Seven ways to promote your workplace values
Values. Everyone knows they’re supposed to be a good thing to have and never more so than in recruitment, where they’re increasingly seen as a way of attracting potential employees. It’s not unusual now to hear people say they want to know what an organisation stands for before they decide whether to apply for a job there. And when they check you out on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook they’re not looking just to see that you have values, they want to see you and your colleagues living them, demonstrating that you are what you say you are. In our last blog we talked about the importance of choosing those values; this time, we’re talking about how to embed them. How do you change employee behaviour to reflect the values you’ve spent so much time and effort choosing?
If you’ve kept your values true to your purpose, then integrating them shouldn’t be a difficult thing to do, but it will, inevitably, take some work. If you didn’t do so initially, the first thing is to work out how your values can be practically applied. For example, if what’s important is trust and respect, then you would expect to see that demonstrated through open and honest conversations, sharing feedback and having your teammate's back. And if it’s adventure and innovation that are your thing, you’d want colleagues to be open to embracing challenging opportunities and trying new things. Once you’ve figured out those behaviours, then you need to look at your existing processes. If they don’t encourage the behaviour you’re looking for, find ways to make sure they do. Here are our seven top tips how:
Employ people who already embody your values. From the initial job advert, to the interview and through to the onboarding and induction processes, make it clear from the start of the employee journey that your values mean something. Use them as part of the selection process. If you value trust, for example, what does the candidate think that means in the workplace? And when a new employee is being inducted make sure they know how they might see your values demonstrated across the business.
Adapt and improve your Employee Value Proposition. This is the promise you make to employees about what they can expect from you in return for their commitment. It’s about your behaviour towards them as well as benefits and rewards. For example, if you value flexibility and trust, are these reflected in your absence and flexible-working policies? Ensuring your staff policies embody your values can be a powerful way of demonstrating that the leadership genuinely believes in them.
Reward values and behaviours through your employee recognition scheme. If people know they’ll be recognised by their colleagues for living your values it can be a great incentive. It also allows you to uncover a wealth of stories which you can then use in your internal comms to publicise and reinforce the sort of behaviours that will gain recognition.
Incorporate your values into your performance management. Support line managers with guidance on how to talk about your values as part of their regular 1-2-1s and performance management conversations. They can be a useful tool to help discuss behaviours and attitudes as well as priorities and general performance.
Review any guidance on ways of working. Can guidelines be improved by explicitly linking them to your values? For example, if your values include collaboration and respect, then it’s a great idea to reflect them in any guidance on meeting etiquette. Use the same wording so the link is clear.
Include questions about how values are perceived in your employee survey. If you do a regular staff survey (always a good idea), then including questions about your values can help you see how on track you are with embedding them. You could ask where colleagues feel they’re seen strongly, where there are areas to improve, even if they think they’re relevant. It can be particularly insightful to include questions about their worth in your exit interviews.
Consider your work environment. Not a wholesale interior design makeover, this is about making sure the working environment your employees operate in allows them to live your values. If you want people to be collaborative, they need to have meeting rooms, working spaces etc that allow for that. Or if you want them to be ethically or environmentally conscious, you could encourage them to set up their own workplace initiatives. Employees at every level need to see they can help the company live its values.
In order for values to be successful they need to be lived and breathed from your Employee Value Proposition right through to your exit interviews. Embedding your values should be something which improves everyone’s sense of purpose and engagement at work. We know examples can be helpful, so here’s an organisation which did just that, at relatively little cost, and reaped the rewards – the Ministry of Justice. There are also some lovely examples here of companies whose external and internal values truly match up.
We hope you find them inspiring! If you’re testing the waters on this yourself, let us know how it’s going. We’d love to hear from you!
