Values are ubiquitous in workplaces. They’re on the walls, they’re included in induction packages and annual reports. However, if they’re not embedded in the day-to-day of ‘how we do things here’ then they’re really a missed opportunity. I love working with Leadership Teams and Human Resources professionals to articulate, cement and embed values because it’s through this that they’re able to create a workplace culture that is diverse, dedicated and high performing.

One of the inherent genius of creative institutions like Disney Pixar and Dreamworks is their ability to share highly profound wisdom alongside humour that has children hooting and adults snort-laughing. Years ago, I was watching The Croods with my kids when this line hit me right between my HR eyes:

‘Perhaps the window by which I view the world is flawed.’

As the founder of a HR consultancy, my values are embedded into everything I do in supporting people to build and maintain great workplaces. I wrote about my values in this piece, but put simply, values are the window, the lens that we look through, and these shouldn’t happen by default. The window should be crafted with intent, via lived values. Enough with the window metaphor – let me share a little about the work I do with clients to create intentional, values-led workplaces.

By their very nature, values can seem intangible and dare I say fluffy. They’re often pretty words that are emotive, but not always practical. That’s why my focus is always teasing out the words to identify behaviours that align to the words. Behaviours – good, bad and indifferent – can be modelled. To my mind, that’s the most seamless way to translate organisational values from relatively meaningless words that sound nice through to a culture where the values are a direct reflection of how people experience the workplace culture.

When working with leaders to embed values, the first step is identifying those behaviours that model values. A good next step is to then put that into a charter document. Charters are sometimes known as manifestos, and if you’re looking for a fabulous example of high profile values hard at work, take a peek at Lululemon. It’s a highly collaborative yet also individual approach, where I ask people to think about their own personal values. I’m a huge Brené Brown fan, and I find her values exercise enormously useful when working with teams because the language is highly accessible. Put simply, I ask people I work with to consider values in the context of:

• Does this define me?
• Is this who I am at my best?
• Is this a filter that I use to make hard decisions?

From this individual starting point, we then move to the collective, creating an agreed Leadership Charter which represents how the leadership group wishes to be known, how they want to lead using a common set of tools and language to relate to each other, to team members and to stakeholders as well as specified, specific behaviours to bring the values to life.  (Brown, 2018).

From an individual perspective it might include behaviours such as:

• I do what I say I’ll do
• I seek out and value other perspectives
• I treat people with kindness, compassion and respect
• I communicate effectively with people in a timely manner
• I’m committed to the growth of those I lead.

As a leadership collective, the charter might list behaviours such as:

• We keep the needs of our people at the centre of everything we do
• We create an environment of skill development
• We enable others to lead well
• We have each others’ back, ensuring a consistent message to our staff, clients and stakeholders.

The important factor, like everything Unscripted HR, is that the charter is tailored, created from scratch, aligned to the goals of the organisation. A charter doesn’t work if it’s using a copy and paste approach. People need to take ownership of the charter, and they can only do so if creating it.

Charter complete? Tick! Onwards and upwards! Not quite…

From here, I encourage clients to keep their charter alive through activities such as including the charter on the monthly Town Hall agenda with tracking elements, or by including them in performance development and management processes. It’s helpful for leaders as they’re able to have a conversation against the values in the context of how people are behaving and interacting, with a clear measurement about how ‘we’ as an organisation behave.

Are your values on the wall but not in lived experience? A charter might be the way to flip that scenario. Please reach out – I’d love to help! Book here.

Reference: Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead. Vermilion