Setting Company Values in the Modern Workplace

In my 30 years of experience in the human resources industry, I’ve attended countless employee off-site days sitting behind closed doors, consulting, and agreeing on a set of company values.

Often, the purpose is to bring employees together, share the company vision and mission, and consult to create real employee engagement. As part of this process, a consultant is engaged and paid between $10,000 and $20,000 to facilitate and record everyone’s detailed thoughts. If you sense some cynicism from me, you are right. I’ve finally realised (a slow learner) that all the company values sessions I’ve sat through and seen are the same. There has not been much evolution in this area.

For instance, have you ever seen any of these company values: Integrity, Customer-Centricity, Humility (a new trendy one), Safety and Well-Being, Accountability, Respect, and Teamwork?

On one hand, if I ask an employee what the company values are in the business, they may guess some of the keywords, but I’m not convinced they’re embedded as part of their DNA like you want to think they are, nor do I believe the employee lives and breathes them.

On the other hand, employers are desperately trying to find staff who agree with their vision, are engaged, are loyal, and stay with the company for many years. These days, employers strongly criticise employees for being simply disloyal.

The core purpose and original intent of developing a set of company values has lost its way and has almost become somewhat redundant and institutionalised. It’s a vicious cycle. I can see both sides of the coin. I think both parties, the employer and the employee, are a bit lost, to say the least. Perhaps it’s time to end the rhetoric and not just do activities like this because we think we should.

My question to you is, is it all worth it? While my opinion may not be popular, I think we should scrap the entire practice of developing company values sessions.

A client of mine located in the Central West of NSW amplifies company values in the true sense. He owns a car wrecking and parts business. If you've ever seen his operation, it’s the cleanest, most organised workshop and facility I’ve ever seen. The company values are not on the walls in writing, he hasn’t had a two-day sit-in session, but his passion for the industry, cars, and collector items is evident. His staff are just like him, passionate about the industry and obsessed with growing their skills, bringing business success.

Perhaps developing company values is about getting back to basics and starting a company to find like-minded people who are excited by what you are doing and have a passion for the industry you are operating in, just like my client has done. Maybe company values are more about your personal beliefs, how you want to engage with clients and customers, how you want to do business, and your ambitions for work.

There must be a better way to do this in business. What do you think?