Five ways to better live your company values

For many organisations, values remain words hanging on the wall and have little bearing on the employees’ behaviours and actions or on day-to-day operations. These unrealised values are a sure-fire way to lose the confidence of your employees and show your customers that your company lacks commitment and conviction.

But when values are fully lived by your people in that they guide decision-making, behaviours and company culture, it can help you to engage your people so they perform their best. In fact, if you look at today’s most top performing companies, you’ll notice they are all driven by values.

Some of our favourite company value statements are:

Focus on the user and all else will follow. – Google

We are delightfully surprising, red hot, straight up whilst maintaining an insatiable curiosity, giving a heartfelt service and creating smart disruption. – Virgin Airlines

The world is our community. We believe in the power of sport to move the world. – Nike

Deliver WOW through service. – Zappos

Our role is to provide support that will drive our clients’ success. – PeopleStart

Here are five ways to help your people and organisation better live your values:

1. Let them guide the hiring process
   Your company values can help you determine if the person you are interviewing will be a great addition to your team. In the interview ask them to share situations in which they displayed your values, for example, accountability.
2. Teach/instil values through training
   Providing training solely on the company values, how they originated and their significance shows commitment and demonstrates the importance and role of the values in the organisation. It also helps your people understand how to integrate the values into their roles.
3. Reinforce your values in all communication
   Every employee touchpoint, intranet, employee newsletter, meetings or memos, should reflect and reinforce your values in a positive and enriching way.
4. Recognise and reward values-driven behaviour
   It makes sense, but few organisations do this. You can do this in many ways – a mention in the employee newsletter, recognition at the weekly team meeting or even monthly employee poll with a prize for the most voted for.
5. Incorporate values into your performance review process
   This builds in individual accountability and measurement of your values. For instance, if exceptional customer service is a core value, then KPIs and performance measures should centre around this area.

If you would like advice or help in setting and aligning your company values with your business goals, get in touch with our expert HR team to talk through your people, culture and aspirations for your business.

Call us on 1300 134 110 or email us at hello@peoplestart.com.au