter question helps me to ascertain how meaningful the organisation’s values are, and to what extent they are a driver of thinking and behaviour right to the front-line level.
Values (and associated behaviours) are a valid indicator of what ‘best practice’ looks like in any business as both a reflection of what ‘good’ has looked like in the past and a target to aim for in the future. If you’re lacking a set of meaningful and actionable corporate values, or have a set of values which are hardly worth the paper that they’re written on, then contact me to talk about how I can facilitate a corporate values journey with your organisation!
I’m a huge believer in values- in numerous facilitation settings (not just values workshops), I talk about values being a reflection of what ‘best practice’ has looked like in the past, but also a target for us to aim for in the future. As such, it helps both the business and individuals to know what “Excellent” looks like and gives a “True North” setting to let people know when they’re not on track.
As an independent contractor, it would be very easy for me to help businesses to generate meaningful values, but because I’m not part of a corporate organisation myself, it would be tempting for me not to practice what I preach. However, that’s not the case. I have 22 statements that I aim to read on a daily basis that reflect my values and remind me of my “True North” and what excellent looks like both in my professional and my personal life. Many of those values and behaviours are alluded to in my book “The Motivation Equation” such as gratitude, discipline, kindness, and health and fitness.
So, whenever I work with a new business one of the first questions I ask is whether or not they have clearly set and articulated values, because they’re crucial in terms of how the business conducts itself both internally and externally. For those businesses that don’t have set values, I work with them to initially understand the “Why” behind embarking on a values journey- this is most often a conversation with the senior leadership team. I then deliverer a half or a whole day workshop, preferably with a broader team than just senior management, on what “Excellent” looks like. This is done by facilitating a process to identify 4-6 values that align with the business and the people who work in it and then working with senior management to finalize the drafted values. We then plan for the values to be integrated into the business practices (not just printed off for the staff notice board!) such as integrating them into performance reviews and periodic celebration of values, including weekly or monthly awards. I often suggest that the ultimate test for the traction of corporate values is when they enter the vocabulary of frontline staff, because having them printed on sheets of A4 paper just isn’t enough!
I also offer further workshops, if necessary, to determine a behavioural code associated with the finalized values.
If you don’t currently have a set of clearly defined values, (or you do but you really doubt they’re worth the paper they’re written on), then give me a call to discuss how I can help you create meaningful values that can help drive your business forward!
This free chapter (14) from the book “The Art of Persuasive Influence” considers a number of critical elements in persuading people towards positive outcomes including the importance of Values and Convictions (14.3).
Download a free PDF chapter from Navigating Courageous Conversations! A Roadmap for Addressing Tough Topics (and People!)
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