Discuss Values With Your Team
/Values help teams and individuals know which solutions are best when they make decisions. This clarity also offers practical support to decision in the following days, weeks and even years down the road. The confidence, consistency and success values provide cannot be underestimated; this is why it’s important to discuss your corporate values with your team.
Because values provide information about what decisions are right (or wrong) and why, they build a foundation of integrity and trust between people, even when their responsibilities and experiences are very different. When values are understood conflict is reduced, decisions are made more quickly, and commitment to those decisions is high… and remains high. Values also help a company generate alignment and harmony with their employees and within their products / services. If all of that isn’t enough, in the mid and long term, aligning decisions with your shared corporate values will also decrease scope-creep (skōp·krēp; Verb: continuous changes or growth in a project’s scope), and back-pedalling (back·ped·al; Verb: to reverse one's previous action or opinion), along the project. In short, shared values increases productivity and decreases waste therefore creating a net win-win-win-win-win.
We all have doubts from time to time, but shared values provide clarity, confidence and consistency.
Defining Your Corporate Values
If updating or defining your corporate values it’s important to involve every employee in discussions. Give everyone an opportunity to share what values they think should guide the company, why those values are important, their view of what each value means and how they influence each other’s actions and decisions. This important work should not be done in isolation by one person or a small C-suite team.
There is a process for helping everyone share their input; it isn’t as complicated as it may sound. The importance of having everyone’s input means that once values are agreed upon and adopted, everyone will be committed to them – no exceptions. Everyone must also understand that should someone continue to choose to work outside of those values, they are also choosing to be dismissed – no exceptions.
For newly hired employees, it’s important to introduce the company values in a robust and intentional manner. During the interview process you will have already determined their values are aligned with the company values. Now, as part of their on-boarding, take the time to share how important values are within your corporate culture, how they will be expected to use them in their work and even how your values were defined (companywide review). To be fair, this discussion should also include the impact on their career aspirations should they choose to work outside of those values.
When your corporate values are clear, making decisions becomes easier.
Does Your Company Share Your Values?
How do you know if the company and/or team you work with share your personal values? This is an important question for all employees. My first recommendation is to explore how you feel.
Do you trust your leader and your team members?
Is your work-life balance in balance or out of alignment?
Are you recognized for your competence and experience?
Do you have the opportunity to learn and grow?
Do you feel respected?
To experience success and peace / pride in our lives I believe there should be virtually no a difference between how we act in our personal lives and our professional lives.
If employees are a good fit they will not only complement each other’s values, they will also strengthen and help each of us grow personally and professionally. This doesn’t mean we must all have similar education and experiences, or that we will begin to look and sound alike; we actually know the opposite is true and that diversity makes each of us and company more successful. That is another amazing benefit of values. People with very different backgrounds, experiences and personal and professional (career), interests can still share very similar values and therefore easily share a common bond.
Conclusion:
One of the best investments a business can make is to help each employee consistently live the business values. In addition to all the benefits values offer to the team and the company, understanding the corporate values provides great benefit to each employee as we reflect what is important in what we work on as well as how we work. When our values are strong and shared, we will consistently make ethical decisions we can be proud of.
Ethics are the moral principles that govern our actions… the things we say and do as well as the decisions we make. In business, a company’s values and ethics should be aligned. If they are not, it is likely their values are written somewhere on their website but not supported… and more importantly employees are struggling which means the corporate brand and reputation is at risk.
Values are with us all the time and are tested most of all during difficult times. These are also the times when they are most important in guiding our decisions.
Thank you for reading about the importance of discussing values with your team and how values build a foundation of integrity.
Bruce
About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.
Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.
Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.
Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.
