Research

• Research shows that 71% of professionals would take a pay cut to work in a business that shares their values.
• A set of considered values will give employees a code of conduct for work.
• Having people buy into your organizational values can boost employee engagement. A Gallup study found that engaged teams have lower turnover, 21% greater profitability, and 17% higher productivity than disengaged teams. And the benefits don’t end there, as highly engaged teams report a 41% reduction in absenteeism and achieve 59% less staff turnover.
• The state of employee disengagement is that a staggering 61% of employees don’t even know their company’s mission statement.

Statement

Enhancers of this driver

• Every solid set of values will align with the purpose of your business.
• Purpose-based values have human benefits, too. According to a study on the role of purpose at work, 73% of purpose-orientated employees are satisfied with their jobs.
• Clearly articulated values—and specific behaviours that stem from them
• Leadership clearly articulates what the company stands for beyond making money
• Willingness to listen and shift company settings to meet employees' ethical expectations
• Helping employees connect their personal values with the company's values
• When defining your values, they must be based on truth and genuinely reflect the way the company or organisation behaves.

Detractors of this driver

• Remote or ambiguously articulated values that don’t connect well with the current environment or employee experience. This is especially the case with more and more employees are looking to express themselves and connect their personal values to their careers, thereby gaining a sense of purpose.
• An absent, cynical or hypocritical attitude to defining and carrying through on values-based behaviours and decisions. If values are are hollow words, they can undermine your organisation and its brand. In fact, if they are not grounded in reality, you run the risk of attracting customers and candidates who are aligned with the values you promote rather than the way you actually do business. This creates a huge turnover risk, with customers and candidates unlikely to be retained long-term in an environment that does not live up to what was promised.

Individual

• Look for connections between your values and the stated values of the organisation. They may not be a perfect match, so try to align the intention and the impact. For example, if your company values building relationships, and your top value is empathy, there’s a solid connection there because empathy is essential for forming and nurturing relationships.

Leaders

• Model values-based behaviours in day-to-day work practices such as meetings and collaborative work opportunities
• Recognise workers for modelling the values-based behaviour.

Organisation

• Include values and behaviours into individual and organisational performance scorecards at every level.
• Co-create positive organisational values with your workers, and bring them to life by offering specific examples of behaviours for each value.

• Think about which elements of your role best align with your values and strengths.
• Engage with your manager/leaders to consider how you might improve your role fit.
• If you feel passionately about an activity or sense that you are well-suited to deliver in a particular area authentically in a values-based manner, open the conversation.

• Think about the Values fit when recruiting - 77% of adults consider a company's culture before applying for a job. So you can assume that potential employees weigh up how they might fit into your team during the interview process. By talking through your philosophy at the earliest opportunity, everyone can be confident of a good fit for your organisation.
• Employees should be encouraged to focus on the work they're most passionate about and where they feel they provide the most value. For example, if an employee enjoys speaking with clients, increasing tasks that enable face-to-face interactions can make their job more engaging.

• To make sure organisational values consider everyone in the business, try taking a cross-section of your workforce to discuss them. Ask how well they identify with the values and whether they believe they are a good cultural fit with their cohort. To keep sessions balanced and focused, consider electing a leader. Someone from HR would work well.
• Illustrate your values in a way that enables employees to be clear on how their contribution matters. Again, it is the company’s responsibility to make this connection crystal clear.
• Organisations can train managers and leaders to ask for feedback and to help support employees looking to branch out.

• Considerate use of language can help promote your philosophy. Before anyone presses ‘send’ on an email or ‘publish’ on a social media post, they should consider whether their copy aligns with your values.

• Discuss values in routine meetings and casual interactions. This doesn't have to be a formal process; for example, managers might talk about principles during casual catch-ups and daily/weekly team meetings.
• Encourage team members to share their ideas when creating a values-based team and individual objectives. If everyone is happy to offer their examples to the group, progress reviews could become more meaningful.

• Creating a Value Statement should be the first step when sharing your values. Put everything down in simple, easy-to-read language and remember, less is more.
• Post your value statement somewhere visible in the workplace.
• Everyone needs to be familiar with your value statement, whether they’re working on-site, remotely or on the front line.

• Examine or reconsider how your role ties back to the greater organisation. If you struggle to do this, your manager or leader can encourage and help you out. This connection should be crystal clear.

• Connect roles to purpose. Ensure employees know that their contributions to the business are meaningful.
• Develop a culture that reinforces each employee's important role within their organisation.
• Where possible, link your organisational values to pay rises and promotions. This will encourage people to buy into them.
• Ask team members to create value-orientated objectives. If employees make measurable goals that align with your organisation's values, they'll be front of mind throughout the year.

• Support the connections between the values and a sense of purpose or meaning with three levers from psychological research into happiness: (1) Employees need a sense of control over their work lives (through autonomy, agency and trust) (2) Employees need a sense of progress (by replacing distant, big goals with proximate milestones to celebrate); (3) Employees need close relationships with colleagues (fostered, for example, by leaders who start meetings with quick personal check-ins and end them with gratitude). Organisations with those three elements will find it easier to engage employees and connect them with meaning and purpose.
• While the company can endorse these approaches at the organisational level, they need to be fostered throughout the organisation at the team and individual levels. These approaches firm up commitment to values-based behaviours, validating them through lived experience.