If you have a list of 10 core values plastered on your company’s wall, you’re probably off to the wrong start. Why? 10 is too many. At any given time, an individual (or an organization) only has the capacity to prioritize and focus on no more than 3 core values.
Focus on your top 3, at this moment. Values will shift and should change as an organization grows and evolves, and that’s normal. For instance, a startup may prioritize innovation, but as it scales, it may start to place a heavier emphasis on security or integrity. This is purely an example; there’s no right or wrong approach to defining what matters most to you and your organization.
Get Specific
Security could be defined as stability to one person, a bulletproof data and privacy approach to another, and safety to yet another. Be clear about how you define your values and what they mean to your organization. For instance,
Security
Ensuring the safety and protection of our employees, customers, and sensitive information. We prioritize creating a secure environment where everyone feels safe and confident in their interactions with our company.
Values in Decision-making
Take it further by defining manifestations of them in employee behaviors and giving examples of how they inform and influence decisions. With the previous example:
Manifestation in a Decision:
When considering a new software vendor for handling customer data, our company prioritizes security as a core value. Instead of solely focusing on cost or features, we carefully evaluate the vendor’s data encryption protocols, compliance with industry regulations, and track record of security incidents. This decision-making process ensures we uphold our commitment to security and mitigate potential risks to our customers’ data.
The decisions we should make become a lot clearer once we understand our values. For instance: The government is approaching you with an interest in licensing your software for surveillance.
| If one of your core values is: | |
|---|---|
| Growth | This could be a great opportunity to build credibility and secure a stable anchor client. |
| Privacy | You might opt to pass on this in favour of fostering long-term trust with your existing users. |
Internal vs. External
Not all values need to be customer-facing (external); some values are inherently skewed towards how your organization operates (internal). Neither is better, but understanding the difference can help with how you communicate it with your employees, use it in recruitment, or leverage it for marketing to attract prospects that resonate with your approach. For example,
Fail forward
Could be a valuable internal value intended to encourage employees to experiment or signal it’s okay to make mistakes as long as they’re learning from them. However, this may not be appropriate for external communication. It may inadvertently create concerns or doubts among customers or stakeholders about the reliability or competence of the company. Customers might prefer to see a polished image of success and expertise rather than being reminded of the possibility of failure.
Push vs. Pull Values
This is another important distinction to understand when applying values in the workplace.
Many organizations make the mistake of solely pushing values in an effort to encourage employees to adopt them. Push-related initiatives aren’t inherently negative; however, an excessive reliance on them can lead to a sense of inauthenticity. Values are integral to an individual’s sense of self, and while a person’s set of core values can change over time, they are relatively entrenched. If an employee does not already align with one of your organization’s core values, pushing it on them will only further alienate them.
Example Push Initiatives:
- Framing your values on your wall.
- Celebrating people who exhibit behaviors indicative of those values.
- Creating an “innovation” department or organizing internal hackathons to encourage innovation.
Instead of only using Push, also consider Pull-oriented approaches that foster the growth of desired values. What does this look like? Instead of getting people to do more of X, enable people who already WANT to do X to do it more easily. This can be achieved by thoughtfully designing your workplace environment and policies to naturally invite, encourage, and signal that certain values and behaviors are welcomed.
Example Pull Initiatives:
- Google’s 80/20 policy, also known as “20% time” or “Innovation Time Off,” is a famous approach to employee productivity and innovation. The policy allows Google employees to dedicate 20% of their work time (one day per week) to pursue projects that are not necessarily part of their primary job responsibilities. This time is intended for employees to explore their passions, work on pet projects, or experiment with new ideas that could potentially benefit the company.
The 80/20 policy has led to the creation of many successful Google products and features, including Gmail, Google News, and AdSense. By giving employees the freedom to pursue their interests, Google fosters a culture of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship within the company. This policy encourages employees to think outside the box, collaborate across teams, and drive forward-thinking initiatives that can have a significant impact on the company’s growth and success.
It’s not about forcing employees to be more entrepreneurial. Instead, it’s about making their company a place where entrepreneurial-minded people want to come and work.
- Netflix’s unlimited vacation policy, often referred to as “unlimited time off,” gives employees the freedom to take as much vacation time as they need without strict limitations on the number of days off they can take each year. Instead of tracking vacation days, Netflix focuses on achieving results and trusts its employees to manage their time responsibly.
This policy reflects Netflix’s culture of freedom and responsibility. It empowers employees to take ownership of their work-life balance and encourages them to prioritize personal well-being alongside professional commitments. By offering unlimited vacation, Netflix demonstrates trust in its employees’ judgment and dedication to delivering high-quality work.
Furthermore, the policy aligns with Netflix’s emphasis on outcomes over processes. Instead of micromanaging employees’ time off, Netflix focuses on the results they achieve. This fosters a culture of accountability and encourages employees to manage their time efficiently to meet their goals and deadlines.
Netflix’s unlimited vacation policy is not without criticism, primarily raising concerns about employees paradoxically taking less time off for fear of appearing less dedicated than their peers or leaving a bad impression on their managers. The success of policies like these depends highly on how they are implemented and communicated to ensure all employees share the right expectations of what is reasonable and appropriate. Regularly reflect on how your initiatives are playing out to assess whether they are encouraging the intended behaviors or causing unwanted side effects.
Pull initiatives are not only good for cultivating those values in existing employees but also for attracting talent that already resonates with those values. If you are someone who cares about sustainability, you would be more attracted to work with a company that also cares about it. Here are some other example initiatives designed for popular organizational values:
Integrity
Push
- Creating a Slack channel to celebrate instances of integrity.
- Annual awards to celebrate the employee who best manifested integrity in the workplace.
Pull
- Leading by example: following through on promises.
- Turning away prospects that lack integrity: refusing to work with a shady client despite being offered a large sum of money.
- Freedom to work policies:
- Ability to work remotely
- Open vacation policies
- Highlight you are result/outcome-driven and trust your employees to act with integrity.
If you focus on pull, you send the signal that this is a place where people who have integrity work; this organization has integrity. You trust your employees to make decisions with high standards in mind because you believe they will act with integrity.
Boldness/Courage
Push
- Screening for boldness/courage in the interview process:
- Excluding meek or timid candidates.
- Asking candidates about a previous instance where they demonstrated boldness/courage.
Pull
- Creating an environment where it’s OK to be bold:
- Creating space and opportunities to invite others to comfortably voice their opinions and ideas (anonymous if necessary).
- Empowering employees to make certain decisions with autonomy.
If you only push, people feel pressured to be someone they’re not, whether it’s for the sake of getting hired, keeping their job, or pleasing others. Instead, by also pulling, you signal that you aren’t forcing them to be someone they aren’t comfortable with. On the other hand, if they have a natural inclination towards boldness, they’ll enjoy your company because it embraces boldness. Your organization won’t dismiss or chastise bold suggestions, and you welcome new ideas or candid discussions on new possibilities.
Mercenary vs. Missionary
Why am I discussing culture so extensively in a book about sales? Because I often find sales teams are the breeding ground for toxic cultures. If culture is not approached intentionally and if incentives are applied toward rewarding the wrong metrics, it can unintentionally encourage the wrong behaviors.
If short-term outcomes are all you care about, you can get away with recruiting skillful mercenaries. However, it is critical to proactively seek and filter for mission and value alignment in the people you add to your team if you wish to create a healthy long-term environment. I’ve witnessed this firsthand in the workplace:
During my time at WIND Mobile (now Freedom Mobile), I had the opportunity to work closely with the company’s top salesperson nationwide, whom I’ll refer to as Adam for anonymity.
I first met Adam during a visit to our flagship store at Metrotown Mall while exchanging inventory with the manager. Even then, Adam’s aggressive sales tactics and reputation for “stealing” sales from colleagues had already made him unpopular among coworkers. Despite this, his sales performance didn’t warrant termination, leaving his manager in a dilemma.
Although Adam’s sales performance contributed significantly to company objectives, it was overshadowed by the negative impact on team morale and our brand’s reputation. Customers would often return to complain about false promises and misinformation he provided.
Recognizing the need for intervention, I proposed transferring Adam to one of my stores to coach and address his behavior. However, despite my efforts, Adam persisted in his conduct, creating a toxic atmosphere among my employees. Eventually, I initiated the termination process, meticulously documenting his behavioral issues, coaching efforts, and issuing formal warnings.
Also check out: 6 Mistakes Organizations Make When Implementing Values In The Workplace.
ASSIGNMENT
This exercise comes from Tony Robbins’ book: Awaken the Giant Within.
For founders/business owners: this exercise can be done with your team to surface organizational values from the bottom up. It’s worth doing this even if you’ve already defined your company values, as values can and should change over time.
For individuals: Although you may lack the ability to influence your organization’s values, this will still help you better understand yourself, especially if you haven’t already defined your values. Clarity of self enables you to better identify your authentic style and determine which sales techniques or methodologies best suit you.
- Come up with a list of 10 values important to you or your company.
- E.g. integrity, adventure, humor, sustainability, innovation, trust, transparency, etc.
- Rank them from 1-10.
- If you find it challenging, isolate and compare two values against each other; the more important one is ranked higher. Repeat this process by comparing either of those values with a new one.
- Focus on your Top 3 values. We engage in this roundabout process because it’s challenging to be decisive and limit yourself to only 3 core values right from the start.