22nd October 2020
Do Values still have value?
At their best, well articulated and implemented Values can do wonders for an organisation and its culture. In Spring 2020, office environments around the world went through a radical change - the biggest ever mass shift to home working. Many believe the way we work has changed forever. If this is the case, do Values still offer as much of a benefit as when most people were office based?
For many of us, working with colleagues in the physical space brings a plethora of advantages, some obvious and some subliminal. Whether it’s cracking a problem in a meeting room, huddling over a spreadsheet, having a heart to heart about the kids, or the boss running a Town Hall about plans for the next year, there are strong practical and psychological benefits of working with colleagues in an office.
Values, when utilised skilfully, have been found to augment this arrangement by aligning employees with the way organisations want to do business as well as manage the experience during the journey. This isn’t about being slave to the black letter of a manual, but working in an environment where practical systems and processes embody the spirit of the Values, influencing employee behaviour to collectively work in a way that creates a competitive advantage.
As many of us are now working from home for sustained periods, Values are more important than ever. They can ensure everyone remains supported, as well as preventing a drift away from an organisation’s strategy and direction. For those organisations that have up to now, under leveraged their Values, it’s a great opportunity for review and use Values as a platform to stay on track.
Shaking the dust off
Most established organisations have a set of Values. The problem some face is that they have lost significance over time, either because of a lack of ownership by leadership, or because the Values aren’t perceived as authentic by employees. The latter often comes from ‘simply’ listing a collection of buzzwords for example, Trust, Innovation, Integrity, Respect, Honesty, with no context of why the organisation feels they are important, or how adopting the behaviour will contribute to a competitive advantage. The workforce’s shift away from the office provides a tantalising opportunity to review Values and articulate them more effectively; Leadership also has a chance to take ownership again too.
Walking the talk
For many employees, remote working for the long term has brought with it a unique set of challenges; from actually having a suitable place to work within their home, to mental health, caring for isolated relatives to juggling child care and much more. It’s these types of testing scenarios that allow employers to bring their Values to life and make them more than a collection of words. It’s an opportunity for employers to demonstrate that in addition to their expectations of their employees to live the Values, management can also live them through providing adequate support mechanisms.
Recognising great work
Video calls are great but managers miss the more complete picture obtained from interaction in the office. So creating a dynamic where co workers that have collaborated online can nominate each other for recognition of living the values through their work, is an effective way to create authentic positive behaviour. Not only is the bar being set, but it encourages others to follow suit, especially if the recognition is showcased.
Incentivising development
Rewarding employees who manage their personal development through living the Values while working remotely, is a great way of encouraging positive behaviours across an organisation. Whilst not entirely altruistic, the collective efforts of employees following this activity can have a profound effect on productivity. It’s important to ensure there is a broad mix of incentives that influences employee behaviour with immediate and longer term trajectories, so that the organisation experiences the benefit of this behaviour in a way that is sustained.
New joiners
Many organisations have been recruiting through the pandemic giving rise to a population of employees that have never even set foot in the office and have only met their colleagues on a video call. Not only are Values extra important to use as part of the recruitment process, but they also provide a useful guide for new joiners on company culture, identifying priorities, a general understanding of common purpose and working relationships.
In conclusion, it’s clear how important Values are at the best of times, not just in their construction but in their endorsement by leadership and authentic deployment by management. In the new age of mass remote working, extending the influence of Values to those in their home ‘offices’ is vital to ensuring an organisation stays on track on its journey to positively influence behaviour and achieve its strategic objectives.
Like many other advances driven by the urgency of the pandemic, the implementation of Values using these methods, could achieve far greater and more authentic adoption as they are placed in the front and centre of attention.
Have any questions? Drop us a line at hello@pangaeacreative.co.uk
Pangaea is an independent design consultancy that grew out of Formula1. We thrived in this cutting edge, fast-moving environment and now bring our experience of designing in F1 to clients and brands seeking to gain an edge over their competitors in any market.
