How to Use Values to Improve Your Organizational Culture
One thing I’ve learned in management—and working with people in general—is the importance of setting clear expectations. Most jobs require clear expectations of job duties and responsibilities, the day-to-day activities that move the program or organization forward. One thing I don’t always see as clearly are expectations around how to engage with others or the intentions behind the work. How are problems addressed? What can I expect when speaking or engaging with my coworkers? When I’ve worked in or with organizations that don’t have clear expectations of how they do their work, the program or company can be described as toxic and, ultimately, unsafe. These expectations are organization values and they play an integral role in shaping an organization’s culture.
A value is a way of being or believing that we hold most important. When we are in alignment with our values, we are closer to being our best self. To be in alignment means we are being intentional in how we interact with others and how we do our work, using the values to guide us. Organization values are specific to the organization, they highlight what sets the organization apart from others, they set expectations of people and organizations, and shape how you do your work. There are different types of values as well. Core values lie at the heart of an organization and do not change over time; they are the organization’s way of being. Aspirational values are things you strive to be in order to live into your mission. Some values are “pay-to-play;” they are important and minimum standards of an organization, such as integrity or respect.
You can also use the following questions to reflect and identify values:
· Is this natural to us or do we have to work hard to cultivate it?
· Can we claim that we are more committed to this than 99% of other organizations?
· Would we be willing to get in trouble for this?
Identifying and operationalizing organization values sets the tone for an organization’s culture. What behaviors support a value of integrity? What behaviors do not support a value of respect? Even the values we hold near and dear to us can be challenged or pushed aside when doing the work. When our behaviors align with our values, we are able to continue doing our best work and demonstrate bold and fearless leadership.