Corporate values statements, although nearly universal, rarely matter. Such is the finding in a very recent article in the MIT Sloan Management Review, by Donald Sull, Stefano Turconi and Charles Sull (find it here). And nearly all of us can most likely cite examples of where this is true (think Volkswagen, Enron, and more). The purpose of the research was to find out how well behaviour inside a company aligns with cultural aspirations, or as the authors put it, “when it comes to their core values, do companies walk the talk?
The research found that companies “rely on a set of core values as the guideposts for helping employees align their behaviour with corporate culture.” Regarding these values, most commonly companies are reporting five core values, and nearly 75% list between three and seven values. By far, the most commonly listed values are:
- Integrity
- Collaboration
- Customer focus
- Respect
There is quite some distance between these four and the next ones.
What was most interesting from the research is that “there is no correlation between the cultural values a company emphasizes in its published statements and how well the company lives up to those values in the eyes of the employees”. That is “data shows no correlation between official values and corporate culture.”
Thankfully the authors don’t just leave the discussion there and go on to offer some tips on how to close that gap between culture and values. Each of the following three tips are explained in the article, with examples of how to achieve them, but in summary they are:
- Provide some behavioural guidelines
- Articulate what makes your organisation distinct
- Explain why your values matter
These can easily be summarised under the banner of communication. While we may think we are good at communicating, the evidence does not support that for most organisations. The disconnect between what leaders preach and what is practiced through organisations is distinct.
Take a moment to reflect on you and your organisation – do you see the espoused values being practiced throughout your organisation? How do you know?