Did you know that companies with a strong purpose perform better than companies that don’t? In fact, according to a Porter Novelli study, if your company has a strong purpose 72% of consumers are likely to be loyal and 71% are more likely to purchase from you (compared to a non-purpose company).
Moreover, when your employee values and company values are aligned there are even greater benefits, according to the Nov-Dec 2022 Harvard Business Review Magazine article “What Does Your Company Really Stand For” by Paul Ingram and Yoonjin Choi. The authors explain that companies that have value alignment (i.e., company and employee values are aligned) there is “higher job satisfaction, less turnover, better teamwork, and more-effective communication,” as well as more diversity, equity, and inclusion.
So when your organization’s purpose can affect everything from employee turnover to company performance, it’s important to have good value alignment. The authors suggest following these five steps in sequence in order to identify your employees’ values and the organization’s purpose and how to hire candidates who align with them.
- Identify the individual values of all organization members.
First, you need to identify your employee values. The authors suggest using a value structure. This structure represents eight values that are the most significant for each individual. Some of these values are things like creativity, integrity, excellence, and joy.
This practice takes 90 minutes. However, you can also ask one question to get to the heart of the matter: “Whom do you value most among your colleagues in the organization, and why?” This question uncovers what the organization values the most.
For more on looking at values, consider corporate culture strategist Robert Richman. Robert is one of the world’s authorities on employee culture and has been hired to teach culture in person at companies like Google, Toyota, and Eli Lilly.
- Identify key priorities from strategy.
The next step for value alignment is to identify your organization’s priorities.
The authors suggest asking: “What is the most important thing the organization can do to achieve its strategy?” The answer from this question will help align the official values with the organization’s mission.
If your organization needs help going through change, consider change management speaker Cassandra Worthy. Cassandra Worthy is a motivational keynote speaker, innovator, and the world’s leading expert on Change Enthusiasm® She empowers organizations to overcome their challenges.
- Look for values “candidates” that both serve the strategy and resonate with individuals.
Next, you need to hire more employees that share those values and priorities. When looking at candidates to hire for your organization, the authors suggest looking for individuals who match the company’s values and also its strategy.
For understanding values, consider cultural agility expert Dr. Paula Caligiuri. She helps people communicate across cultures and generations to find shared values.
- Assess the values of the candidates.
While you’re hiring, it’s very important in the process to involve everyone in the organization. Give everyone in the organization a voice when assessing these value candidates.
It should be made clear, however, that everyone has a voice but not a vote. The authors suggest leaders could invite employees to rank all value candidates or to identify the five they think are best. Then the hiring team can make its choice.
- Edit the top-ranking candidates to generate a final set of organizational values.
The final step is setting the organizational values. These values are more than just something you post on a memo or a web page. These are the values of the employees that align with the organization’s mission.
At this point, the authors suggest it’s the job of leadership to use the input from the previous steps to decide on the organizational values.
Aligning the values of your employees with your company is not easy. However, the benefits are huge if you take the time to do it. Companies that have a strong purpose perform better than those who don’t.
This article was originally published by BigSpeak Nov 10, 2022.
