An organization’s values should be inclusive and integrated throughout the organization, so make sure to address these common mistakes leaders make when establishing values for their organization:
Adopting another organization’s values. Values should not be imported they must be discovered. If you adopt another organization’s values, you missed out on the most important part of the process of creating values. Such as: analyzing, discussing and thinking about what values fit the culture you are creating.
Expecting the team to adopt the values right away. Your team will need some time to try the values on and to incorporate them into how they perform on a day-to-day basis.
Never revisiting the values. After the initial fanfare when rolling out the values, some organizations never mention their values again. Discuss your values frequently and review them when making decisions.
Not aligning values with performance. Values should be aligned with the goals of the organization; employee performance should be tied to the values.
Ignoring established values. Creating new values in a vacuum is problematic. Before a leadership retreat, poll your employees about their own values and what they believe the values of the organization are. You will learn a lot about the people working for you and what they care about in this process.
Not discussing how the values translate to behavior. Don’t believe for one second that everyone will interpret the meaning and execution of the values the same. Where it is feasible, create a values statement and write out actions that describe how the value will be carried out. For example, if one of your values is to give back to the community, state that the organization will provide 16 hours per year for an employee to volunteer in the community. Statements like this will empower your people!