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15 Effective Ways Leaders Can Communicate Core Business Values To Employees

Forbes Coaches Council

As your company expands and adds more employees, your culture may shift. While having more voices in the room isn't a bad thing, it doesn’t always leave room for in-depth discussions about the company's core values.

To ensure your values aren't forgotten as you grow, we asked the members of Forbes Coaches Council for their advice. Below, they share 15 things business leaders can do to communicate the core values of their business to employees, and how these strategies can help a company excel ethically.

1. Hold Collective 'Sense-Making' Discussions

As a company grows, its corporate identity matures and changes. That means core values and the way they are practiced will change as well. A simple value communication can, therefore, backfire. To move toward authentic, ethical and innovative growth, companies can focus on a culture of collective sense-making so people can discuss their values and how they want to practice them. - Erika Jacobi, Ph.D., LC GLOBAL Consulting Inc.

2. Live Your Values Through Action

Business leaders communicate values through action. Is service a value? Then offer to help a customer you see in your lobby. Is teamwork a value? Then don't spend any time venting about colleagues. Is empathy a value? Then truly listen to a struggling staff member. Leaders who live their values exhibit integrity. That integrity encourages both excellence and ethical behavior. - Gwen Voelpel, City of SeaTac


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3. Integrate Values Into The Employee Lifecycle

Integrating values into each step of the job cycle, from hiring to advancement to exit, prompts a pause to ask: With which core value does this decision or action align? This practice connects daily behavior to a company's impact, exposing whoever does not subscribe to the values. Open discussions could then show how values are embodied in diverse ways, fostering more inclusion versus groupthink. - Samara Hakim, CulturGrit

4. Simplify Your Mission, Vision And Values Statements

A company’s mission, vision and values need to be captured in single sentences. Most organizations fail because they create complex, verbose statements most employees can't understand, let alone live up to. Once these have been simplified and captured, leaders should discuss them regularly with their teams using real-world examples. This will help companies stay true to their core values—and if these were set correctly in the first place, it will help companies to excel ethically. - Paul Watts, Base Over Apex Inc

5. Use Values As Your Decision-Making Framework

The core values of any organization act as a framework for decisions, actions and the quality of interactions between stakeholders. The best way for leaders to communicate these values to their employees is to A) refer to them on a regular basis (e.g. when they make a decision) and B) consistently live up to them, as actions speak louder than words. Employees will take you as a point of reference and live up to them too. - Thomas Gelmi, Movadis GmbH

6. Create A Culture Playbook Around Your Values

Communicating core values is best done by creating a culture playbook around each of your core values. Each page properly crafts what "right" looks like, feels like and sounds like inside the walls of your company. What does the value really mean, and when and how does "right" show up? When we define it, build it and maintain it, it is easy to see. - Shelley Smith, Premier Rapport

7. Hold Quarterly Town Hall Meetings

By holding Town Hall meetings quarterly, leaders can use these opportunities to reinforce their company's core values and ethics to their employees. This makes sure that the organization and employees are totally aligned and operating in an ethical manner. Those who are not aligned will soon deselect themselves from the organization. - Peter Boolkah, The Transition Guy

8. Address The 'Why' And The 'WIIFM'

In my corporate experience and as a coach, communicating for lasting, sustained impact needs the following to be addressed in the messaging: 1) The Why: Why are these values so important, and why do they personify the company? 2) The WIIFM (what’s in it for me/them): Here, both “me” and “them” have to be explained and established. 3) Then, identify and establish an emotional link within the message to the team. - Sadhana Somasekhar, Platinum Infosystems Pvt. Ltd.

9. Recognize Employees Who Demonstrate Company Values

Leaders need to visibly and tangibly recognize when company values are demonstrated by employees. Public praise highlighting the actions driven by values can be effective. Addressing actions that don't conform to the values is also needed. Leaders who live the values daily and talk about how the values impact their decisions help employees to see the values in action. - Evan Roth, Roth Consultancy International, LLC.

10. Include All Employees In Your Strategic Planning

My clients who include every employee in annual strategic planning and quarterly progress course corrections have the most engaged employees. Each understands not just the planned trajectory for the year, but also how it necessarily evolves in real-time. Each also sees clearly how their role furthers the company's plan. - Dodie Jacobi, The Consultant's Consultant™

11. Frame All Announcements In The Context Of Your Values

Frame every announcement and every decision in the context of the company values. If managers and senior leaders actually use the values in their work and decisions, articulating how the values fit will be natural and effective reinforcement. Employees generally struggle with values when their managers' decisions and actions don't align. - Leann Wolff, Great Outcomes Consulting

12. Pay Attention To Nonverbal Communication

Often, it is the nonverbal communication that makes the most impact on employees and other stakeholders. While there may be a list of the company vision and values in brochures and other collateral material, it is the behavior of leaders that loudly communicates those core values. Simply put, lead by example, take a stand against injustice and take action when necessary.  - Deborah Hightower, Deborah Hightower, Inc.

13. Create A Values-Based Awards Program

Create awards based on these values. They can be established annually or quarterly. The award or medal to the member who demonstrated "Creativity," "Teamwork" or "Excellence" can be configured with the values, as companies like Domino’s Pizza do worldwide. - Emilio González , ActionCOACH Business Coaching

14. Make The Connection Between Actions And Values Clear

Sharing examples of values in action and describing the explicit connection to the company's values can be helpful for employees. For example, a company that values serving its community can spotlight individuals who are doing community service projects, and specifically state that this is an example of the company's values in action. - Jennifer Wisdom, Wisdom Consulting

15. Tell The Right Stories To Your Team

Stand-out business leaders see themselves as storytellers of their companies. Values-based stories that share their unique value proposition in the marketplace, and how they do what they do even more than what they do, are both easily understood and shared. When employees share the culture and vision of a company through a repeated story, it supports seamless communication of culture as the company grows. - Jeneen Masih, JMM Consulting

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