3 Common Corporate Culture Myths Related to Values

Culture Myths About Values Can Hinder Growth
Corporate culture myths related to values are not hard to find.  Organizational culture may be closely related (or should be) to corporate values, but there is a lot of misunderstanding out there about how culture and values work together.

The Definition of Corporate Values
Corporate values are the compass that guides decisions and the sense of what is right and wrong at your company.   Values are your company’s fundamental beliefs and are often deeply embedded during the new employee orientation and succession planning processes.  Corporate values form the foundation of a healthy culture — especially for organizations that properly define and live core values.

The Definition of Corporate Culture
Culture, on the other hand, is how things truly get done in an organization. Workplace culture is an intangible that can only be measured by understanding the way people think, behave, and work on a daily basis.

Three Common Corporate Culture Myths Related to Values
Here are three corporate culture myths about the relationship between culture and values:

1. Corporate Values Drive Behavior
   Employees do not necessarily look to a corporate code of behavior when they act; instead they are more likely to look at others around them. How their co-workers and leaders — especially high performers — are behaving is the way they are most apt to behave.

   When sound values are the foundation for an ethical culture, all works well; other times it does not.  Consider the situation at Enron.

   The company had a very clear, but lengthy, statement of corporate values that was all about acting with integrity, respect, and excellence. But, instead, the overall Enron organizational culture valued and promoted greed.  So when decisions were made, it was more often the profit-motive that drove actions rather than the espoused corporate values.

2. Corporate Values Always Come First
   Values often become the bedrock of an organization and then culture is the overlay. But it is not always the case.  Zappos, for example, did it “backwards.”

   Tony Hsieh as CEO established the culture that mattered most to him — a culture where the happiness of the customers and employees was of primary importance.

   He was so committed to creating this environment of customer and employee satisfaction that he offered $2,000 to any new employee who wanted to leave after a trial period if they did not subscribe to the Zappos culture.  Only after the culture was well established did he, at the request of his employees, look toward defining corporate values.

   And who did he go to for the values? His employees created them.  It is always smart to have your stakeholders actively involved in any desired change.

3. Organizational Culture Must Never Change
   As business strategies evolve, it is often necessary for the corporate culture to change along with the needs of the organization.

   For example, as you grow, it may not make sense for you to make all your decisions in the open. You may still want transparency as a value, but you may not need to include all your employees in the details of every move you make.

   And, when companies are small, most decision making is rightfully made by either one individual or a small group of centralized leaders.  As companies grow, front line individuals often must become empowered to make decisions quickly and on their own.

   How and where you make decisions can have a big impact on your corporate culture.

The Bottom Line
Our organizational alignment research found that workplace culture accounts for 40% of the difference between high and low performing companies.  Smart leaders assess their current organizational culture and do not let culture myths about values hinder their ability to align their culture with their business and people strategies.

To learn more about how to get the most out of your culture, download The 3 Levels of Culture that You Must Get Right to Create Higher Performance