Officially published in DAWN Advertiser written by Zeeshan Lakhpaty
Our values are what we use to choose one course of action over another. They are our guiding principles, and when our actions don’t match our values, the result is an unhappy and unsatisfied life.
Similarly, organisational values play a significant role in a company’s success. They help in all decisions, from hiring the right candidates, to retaining high performers and maintaining a lead in the market. As Tony Hsieh, CEO ofZappos.com mentioned in the Harvard Business Review, organisational values were essential in getting his company to grow from zero to a billion dollars in revenue.
Here are a few starting points for HR professionals when drafting core values:
Think and align: Employees should be encouraged to think and brainstorm about the values that define their organisation’s culture. By doing so, the organisation will drive employees to align their own values with the organisation’s core values.
Formulate and communicate: Once the values are defined, it is important to pair them with behaviours that help ‘living up’ to a value. For instance, if creativity is a core value, then the organisation should be willing to talk about how it fosters creativity and what it expects from its workforce.
Demonstrate and motivate: The first adopter of a company’s values should be the company itself. The professionals responsible for the company’s directions should lead from the front to motivate the rest of the company’s workforce to do the same. To encourage greater alignment with values, employees should be rewarded with recognition, responsibility, promotions or financial incentives.
Stick to the plan: There will be a number of challenges that will threaten one or more of the company’s core values. But abandoning ship will only cement negative impressions about the company’s credibility and its resolve. The only way to enforce organisational values is to stick to them through thick and thin.
– Zeeshan Lakhpaty
The writer is a professional corporate trainer. zeeshan@peopleexcellence.biz
Winning Through Organisational Values