Defining Behaviors
Core values
What's different about working in organizations today? It's the constant change that has ripple effects through every function and group. It's the ambiguity and uncertainty facing many, as well as the pressure to move faster, with more agility.
Core values, often under-utilized, provide the guidance system that enables groups to work together. They help groups make tough decisions and act as a guide in times of conflict. In the midst of complexity and uncertainty, having a set of values and expectations about what these mean for behavior establishes a strong foundation for collaboration, innovation and speed.
Behavioral drivers
But in times of change, groups need specific examples of the core values and their related behaviors. Sometimes these are the same as in the past. This brings reassurance and confidence. Often the values stay the same, but the behaviors expressing the values shift. For example, the core value 'teamwork' may now focus on inter-disciplinary collaboration as well as departmental teamwork or 'accountability' may now include consideration of sustainability.
Providing specific examples provides leaders with the coaching tools they need for starting new kinds of conversations about living the values today and tomorrow. For new employees, this sets expectations quickly about what is valued in the organization. With multiple generations in the workforce, the process of articulating and communicating behavioral expectations can open up dialogue about the ways that values can be reflected in behaviors day-to-day.
Building on the consultation methods and behavior menus we have developed from over a dozen years of focus on values, behavior and culture, we support the Human Resources function in developing these behavioral drivers. As part of our principles, we transfer knowledge throughout the engagement.
Client Case
Our client is a successful mid-sized organization that had grown steadily over ten years through focus on efficiency and customer experience. The President recognized the need to 'connect the dots' by articulating a set of core values to guide actions across an increasingly dispersed organization. We worked with the senior leadership team over one day to articulate a set of core values that reflected the mission of the organization and behavioral descriptions of what this looking like in action. A validation conference call with the team confirmed that the group felt it had landed on a set of values currently living in the organization to guide action across the company.
We worked with the group to plan a process to engage the general managers and employees at their 38 locations in validating the values and behaviors and exploring how they applied at work everyday. In the midst of the 2009 downturn, there were very limited funds for travel or consulting time however, by designing simple but powerful sets of questions and providing leaders with practical meeting tools, the whole organization became engaged in validating the values and behaviors.
The President led the way with an examination of each value at monthly video conferences. We anticipated that employees and managers would want more descriptions about how the values could be applied to situations they encountered. We developed a set of questions that managers posed with their groups over a series of months. Meeting outcomes were shared on-line. Video clips of employees telling their real life success stories were uploaded to the intranet.
A Core Values guide was developed which provides behavioral descriptions of the values in action. It is now an active part of on-boarding, coaching and performance development and has been particularly helpful during recent acquisitions.
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Rule #1: Use your good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules. Nordstrom's Employee Handbook
