Guide ยท Culture
How to write company values that change behaviour.
Short answer
Company values change behaviour when they're written as actions rather than words, kept to three to five, tied to the strategic plan, and used every week in hiring, feedback and onboarding. A good value tells someone which way to walk when it's busy. If it doesn't, it's a word on a wall.
Words versus behaviours
| Value as a word | Value as a behaviour |
|---|---|
| Integrity | If you can't make the date, you say so the day you know. |
| Customer focus | A customer's problem beats an internal meeting, every time. |
| Teamwork | Before you escalate, you've spoken to the person directly. |
| Excellence | We check our own work before anyone else has to. |
Demo Example behaviours written for illustration.
Five steps
- Start with what you have. Old values, the handbook, how decisions actually get made. Don't start from a blank page.
- Cut. Three to five values. Anyone can add; the judgement is in what you cut.
- Rewrite each as a behaviour. What does someone do at two o'clock on a Tuesday when it's busy?
- Tie them to the plan. The behaviours should be the ones that make this year's priorities happen.
- Use them every week. In interviews, in feedback, in induction. Then ask people to say them back.
Questions people ask
- How many company values should a business have?
- Three to five. More than that and people can't remember them, which means they can't use them.
- How do you build values into onboarding?
- Teach the behaviours in week one with real examples from your business, and have team leaders ask new starters to say them back at the end of the first month.
- Why don't our company values work?
- Usually because they are single words with no behaviour attached, there are too many, or they sit apart from the plan. People can't act on a word.
We did our values two years ago.
Good. Bring them. We cut them down until your people can hold them.
See the three pages