For many, “culture” is one of the biggest selling points when it comes to joining or staying with a company. But ask an employee what their company’s values mean in practice, and they may struggle to identify them.
“All companies tend to have their missions and values, you know, put on the wall in nice, pretty frames, and most of their employees could not tell them what the mission and values of the company were,” says Jeff Harris, CEO of Jeff Harris & Associates.
Having values on paper is one thing; creating a workplace where people understand and experience them is another. According to Harris, true culture is revealed in how an organization behaves when those values are tested. What does your company look like when nobody’s watching, or when the organization is under pressure? Those moments can reveal more about its culture than any values statement.
“Your true values in an organization come down to the worst behavior that you’re willing to tolerate,” says Harris. “You can say whatever your values are, but if you’re tolerating people’s behavior that is misaligned, and everybody sees you tolerate it, then that becomes your values.”
That might mean claiming to value respect while tolerating poor management, or saying you value employees while consistently overworking them. What leaders allow to continue sends a stronger message than what’s written on a motivational poster. To build an employer culture people actually believe in, here’s what Harris recommends:
Make culture simple enough to remember.
Strong values don’t need complicated language. Sometimes, the simplest approaches are the most effective. Harris recalls hearing a candidate describe their approach to corporate culture with a simple question: “How would you want your mom to be taken care of?” he says. “What I liked about it was that it’s so incredibly simple.” A clear principle like this can give employees an easy reference point for making decisions and understanding what an organization’s values look like in practice.
Turn values into action.
Culture isn’t just about being nice. High expectations, accountability and difficult decisions are all part of a workplace, but those choices should reflect the principles an organization claims to hold. For Harris, that means turning broad ideas into practical, repeatable behaviors. “It’s not enough to say we want to value our employees,” he says. “You have to extrapolate that into specific practices that become repeatable.” If recognition matters, create a way for employees to recognize each other’s work. If development matters, build it into management and performance processes. The point is to make values something people can actually act on, rather than something they are simply told to believe.
Give employees room to live out those values.
Those mechanisms shouldn’t all come from the top. Employees need enough autonomy to put an organization’s principles into practice. “You have to give enough autonomy to your employees to be able to enact that mandate,” says Harris. Setting clear expectations and boundaries is the first step. From there, leaders must create an environment where staff are trusted, not babied or micromanaged, and have the ability, motivation and confidence to make decisions independently.
Ask what people actually want.
“We always ask candidates for what we call their ‘hot buttons,’” says Harris. “If you had to narrow it down to the single most important characteristic that’s going to determine your next job and whether it’s a fit, what do you think that’d be?” Culture is consistently among the factors candidates identify – though it takes different forms depending on the person and their priorities. Understanding those priorities can help organizations identify where the employee experience is working and where there may be a gap between intention and reality.
Put your culture to the test.
A regular check-in can help employers assess whether their stated values are reflected in the employee experience. Ask: Could employees explain our most important values simply? Do leaders consistently model them? What behavior are we currently tolerating that contradicts them? Ultimately, culture is built through everyday decisions – what gets rewarded, what gets ignored, who gets listened to and how people are treated when things get difficult.
Building that kind of culture takes the right people, practices and leadership behind it. Jeff Harris & Associates can help organizations build teams and workplaces that are aligned for the long term. Get in touch to learn more.