How do you reinforce organizational values?

Without constant embodiment, values are just a list of pretty words. The best way to encourage loyalty, trust, and psychological safety is to repeatedly, enthusiastically show up and speak up in ways that align with defined values. The quickest path to mistrust and frustration? Do the opposite of the above. Values aren't like filing your taxes and being all set for the year. They're like following a monthly budget. Something you're aware of, that you live with every day, that aligns with your goals.

Model them daily! Often in organizational cultures, what's not said ends up being louder than what is said. When a company says their values are X, Y, and Z and leaders end up modeling A, B, and C, this contradictory behavior threatens the intended organizational culture. When leaders model the company's values regularly and consistently, there's a greater chance for aligning and harmonizing the company's vision, mission, values, behaviors, actions, and results. The magic happens when the organization is in alignment throughout - everyone paddles in the same direction!

As a leader, your team needs to know you’re going to be there when the going gets tough. Some of the most inspiring leaders roll up their sleeves and work on hard projects with you. This not only sets a good example but builds a level of loyalty and trust within the team.

I seen in my experience that most businesses that not only make it but are successful is because a good dependable leadership. Some confuse leadership with being a boss. A leader will work as hard or harder than anyone else creating that image of dedication. The leader doesn’t need to know everything but should always recognize the work and accomplishments of the team. Many businesses fail because a bad leadership or boss. My advice is educate your leaders to be humans and listen to the team to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Be there for the team and find ways to make the team’s job more efficient and enjoyable.

Model the organization's values through leading by example and ensure that you incorporate these values into your conversations when interacting with others. By doing this, you are setting a tone, establishing expectations, and inspiring others. We actively integrate our organizational values into our team meetings, starting by recognizing colleagues both within and outside the team who consistently demonstrate these values in their work. This practice helps to make the organizational values a natural part of the team's approach to both what they do and how they work overtime.

Communication of values can be verbal or non-verbal. You can have them posted in various places, discuss them regularly with your team, highlight personnel and real examples of the values in action within your organization, and most importantly: model and reward the behavior that you wish to see. Consistent communication of those values in speech and in action is critical to setting an environment that is values-based and consistent in your organization. The small things matter and often send the biggest signals, especially if they are consistent, when it comes to values and reinforcement.

I believe the best way to communicate organizational values is with action. Leaders need to develop a strong mission and vision statement, collaborate with managers to develop measurements and tactics that align with those statements, and then develop a project portfolio to *act* on those measurements. This is the very definition of organizational alignment. If DEI is of top priority, then how do you measure that and what projects are you willing to initiate to change those measurements? If it's safety then measure what that means and initiate projects to be safer. Verbal and nonverbal communication is important, however, those words need to be backed up by measurable action.

Creativity is key here. Internally, I tied communicating values to recognition in four ways with my team: - As a team we created team values/charter that aligned and support the organizational values. The act of doing this exercise gave each person a deeper understanding of what it means to live out the values in our daily work. -- Led every meeting with the call-out of those values (this takes less than one minute and pays dividends in positive and reinforceable behaviors) -- Regularly asked the team how well we're living our values (naturally, over time these answers become more honest). -- Encouraged team members to call-out their peers who they saw living out the values (again, recognition and positively reinforcing the behavior).

It is very important to back up your commitment to the team values through rewarding those who demonstrate these values. And it's just as important to ensure that those who AREN'T living these values are clear that they will receive lower rewards as a result of their approach. Two philosophies that I embraced were 1) No brilliant A**holes and 2) No Cynics. Even if you're in a highly technical space, having brilliant functional expertise doesn't ultimately bring enough value for the adverse team impact of being the team jerk. Cynics bring too much negative energy into a team. This doesn't mean having a team that can't or won't speak up. But a Cynic doesn't offer any alternatives. They just complain, play the victim, and bring down morale.

It may be difficult to change the core values of an established or large organization. Another approach to get the team involved with developing the values and embodying them is to establish a yearly values definition session. As the team is always evolving, the meaning of each core value may change. Have the team work together to redefine what each of the values mean to them (in their own words), then come up with unified meanings for each and how they intend on displaying those values in the coming year. In any professional sports team, the team changes every year and you don't use the same exact approach from the previous year to win. Teams evolve and the business needs to evolve as well.

Get feedback from your best clients on what they value from you and where you need to improve. Businesses are in business to serve clients, so they provide the ultimate compass. If you listen to your clients, they will tell you everything they need. Discover those needs and align your company's values accordingly. Be the best in those areas and you'll win over more top clients. Align your organization by hiring, retaining, and developing your team based on these values. As teams change and evolve, revisit the values on an annual basis to reset, redefine, and realign based on client feedback.

Businesses change. If they don't, the organization won't survive. This is why it is crucial to continuously review organizational values and see if it is still relevant to your customer's needs. Consider doing an alignment exercise quarterly to ensure your portfolio still matches your goals, KPIs, and, yes, your values. Use your executive leadership to verify these values, your managers to check your goals and KPIs, and your team to review your projects and operations. Ensure each of these levels is aligned and relevant. This is the concept of "Hoshin Kanri," or compass management, as Toyota championed in the 1950s.