Renewal Through Attention to Values

By: Don Dunoon

Publication: Executive Excellence (Aust) Date: May 1997 Page: 19

By treating values superficially, organizations may be underplaying a potent competitive weapon.

Look inside any major organization and you will likely find statements of corporate values, often referring to desirables such as "our people", customer service, trust and respect, teamwork, and innovation. It's equally likely that, if you ask employees how much attention is paid to these values, the answer will be along the lines of "not very much".

For many organizations, a focus on values is seen as one way of coping with ever more competitive environments, by encouraging employees to think differently about their work and to relate to colleagues and customers more productively. Yet values can also be just the latest in a long line of management quick fixes. In one scenario, a statement of values is put together by management; employees are issued cards containing the values for their wallets; posters declaring the new values appear on the walls; and management moves on to some other aspect of the change process.

In their book Built to Last, Collins and Porras showed a commitment to values can be the primary factor that distinguishes highly successful organizations from the also-rans.

Values are clear statements about how the organization wants to work toward its vision; how it wants to see itself and be seen by others. Values are vital tools for guiding behaviour in an age when people need to be able to act independently, and when the complexity and speed of change mean that it is not possible to prescribe procedures for every eventuality. Another benefit is that values provide an internally generated set of benchmarks against which the organization can test itself, by asking "are we conducting ourselves in the ways we have said we wish to"?

For employees to take the organization's values seriously and for those values to impact on behaviour, they must be - and be seen to be -genuinely held by management. If the values that could be inferred from the behaviour of managers (their values-in-use) differ from the values espoused, employees will pay attention to what management does rather than what it says.

The problem is that no matter what values, if any, are declared as important, behaviour within most organizations is driven by a hidden set of values, absorbed from the wider society and fostered by hierarchical structures. As Chris Argyris and Donald Schon argue, these underlying rules for action include being in control, competing to win, and avoiding threat and embarrassment.

Strategies we can use to remain in control include making sure we don't make mistakes, hoarding information and avoiding showing our emotions. We compete in the sense of looking good in relation to our colleagues, perhaps through "scoring points" in meetings. We avoid threat and embarrassment to protect people - ourselves included - from loss of face. For instance, we don't embarrass people by pointing out contradictions in what they have said. We avoid discussing potentially threatening issues, such as shortcomings in their performance or the impact of an imminent restructure.

The effect of these underlying values is to stifle discussion about issues that ought to be talked about. One such issue is any contradiction between values you espouse and what happens in practice.

If you as a manager are serious about revitalising your organisation or business unit through a focus on values, you can begin by having some extended discussions about values with your executive colleagues. Start by discussing the kind of organization you would like to be part of. What would it look like? How would it work? How would people act toward one another? And, what would be different about the role and behaviour of management?

Then talk about what is currently going on that you don't like or that is unproductive. Be careful to focus on the behaviours you see occurring, using specific instances to illustrate your thinking. Take care to avoid stereotyping others ("our marketing people don't understand the business"), or attributing motives ("the operations people are resisting change to protect their patch").

Next, talk about the values that must be operating below the surface to drive observed undesirable behaviours. Identify the unwritten values that can be inferred from people's behaviour. Bring these implied values to the surface and subject them to scrutiny: Is this value really helpful? Do we want to encourage it?

By this stage, a picture should be emerging of the values you want to foster and those you wish to discourage. Next, focus on strategies for embedding the desired values. Focus on specific behaviours you think would need to occur if the desired value were to be manifest.

One way forward is to produce a discussion document, reviewing the executive consideration of values and to invite reactions. The aim should be to arrive at a statement of values and accompanying behaviours that is widely accepted.

One value is vitally important - openness or inquiry, valuing the expression of diverse viewpoints, encouraging people to surface and explore assumptions, and making it legitimate for people to say what they think needs to be said (without attacking others). Only when you truly value openness will you bring to the surface and discuss any contradictions between the espoused values and actual practice. Only when employees experience some alignment between these two elements will your organization effectively use values to foster renewal.