Is your culture values-written or values-driven?
In times of crisis or uncertainty it’s the values demonstrated by its people that determine whether a culture will embrace change or implode.
I spoke to an employee last week whose organisation has values of ‘Evolution’ and ‘Brilliant People’ and yet they have pulled all staff and culture development funding for the next financial year. This is an example of a culture that is values-written, not values-driven.
A values-driven culture would be creative about the way they develop their staff next year. Cancelling needless travel, pointless projects or reducing the number of external people they hire, in order to double down on the evolution of the business through the development of the brilliant people that they already have.
What does it mean to be values-driven?
Values are not passive statements created by consultants to tick a culture box. UK PR Company Maitland found that many of the UK’s FTSE100 companies did just that, with three ‘values’ - integrity, respect and innovation - cropping up time and again.
Values are statements that the culture holds to be true and an agreement of how they'll work together. They provide emotional direction and have to be specific to what the organisation and its people believe.
When an organisation is values-driven, they don't talk about them - instead they actively bring them to life in everything that they do. They are used to inform decisions around customer interactions, projects to be undertaken, how to treat staff and how to safeguard the planet for the next generation. They are also used for hiring.
Organisations that are values-driven only hire people that believe the same things they do. They don’t have to have complex psych testing or diversity and inclusion training, because they do all of those checks before adding someone to the payroll. All of which may take more than three interviews. For values-driven organisations hiring isn’t about finding someone with a pulse to do immediate work, it’s about finding a person who can contribute to the culture in a way that enhances belonging and performance.
Zappos is one example of an organisation that is very much values-driven. They go to great lengths to ensure that people are a good values fit (not culture fit) when they are hired. They recognise that they’ll only grow as a business if they bring in people who understand what it means to live their 10 core values.
I interviewed Christa Foley, Senior Brand Director at Zappos, about this for the Culture Makers podcast last year and she provided some fascinating insights which you can listen to here. She also talked about ‘The Offer’, whereby if they realise after four weeks that a person isn’t a good values match, then they are offered one months salary to leave, which is a better alternative than having to manage them out.
Oh and I also asked Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh what happens when money is tight and he said: “[in times of financial issues] we always cut the culture stuff last.”
Not first. This is what it means to be values-driven.
The Minneapolis Police Department has been in the news over the last three weeks. They have three values:
Trust
Accountability
Professional Service.
A perfect example of being values-written rather than values-driven.
Which one is your organisation?