Enron, Worldcom, Adelphia and many of the corporations that got into trouble in the first two or three years of this decade had clearly articulated values printed and published for all employees to see. However, the leaders of these companies did not themselves ‘live’ the values and so took their corporations down a mighty bad road. If the leaders do not support the values, then it is foolish to think that the rest of the organization will do so.

What then is the value of value if they can be so easily ignored? If you approach organizations with a strong set of values and ask them why these values, the answer you are most likely to get is, “We have these values because they define for us what we stand for, and we could hold them even in the face of pressure to do otherwise.” That is the essence of core values. They are so valued that to ignore them would be to place the organization in grave peril.

A large Canadian professional firm thought that their values were so important that they created a feedback program to test the extent to which their partners actually demonstrated the values. In several pilot tests, the partners received feedback from their peers, their direct reports and their staff support team. The results provided a strong validation of the value system of the firm and the fact that the leaders, the partners, supported and actively promoted the values.

How did the values systems pay off for the firm? Well, their recruiters were able to demonstrate for potential new hires, that the value systems was a living, fully supported set of principles they lived by. Their recruiting success was based on the validity of their values.

Great companies decide for themselves what values they hold as critical to their success. The first thing they would admit is that there is no universally ‘right’ set of values. The values of the Royal Bank, Hoffman-La Roche, Ellis-Don and other great Canadian companies have evolved their own set of values through experience and determination. Their values reflect their view of what values are fundamental to their existence and deeply held, so deeply held that they seldom change them because to change them would alter their basic tenets or beliefs.

What are core values anyway and why are they so important? Some examples from the value statements of corporations are: corporate social responsibility, respect for the individual, service to the customer, teamwork, open communications and an environment that values diversity and does not tolerate harassment of any kind.

These values are so important because they set a standard of behaviour that everyone in the organization is expected to use to guide their own behaviour. They spell out what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behaviour. As a result, value-driven organizations tend to attract and retain value-driven people. With a principled workforce and a value-driven culture, value-based organizations outdistance their competitors with ease.

Who should be involved in developing and articulating a set of core values? A good cross-section of the organization should be asked, first as individuals and then as a group, to articulate their understanding of the fundamental values that they bring to the workplace. These values represent the things that the employees would teach their children and their families.

If the organization can articulate these values as the values of the corporation then the values are likely to take root and thrive. If the values are imposed on the organization there is far less likelihood that the values will be believed and acted upon by the employees.