In the third part of a series for AMBITION, Jane Sunley discusses how create a living, breathing message of what your business stands for, in order to win hearts and minds
Visions, missions, culture and values are what your organisation stands for.
Mission and vision provide the ‘why’, if you like – why you’re in business; why you do what you do and where you’re going with it. You don’t even have to use these standard terms. You could just say: ‘This is what we’re about. This is what we stand for. This is where we’re headed.
It’s vital that every single team member and potential team member can easily understand what you’re all about; what you stand for; and where you’re going. Most importantly, this message needs to be consistent throughout the organisation.
The important thing is that you and your leadership team are able to articulate clearly what you stand for and that everyone within your organisation understands that too. And through your values know how it relates to each employee and his or her role.
This is a big ask, but you absolutely need to get it right before you do anything else. It will be the glue that connects your people strategy, keeping parity throughout the ups and downs, swings and roundabouts and constant change of business as it is today.
Keep it simple and memorable
Long mission and/or vision statements that no one, not even the CEO, can remember, are a really bad idea.
You’d be surprised by the number of well-respected companies that believe everyone knows their vision, and then when you ask a) the receptionist b) the department head c) the CEO, none of them will be able to tell you.
I know, because I test this out all the time. I was once discussing the clarity of company purpose and values with a CEO and his HR director. ‘Oh,’ he said with a rather self-satisfied smirk. ‘We got all that stuff sorted out ages ago.’
So I asked what their mission and vision statement were. And of course, neither of them knew. The HR director shuffled about uncomfortably, delving into his briefcase for his credit card-sized reminder, though couldn’t find it. Then the CEO called through to his assistant, who didn’t know either. I’d also asked the receptionist on the way in who didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. By now, the HR director had turned a nasty shade of puce and had started to mumble apologetically. The CEO didn’t understand that he was the one who should have been shouting this stuff from the rafters. I guess that’s because he probably believed it to be an ‘HR initiative’…
So if you’re building a mission statement, make it as simple, as visible and as memorable as possible.
That way, you can really make it live. Getting it down to a clear and simple message is really hard to do and if you’re struggling with making it simple, bring in some expertise to help you work through the options (giving them a 140-character limit, because some experts over-complicate the process as well)!
Articulate your values
It’s also necessary to articulate your ‘values’; what your organisation stands for; how you go about your day-to-day business. This is very important to today’s employee who seeks meaning from work.
Values should be simple enough to remember so they can be properly and easily embedded. They are the thread which runs through everything you do.
Up to five is a good, manageable number of values. Mnemonics and acronyms are very useful for helping people remember. For example, childcare provider Bright Horizons Family Solutions uses HEART – honesty, excellence, accountability, respect and teamwork.
If you haven’t yet defined your values it’s important to do this properly. To save time, let the board determine these (they might need some facilitation). And then work hard on it with the rest of the organisation.
I realise inclusivity is key, but consulting everyone is going to take a really long time and the strong ‘essence’ of what you are will become diluted. If you want to move fast (and in today’s business you need to) you can’t afford to make every decision by consensus. The important thing is to communicate really well, involve people in the execution and work with them to gain real buy-in.
Harvard Business School Professor, Howard Stevenson, concurs, saying that: ‘Maintaining an effective culture is so important that it trumps even strategy.’ This means that existing leaders and employees must decide upon, support and deliver on the desired cultural norms and parameters – together.
Perhaps, then, it is the job of a really great performer to understand, live and breathe the values, and to evolve them. It’s also about mutual trust and respect between employees and their leaders; being able to have an honest, two-way conversation in order to drive the business towards cultural success.
The important thing is to ensure leaders are really getting to grips with their culture and communicating with their people; understanding the way they work as individuals and how they interpret the values; and helping them to get it right through role-model behaviour, high standards and support. Then it’s a matter of delivering it, over and over again…
If you can find a way to make sure people actually remember your values, relate to them, like them and feel proud – they can truly live them every day. Talk about your values all the time. Consider the values in every decision you make. If something doesn’t fit the values, whether that’s a person, potential client or internal communication, then you’ll know it’s not right to progress further.
In most cases, it’s unusual for someone to be able to thrive and survive within your organisation if they don’t ‘get’ what you’re about. This is particularly true of organisations in which customer service is key to growth and where people can make or break the brand.
You should also review your values annually to make sure they are still absolutely relevant and true for your organisation. HOWEVER resist the need to change them unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. Changing firmly embedded values is even harder than changing your brand identity. This is why culture change is such a challenging thing.
A 10-point, fool proof method for embedding your value
1. Avoid the archetypal ‘road-show’ or PowerPoint presentation. (That old adage: ‘I hear; I forget. I see; I remember. I do; I understand,’ has never been truer.)
2. Instead, develop line-managers and others to work with their teams to determine: what does this value mean to each of us in our particular role? And how will we know we’re doing it? (This is a facilitated discussion around practical examples. So, if one of your values is ‘achievement’, for one person it might be completing everything on the day’s schedule, for another it will be meeting the target EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation); for another, ‘landing the plane’ safely.
3. Incorporate your values into daily language; for this example, ask: ‘Will this help us achieve the goal?’
4. Make sure values are visible too. Some people put their values on posters or credit card- sized reminders, which is a start, though not a substitute for knowing and living them. Certainly, they must be on your website and on appropriate collateral; I also like to see them in well-used places such as on the back of toilet doors or by the coffee machine. (Don’t overdo it though – you’re not a cult!)
5. Use values in recruitment: expect every candidate to be familiar with them from their research. Ask prospective employees how they feel they could relate the values of the company to the role on offer. Look them in the eye and ask whether they can give 100% commitment to upholding these values.
6. Use your values in inductions, day to day, in meetings, in the board room.
7. Measure people’s performance against the values.
8. Incorporate the values in all learning and development activity.
9. Use values in planning, briefings and team meetings to keep them alive and kicking.
10. And most importantly, leaders (at all levels) must live your values every day and NEVER (ever) compromise them (and if they do, they must own up fast and fix it faster).
Don’t just take it from me
‘It’s so important to create a strong and recognisable culture. This is not about having printed collateral and so on, it’s about keeping the message simple. It’s about making sure that everyone, from the highest level down ‘lives it’ on a continuous basis.
‘Talk about culture in the decisions you make, measure potential recruits against it – if they can’t live it then don’t employ them. You have to imprint it upon everyone who’s involved. That’s what makes a business stand out from the rest; enabling growth and success.
‘When a company is small, the culture permeates naturally, but as they grow it becomes more difficult to ensure the message doesn’t become diluted.
‘So when the company gets bigger, it’s crucial that, on a daily basis, every message and every direction given by a leader to their teams must contain the essence of the company culture. This can be achieved through formal communications or informal, ad hoc conversations.
‘Leaders and others have to give culture the attention it deserves: feed it, nurture it and promote it – every day, day in, day out.’
MARTIN KUCZMARSKI, CHIEF OPERATION OFFICER, SOHO HOUSE & CO
‘I firmly believe that in any business, regardless of shape, size and sector, skills can be taught. But appreciation and love for a company culture is something that can never be put upon someone – it’s something that people just have.
‘My advice for keeping the cultural fire burning in a business, is to think every day about the authentic things that make your company great – or just unique. Keep these values at the heart of every business decision you make and ask yourself, if you make a tough choice that doesn’t fit in with your values – no matter how much pressure you feel – if this is the right decision for the business.
‘It’s culture and authenticity that gives a business a USP and the impetus for growth – you generate custom and attract talent through a great culture and that strengthens the argument for keeping your culture at the heart of business development.
‘Remember this golden rule and a conflict of culture versus growth should never arise.’
MIKE WILLIAMS, PEOPLE DIRECTOR, BYRON HAMBURGERS
‘When it comes to the company culture, it starts with the individual. At Metro Bank, it’s about feeling cared for and connecting with a customer who walks out smiling, or about a person you hired getting a promotion. Everything you do makes up culture and you have to be passionate and fanatical about it. For example, we have disciplinary and grievance policy that says: “If you’re reading this you’re having a difficult time at work.” It’s more human in tone and the procedure is far more mature – we ask that at first you try to sort it out because we’re all grown up. This empowers the person once again.’
DANIELLE HARMER, CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER, METRO BANK
Jane Sunley is a CEO, celebrated author, lecturer, speaker and mentor as well as an established and renowned authority on ‘all things people’.
She is a non-executive director and a visiting fellow at two UK universities as well as speaking and writing extensively on the subject of people and HR.
