Your Company's Behaviours = Your Company's Core Values
I would encourage you to spend a few minutes contemplating the extent to which you and your company are behaving in line with the established Core Values?
Most companies have gone through the rigmarole of creating Core Values, socialising them, and posting them up on the walls, websites etc There is a broad variance in the degree to which they’re lived and breathed through a given business. If they’re not being lived and breathed across your organisation, the Core Values actually do more damage than good.
I was reflecting upon the power of Core Values as a result of a somewhat related recent example involving my 18 year old son, Logan. Logan finished school last year, is deferring his university placement to work and then travel later in the year. In attending interviews for prospective jobs he shared with me a dilemma he was facing... What should he say/do about the likely 3 month trip he is planning in July? Should he just not mention it, hope to get the job, and then tell them a month out that he’s deciding to go away for 3 months or more? Or should he be up-front about it? I did suggest that MOST employers would probably NOT take someone on, train them, induct them, knowing that they’ll be leaving for travel in a few months’ time. They wouldn’t really want to “waste” the time and investment.
As we talked through this, I posed a question to him - “what do you stand for?” His response was (paraphrased)…my CV talks about my diligence, caring approach, and integrity. “That is what I stand for”, he said. I then asked him to take those character descriptors (synonymous for his personal Core Values) and use them as a guide to how he should approach and behave in his interviews. As he talked through this, it became obvious to him, that he must be upfront about his intentions to travel in July, AND that he would also like to continue working for the prospective employer upon his return.
I was thrilled with this discussion and his conclusion!
As it turned out, Logan was successful in securing a retail job, and the business manager commented on how refreshing it was to have someone be so upfront and honest about their intentions. It highlighted the power of living and behaving in line with one’s Core Values, Core Purpose etc. When known by your team AND used, Core Values really are a great moral compass and guide for how an individual and/or a business should behave and conduct their affairs.
In terms of key take-aways here are some questions to contemplate and apply:
How frequently are your company’s values being spoken about, discussed, celebrated, used as a guide? By you, your team, and others across the business?
How often do you “catch” people living them, and call-out people who contravene them?
Are you using “adherence” to, and living the core values, as a dimension to assess the quality of your team? We recommend using this AND productivity/performance in their role as the two key dimensions for assessing your talent, and even linking this to incentives and rewards. Click here for our Talent Assessment tool.
Are you using Core Values as one of the foundations for your interview questions?
Are you using your Core Values as a talent “attraction” mechanism? People are increasingly looking to understand how their prospective employer behaves and what they stand for!
Have a really productive and successful week, and keep growing your team and your business with minimal pain!!
Grow well
Adam