6.3 Developing and Maintaining Organizational Values

Organizational values are the guiding principles that shape a company's culture and decision-making. They stem from various sources, including founders, industry norms, and societal factors, and play a crucial role in attracting like-minded employees and stakeholders.

Developing shared values involves engaging employees, refining core principles, and communicating them effectively. Sustaining these values requires aligning policies, recognizing value-aligned behaviors, and fostering accountability. This process ensures the organization stays true to its ideals and adapts as needed.

Organizational Values and Culture

Role of organizational values

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• Serve as core principles, beliefs, and ideals guiding an organization's actions, decisions, and behaviors
• Reflect what is important to the organization and its members providing a framework for decision-making and problem-solving
• Shape organizational culture by influencing attitudes, behaviors, and interactions of employees (teamwork, innovation)
• Guide development of policies, procedures, and practices aligning them with the organization's priorities and goals
• Attract and retain employees who share similar values creating a sense of shared purpose and identity (mission-driven, customer-centric)

Sources of organizational values

• Founders and leaders impart their personal values, beliefs, and leadership style on the organization (Jeff Bezos, Amazon)
• Industry norms, standards, expectations, and competitive landscape influence values (sustainability in fashion industry)
• Societal and cultural factors such as prevailing social norms, values, beliefs, and considerations for diversity and inclusivity shape values (emphasis on diversity and inclusion)
• Stakeholder expectations including customers, investors, and community members impact values (corporate social responsibility, ethical sourcing)

Developing and Sustaining Organizational Values

Process for shared values

1. Engage employees in the value development process through surveys, focus groups, and workshops to gather input and encourage open dialogue and collaboration
2. Articulate and refine the organization's core values by identifying common themes and priorities from employee input and crafting clear, concise, and memorable value statements
3. Communicate values through multiple channels by incorporating them into the organization's mission, vision, and strategic goals, integrating them into employee onboarding, training, and development programs, and reinforcing them through regular communications (newsletters, meetings, social media)

Practices for sustaining values

• Align policies and procedures with organizational values ensuring decision-making processes and criteria reflect the values and developing and enforcing policies that support and promote them
• Recognize and reward value-aligned behaviors by celebrating employees who exemplify the organization's values through their actions and contributions and incorporating value alignment into performance evaluations and promotion criteria
• Foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement by encouraging employees to speak up when they observe actions that contradict the values, regularly assessing and evaluating the organization's adherence to its values, and adapting and refining values as needed to maintain relevance and alignment with the organization's evolving context and goals