What are the values of your business or organization?
Do you realize that, on average, fewer than 30% of employees are able to name the values of their companies? Even senior managers, and sometimes board members, can struggle to do so. And if I were to be even more controversial, I might ask the following question: Can a business have values?
Business leaders are aware that they can only tackle the major changes facing them by placing a particular focus on people and taking the concept of “enterprise culture” seriously. But this does not mean:
- involving employees in the definition of values,
- signalling societal or environmental intentions,
- taking on cultural commitments, or
- entering into sponsoring arrangements.
The public and the younger generations have become much more sceptical of such things. They are looking for tangible, visible actions, not just words. They can see through “greenwashing”. To win their respect, we need to act and set an example. On this subject, I would encourage you to read the article “How to earn respect: Set a good example!”.
So, to return to the question of values, a business, which is an institution, not a living being, cannot have values. Only the people who work there can have values and make them count. Through their behaviour, their actions and decisions, they convey principles that are then perceived by customers, colleagues, partners and the general public. It is these perceived elements that are the messengers and vectors of enterprise culture.
This has two essential consequences for a business. First, they must be coherent, indeed congruent. On this subject, read the article: “Impact and awareness: being consistent!”.
Second, the chosen values, and principles of behaviour in particular, must be defined in terms of the Vision to be achieved and the way in which it is to be realized. The article “How to develop and harness the true potential of a corporate vision: storytelling and OKRs” will give you a clearer idea.
With this end in view, you need to be coherent and, above all, very consistent!
Principles of behaviour
Once you know your destination, your vision is clear, and you know the strategy for getting there, you can define the main overall values required and then list, prioritize and define the behavioural principles appropriate to each value. Do not seek to be exhaustive, but rather limit yourself to the key points.
The question you need to ask is: “What types of behaviour are very important and necessary – and may have been eluding us in recent years – to take with us on this journey and enable us to succeed in our chosen course, all the while respecting the business’s basic mission?”
Don’t try to define more than three to five behavioural principles for each value. If you have three values, that will mean a set of between nine and fifteen principles.
There are three very simple rules when it comes to defining behavioural principles:
- Any statement should begin with the word “I”, rather than “We”. A behavioural principle implies the taking of personal responsibility, so must begin with “I”.
- The statement should contain an active verb, for example: “I take decisions”, “I practise active listening” or “I give constructive feedback”.
- Finally, the statement should cover just one element, not several. This makes it easier to implement and evaluate.
To implement these behavioural principles, communicate them and train people in the methods that will make them come alive. A very good way of training people in this is by organizing “power sessions”. These are short training sequences lasting between 90 and 120 minutes, provided at different times of the year, to ensure that everyone can develop and grow in a simple yet efficient way.
Finally, remember to build these behavioural principles into your standard processes and tools (recruitment, assessment, etc.).
Principles of conduct for leveraging behavioural principles
We have seen that setting an example, being a role model, is important if we want others to do what we require of them. Being a role model can also be inspiring. But that is not enough on its own. If you really want to be consistent and increase the chances of behavioural principles being lived out, applied and – above all – perceived, you will need to complement the process by formulating principles of conduct. As with a chain of dominoes, the principles of conduct defined for your managers will lay the basis for the living out of your behavioural principles.
Let’s take an example.
If I want our customers to:
- feel important and that they are taken seriously, the behavioural principle you would formulate might be:
- “I show interest” through the questions that employees ask and the knowledge they have of the customer concerned. And to enable the employee to do this, their manager can have as a principle of conduct:
- “I foster a change of perspective” by asking questions enabling the employee to put themself in the place of the customer, or by allowing them to undertake a placement with a partner or customer, or in another department.
By formulating clear and relevant principles of behaviour and conduct, and by being consistent in implementing them, you will be able to contribute to the enterprise culture you need to realize the Vision you have set for yourself. And to maintain the agility so necessary nowadays, perform an annual or half-yearly check on your Vision and – above all – on your principles of behaviour and conduct. You can modify, replace or supplement your principles of behaviour and conduct as appropriate, to ensure that you remain in step with your objective circumstances.
