The Problem With 'Authentic Values'
Along with vision & mission statements (which we’ve already torn apart in a previous article), Values are the textbook go-to of pretty much any strategic consultant - whether that’s business, brand or HR etc.
Company values, brand values, core values… they get called different things but everyone agrees on one aspect - they absolutely must be “authentic” :)
So people take time to think about what feels important & authentic to them & then they write those things down. All good.
They might even download one of the many online lists of “example values” & pick which they feel they most resonate with. Job done.
Only it’s not good & it's not done. Because the point isn’t just to have values for values’ sake.
Even if you personally feel like they fit.
The point is connection - with the people who work with you, who buy from you, or who deal with you in any way.
Shared values are a way of building this connection. But most values, picked the way most businesses pick them, don't connect to anyone at all.
Everyone reaches for the same words
in 2022, Oxford University's Character Project surveyed 221 UK companies and found the same handful of values dominating almost everywhere: Collaboration, Integrity, Excellence, Customer service, Creativity. Sound familiar?
Equally depressing is that, whilst most of the companies surveyed were FTSE 350, their values are the exact same generic concepts we see in SMEs value sets every day. (With the addition of “professionalism” of course. As values go, "professionalism" should be a basic expectation unless you’re working in an industry with a reputation for questionable standards).
Most values get picked because they sound safe, credible, expected even - not because anyone has taken the time to work out what's actually true of the individual business, or what actually matters to the people in it. Not authentic. Not valued.
Evidence of the values-connection gap
A 2019 survey of 1,178 UK workers by the Institute of Leadership & Management found that of employees' own top 10 personal values, only three overlapped with the values their employer claimed to hold. Integrity, Respect and Trust made the cut. Most of the rest didn't.
Jonny Gifford, senior adviser at the CIPD, points out there can be huge differences between formal, aspirational corporate values & the unspoken, day-to-day values that actually shape behaviour inside a business.
That disconnect comes values from being chosen by management, in a room, whilst theorising on behalf of people whose opinion was never asked.
Yet these people are the ones that are behind your product development, service delivery & customer service. They should be living & delivering your values every day. Otherwise, it’s not authentic, right?
What strong looks like
Spoiler alert: When exploring Values with a client, "Is this authentic?" is not one of our questions. For every value you set, Rock wants to see that
people genuinely care about it
it can practically be lived, embedded & acted upon
it has the right level of truth
it adds value to your business
We’ll take each of these in turn…
1. People Genuinely Care
True connection is a two-way street. If you want to build a strong culture & a loyal customer base, having things in common that you all care about is a powerful tool.
Your values shouldn’t be things management like the sound of, but don’t show up when you ask the team what matters to them, or ask customers what they notice and value about you.
Strong values sit in the space shared by what the business cares about, what the team cares about (i.e. not handed down from a workshop they weren’t even in) & what customers notice. Don’t assume relevance, but ask.
(ahem - independent support is really helpful here….)
2. Actionable & Defendable
Hands down, this is where most values fail - in language, meaning & practice.
For a start, most are written as adjectives or generic principles that end up feeling remote. "Results-oriented" and "customer excellence" sound fine but don’t fire anyone up to actually do anything. Compare that to "Getting It Done" or "Finding The Win", which feel more relatable & doable.
Experience Management firm Qualtrics has a value called "All In" - it's backed by a specific, tracked claim, that 94% of employees say they put in effort beyond what's expected.
Language aside, the meaning also needs to be concrete enough for people to be able to act on & held accountable for - not so abstract that it’s arguable.
Then there's practice... Strong values are ones that are slotted into your every day, built into policies, processes, systems & behaviours across every department - with people being held accountable to them.
Rock’s founder, Rachel Vigers, says
“There's no point having values that represent what you stand for if you're not prepared to stand by them every day & stand up for them when needed”
Embedding values is one of the issues we see SMEs struggle with most. But it doesn’t have to be hard… incorporating them into recruitment processes, training and performance reviews is much more effective than posting them on an office wall.
For example, Rock’s recently been through the process of recruiting a Business Administrator... One of our values is “Find A Way” so, instead of asking candidates directly “would you consider yourself to be resourceful?”, we asked them to contact us with some information about themselves & why they rocked BUT we intentionally didn’t include any contact details. Out of 239 candidates, the vast majority just sent in a standard resume using LinkedIn’s auto response function. Only 12 got our email address off the website, in-mailed us through LI, or uploaded a customised file in place of the standard resume. Shortlisted candidates were then given a mini-task designed to show us how they approached problem solving. No right or wrong answers. No ploy to get free work out of them. Just a short, simple task that demonstrated if they thought creatively, prioritised effectively & can take ownership etc. Anyone can say they know how to find a way - we only want the ones who can show us.
Values mean nothing unless people are able to deliver them every day.
3. The right level of truth
This is where the “authentic” label also loses out - because being "true" of the business doesn't equate to being "right" for the business.
Values are an important tool for shaping culture, building relationships & influencing your reputation. If your business has identified a need to change in these areas, it’s ok to introduce a value that encourages the behaviours to support that change - ie it’s NOT a value that you’re delivering on now.
CAVEAT: Just be careful not to suddenly introduce a wave of new values that serve only to wind people up! If they don’t recognise the business you’re describing, your credibility will be called into question & you’ll risk disenfranchising them. You need to balance what gives you room to grow against what you’re currently delivering.
4. Deliver actual value
Your values should help you to develop your business in a way that strengthens relationships, that helps you to attract talent with a better cultural fit, or clients looking for a brand they can be loyal to.
So, in addition to giving practical, behavioural guidance & being a genuine source of emotional connection, your values - at least when taken together, if not individually - should also say something about the unique character of your business. What YOU care about. What principles YOU hold dear. How YOU work.
Qualtrics' own Employee Experience research found that when employees feel their organisation genuinely embodies its stated values, they're 27% more likely to report high engagement and 23% more likely to stay beyond three years. (Caveat: they are in the business of selling employee-experience software, so it isn't entirely neutral - but it does reflect what we see across multiple sectors)
Hand on heart - do your values do all this?
If not, drop us a DM (info@rock.partners)
Before we wrap up, 2 further points…
Who owns "authentic values"?
Last year, we met with a boutique law firm whose HR & Marketing departments were at loggerheads over their Company Values vs Brand Values...
The first were historic, led by the founder & adopted by HR who included them in recruitment advertising & job descriptions.
The latter had been developed by Marketing, following an extensive client satisfaction survey.
Let’s be clear - no firm, whatever your size, needs two sets of values. That’s a recipe for disconnect right there.
It was a relatively straightforward fix - getting experienced professionals into a room & having a grown up conversation - but the point remains… values are everybody’s business. Silos only serve your competitors (who mop up the people that leave!).
Leaders MUST exemplify them
Whilst interviewing an Italian furniture supplier for one of Rock's European clients, Rachel was introduced to the saying “the fish stinks from the head”!
A leadership team that writes "Getting It Done" on the wall but misses their own reporting deadlines is living proof that values don’t matter.
Even if you’ve avoided the rolled eyes that come from a “customer excellence” style value & have come up with a specific, well-articulated alternative, the gap between what management says and what management does is the fastest way to turn your company value into an office joke.
Tbf, this is one area where “authentic” actually holds up:)
Why Rock's way works
Rock’s joined-up ethos make us perfectly placed for values-work.
We don’t treat core values (or key pillars, guiding principles or whatever else you want to call them) in isolation - but as part of a broader, strategic Connection piece.
To us, Connection is about understanding what really matters to people & identifying how you’ll build bonds with them. Those people aren’t just your customers, but also your team, suppliers, investors - anyone your business success relies upon.
Instant connection with these audiences is built through where you show up, how you look, what you say loudest. Your immediate appeal. But lasting connection comes from what you explain, how you behave, what you stand for & how well you stand up for it. This is where your values show up most.
Secondly, we don’t just stop at helping you to set your values. We stick around to help your deliver them too. We look at how those values get embedded into the every day workings of your business - from marketing briefs to customer complaint handling, from recruitment advertising to supplier outsourcing - we work though every aspect of your commercials, creative & culture to make sure they’re all held to the same standards.
If you think your values could do with a bit of love, we’re ready for you.
Rely On Rock
Rock.Partners provide solid management support to SMEs wanting to get strong, grow strong or exit strong.
What we do: Acting an extension of your management team, we provide complete, customised support, from strategy to delivery, across your whole business...
First, we define your strategic foundations - Direction, Connection, Impact, Value.
Then, we align your whole business around them - Commercials, Creative, Culture.
How we work: Our flexible, client-led delivery model meets you where you're at.
We offer both Managed or Guided service levels, depending on how hands-on or -off you want us to be.
We can work with your in-house team, complement existing partners or plug any gaps with specialist partners from our own networks.
We scale every scope & solution to suit each clients size, stage, sector & circumstances.
From business strategy to brand identity, sales support to culture building...if you want a management partner you can rely on, one who'll help you to build a rock-solid business & isn't afraid to rock boats (or mix metaphors!), you've found it. Finally!
Rock.Partners - Strategic support that works for SMEs
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