We’ve been talking about the power that company values have when they are accompanied with actions and how organizations benefit when they have a values driven culture.
Now let’s get to the ‘how to’ of getting employees to live the company’s values so that they become endemic to the culture of the organization.
To do this, think of values as seeds that you plant in the fertile soil of your company’s culture.
These values must be sowed into every aspect of the company including
· Leadership and Management
· Hiring and Onboarding
· Employee Development and Training
· Communication and Messaging
· Decision-Making Processes
· Performance Evaluations and Feedback
· Recognition and Rewards
· Customer Relations
· Product and Service Development
· Company Policies and Procedures
· Workplace Facilities and Environment
· Crisis Management
· Partnerships and Collaborations
Once the company values have been introduced into these areas, they will need attention and care to take root and grow. Regularly watering your values by fine tuning policies, procedures and practices in all of these areas creates the consistent reinforcement and nurturing needed for values to permeate and flourish within the culture.
For example, here are some things a company that values teamwork might do to nurture this value in the culture:
Collaborative Work Environment
Have physical or virtual spaces that encourage collaboration, such as open office layouts, team rooms, or shared digital platforms.
Hold regular team-building exercises, retreats, or workshops that focus on improving communication, trust, and collaboration among teams.
Have employees spend time working in different departments to better understand how various parts of the company contribute to overall success.
Communication
Use software tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Asana that facilitate real-time communication and collaboration among team members.
Have regular team meetings to discuss progress, share ideas, and address challenges together.
Provide training on conflict resolution and effective communication to help teams navigate disagreements and maintain a positive, cooperative environment.
Performance Evaluations and Feedback
Set goals and KPIs that focus on team performance rather than individual achievements.
Offer bonuses, rewards, or recognition for achieving team goals.
Give Team of the Month awards that highlight the achievements of entire teams rather than just individuals.
Have peer recognition programs where team members recognize and appreciate each other’s contributions.
Decision Making
Engage in decision-making processes that involve input from all team members.
Tackle problems collaboratively to leverage diverse perspectives and find the best solutions.
Engage in collaborative policy-making where teams participate in the development of company policies, especially those that affect how work is done.
Create channels where employees can suggest ideas for improving teamwork within the company, and implement the best ideas.
As you can see, there is a lot that can be done to reinforce just one value. Being successful at translating values into practices requires having full support from all levels of leadership, taking time to audit current processes, and being intentional when making changes.
You’ll also want to talk about your values continually, reminding employees that the values are the metric for every decision the company makes. Not all employees will get on board and that’s ok. With time, you will be able to weed out the folks who may be better suited to work elsewhere.
As you consider how to integrate company values into your culture, it also helps to have an outside perspective. G2 Solutions, loves helping companies translate their values into daily practices. Give us a call! We’d love to work with you.
Photo by Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash
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