Yesterday, we discussed the importance of establishing core values for your organizations and some tips for formulating them. Today, we delve into the next important step: putting values into action.
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Over-communicate. Make sure every level of your organization gets to know your values. Follow the simple rule of communicate, iterate, and congratulate. That is, use every possible media platform to ensure internal audiences are informed of your values, repeat the message often, and reward staff whenever values are exhibited.
Break it down. Spend time reviewing the importance of each core value. Feature one per month, and recognize someone within the organization whose actions characterize that value.
Hold people accountable. Make values part of your employees’ annual reviews. Require everyone to provide clear examples of how their activities have reflected these essential standards, and ask coworkers to provide confirmation.
Hire accordingly. Ensure that all new hires know your values system before taking the job. Ask for an honest assessment of whether or not they feel they can uphold these standards. And, provide more education on the values system posthire, making sure new staff are well-educated on expectations.
Include values in your lingo. CEO speeches, newsletter articles, external publications, and websites should frequently reference core values. These are the precepts that uphold your company, so it’s essential to make them part of your everyday language.
Honor your best. Recognize those individuals who truly put values into action. Make them your heroes, and tell their story throughout the organization.
Remember, there will be days when you or someone within the organization slips and does not exhibit the core values. But with strong values, a company can recover. Think of it as insurance that your organization will always get back on track and do the right thing.