Having clear company values help the management to ensure that all employees are working towards a common Goal. Values support the company's vision and its culture. That is why every single business decision must be aligned with these values. A business lacking values would not survive in today’s competitive and complex world.
Values – Why are they Important to any Company?
Values are what support the vision, shape the culture, and
imitate what a company considers as important behaviors. They’re the core of
the company’s identity. Some organizations emphasis generally on the technical
competencies but often overlook the primary competencies that make their
organisations run smoothly — values. Creating a strong set of values delivers
both internal and external advantages to the company:
Values help companies in the decision-making processes. For instance, if one of your values is to stand behind the quality of your products, any products not reaching the suitable standard are inevitably rejected.
Values educate clients and potential customers about what the organization is about and simplify the identity of the organization. Especially in this competitive world, taking a set of specific values that voice to the public is definitely a competitive advantage.
- Values are becoming prime recruiting and retention tools. Through the ease of investigating organisations, job explorers are doing their study on the identities of the organizations they are applying for and considering whether or not these organisations hold the values that the job seekers think about as vital.
A recent Harvard
Business Review article by Dr. Natalie Baumgartner, Chief
Workforce Scientist at Achievers, discovers why culture needs to line up with
organization values. She refers to LinkedIn survey that recommends 26 percent
of employees would decline a fancy title and 65 percent would accept lower pay
before dealing with a poor workplace environment.
Values Drive Culture
Just like home, values are the
foundation for ‘HOW’ everything occurs in a workplace. The values of employees
along with their knowledges, upbringing, and so on, combine together to form
the base of company. A decent value structure has employee wellbeing at its core, and that, in turn,
drives growth for a business. Successful organization like Google,
Microsoft, Amazon, etc. All of them have a thriving set of ethics to make everyone's
lives easier.
Values initiates from the topmost. The Chief Executive Officer sets and leads from the front. Why does the senior leaders have a vast role in transferring them to every corner of the organization? Since leaders have the authority to decide the direction and define the daily actions of employees. That’s why implementing values is tougher than just writing them on a piece of paper.
How to Identify and Implement
Values in an Organization
Start by creating value statements. At present, define how you would want people to work with others in your organization. Also, focus on how the organization will value customers, suppliers, community, and everyone else who’s involved. Once you have this list, create value and proceed, implement.
Identifying values is nothing like analyzing your kitchen and listing a grocery list. Likewise, one cannot copy them from the value page of another organization. Lastly, a long list of values are not required. ‘More the merrier’ won’t work here, so six to seven is a good number at the start.
Conclusion
Organizations’
culture can be used to separate it from competitors. It allows organisation to
create a differentiated brand, attract and retain loyal employees, and build
robust relationships with customers, suppliers, and partners. Since culture
represents unique values, competitors cannot replicate it. The only requirement
is that organization is true and committed to it’s values that represent company
culture. Having values on a plaque on the lobby wall is not sufficient. One
must always act and behave in alignment with values. This means only hiring
employees that share your values and making business decisions with values in
mind.
If the values are strongly running in the
organization, employees experience motivation and high engagement levels
throughout their work lives. So, don’t underestimate the power of values in
creating an engaged workplace. They have the authority to change the landscape
of your organization. Which choice are you going to make?
Reference
- Dr. Baumgartner., 2020., Harvard Business Review article. Build a Culture That Aligns with People’s Values. Available from https://hbr.org/2020/04/build-a-culture-that-aligns-with-peoples-values. [Accessed on 26th April, 2021]
- Anubhav, The Real Meaning of Employee Wellbeing. Available from https://www.keka.com/meaning-of-employee-wellbeing [Accessed on 26th April 2021]
Values help to guide our behavior. It decides what we think as for right, wrong, good, or unjust.
ReplyDeleteValues are more or less permanent. They represent a single belief that, guides actions and judgment across objects and situations. They derived from social and cultural mores.
There are many company values such as Integrity, Boldness, Honesty, Trust, Accountability, Commitment to Customers, Passion, Fun, Humility, Continuous Learning, Ownership, Constant Improvement, Leadership, Diversity, Innovation, Quality, Teamwork, Simplicity
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, as Examples of global companies with inspiring core values, American Express, Google, Coca Cola, Whole Foods and etc. (https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/company-values)
Clear values of an organization ensure all the employees are working towards the same goal.The core value of the company shape the organizational culture and improve the business strategy. All the decisions made by the company should be aligned with the company values.Values helps to make right decisions, improve employee communication, motivate and engage employees, clients get a clear vision and help to retain talent.
ReplyDeleteOrganization values set standards that organizations and employees can aspire too. When organizations fall behind in terms of profit or quality, or employees fall behind in terms of work or goals, they know that they are not living up to their organizational values.
ReplyDeleteLiving the core values also means holding people accountable for achieving them. For your values to be successful, everyone in your organization must be responsible for living your values. Senior managers need to consistently role model the values and use them to support their vision. By clearly defining your values and building accountability into them, you can start to build a culture of trust, integrity, and honesty.
ReplyDeleteOrganisational values drive the way we influence, how we interact with each other, and how we work together to achieve results. Organisational values are not descriptions of the work we do or the strategies we employ to accomplish our mission, they are the unseen drivers of our behaviour, based on our deeply held beliefs that drive decision-making. The collective behaviours of all employees become the organisational culture – “the way we do things around here” – fulfilling the organisation’s promise to stakeholders.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that this is a very accurate article. It is very detailed and also lists out every aspect of business values and all the benefits of having a set of values.
ReplyDeleteHow ever, it will be more accurately delivered if you could have explained some examples of values.