Core values can help people make key decisions, align with peers, and do their best work. When considered during the hiring process, values serve as a great lens for whether people will be a good culture fit. And they can be an essential glue for organizations in challenging times. So much promise for just a small set of words!
And yet, even when people intend to make values central to decision making or culture building, some organizations have a much harder time doing so than others. After puzzling over this and noticing some patterns, I think it has more to do with the actual values chosen than any failing from leadership or teams.
I’ve noticed that there are two types of values that can be especially challenging for people to bring to life in their organizations: moral and emotional values.
Moral values which are generally seen as either right or wrong can be challenging on a couple of levels. Think values like honesty or respect.
First of all, they are not very distinct. Almost every single company will expect these behaviors from employees. If you still feel like a moral value is core to who you are, it can help to be really specific about how that value uniquely applies to your organization. For example, honesty for your organization could mean referring a customer to another option if you feel there is a better fit, or being transparent about the ingredients in a product.
Secondly, people obscure behaviors that don’t fall in line with black and white/right or wrong expectations. Honesty, if not made more specific, will generally just mean don’t lie, cheat, or steal. People know it is wrong to be dishonest, so they’re not likely to tell you they have acted that way in the past or to come right out and show those behaviors. Enforcing this kind of value can feel a little more like detective work.
To compare, let’s look at another example that is not a moral, but a preference or work style value: collaboration. It is neither right nor wrong to prefer to work in groups and be energized by partnering with others. Just as it is neither right nor wrong to prefer the opposite—to work independently. An organization with a value of collaboration has made a choice to make teamwork the norm. It’s easy to spot whether someone will fit well with this value in an interview. There’s no crime in saying “I do my best work alone. It helps me stay focused.” People are usually up front about preferences like this. Even if they aren’t, their preferred work styles become apparent pretty fast. These kinds of values are all about right culture fit, not simply what is right.
Emotional values are tricky because people can perceive them so differently. Consider values like passion or positivity. Sometimes they are harder to see in action. What does passion look like? People express passion in their own ways, and it might not always be an easy apples-to-apples comparison. Again, it can be helpful to be specific about what passion means to your organization. Passion might mean having a deep curiosity about your industry, willingness to work extra on a project, or serving as a brand ambassador for your organization.
Consider the value of positivity. For some, it can be very motivating and seen as a choice to find the bright side in all situations. Others might see it as a ruse to suppress bad news, and possibly prohibit sharing candid feedback. Insisting on positivity even when things aren’t going well can feel a little like you’re forcing happy pills on people. Policies requiring employees to behave in a positive manner have actually been struck down as violating free speech rights in the past, so you need to be careful about forcing emotion. For an emotional value, it’s best to look at it as inspiring a mindset, rather than requiring a specific emotion at all times.
Moral and emotional values have their challenges—they can be harder to observe, get aligned around, and can make you feel more like the values police than a team motivator. The questions below are helpful to assess values. Any potential value should be carefully considered before choosing, but it can be especially helpful to work through these questions to “test” moral or emotional values:
- How you will talk about the value with your team? Can you come up with specific language that helps people understand your take on it? Developing specific and distinct language means you’ll be able to communicate your values with your team.
- How will you look for this behavior in an interview process? Or use the value to assess current team performance and inspire the type of culture you want to have? If you can easily generate interview questions or potential cultural practices and ideas inspired by this value, that’s a good indicator you’ll be able to bring the value to life in multiple ways.
- Can you think of recent examples where team members embodied this behavior? A strong value will readily conjure up stories that you can share with others to demonstrate the value in action.
While I would never say never go with a moral or emotional value, realizing the hurdles can be helpful to understand before choosing them.