Values That Define Organisational Culture

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Introduction:

Values are crucial in shaping organisational culture because they affect how employees behave and interact with one another. A company's culture can be viewed as its "personality," which consists of prevailing attitudes, customs, and values. With a focus on Deal and Kennedy's cultural model and Edgar Schein's model, which both classify organisational culture based on the most important values within the organisation, we will examine various theories of organisational culture in this blog post. We will also discuss the fundamental principles of an influential organisational culture, such as integrity, accountability, and transparency. Finally, to demonstrate the impact of values in forming organisational culture, we'll offer examples of organisational values from actual businesses.

What Are Organisational Values?

The beliefs, attitudes, and principles that direct an organization's behaviour, choices, and actions are organisational values (Cameron & Quinn, 2011). The way employees interact with one another and external stakeholders is shaped by shared expectations and norms (Kreps & Denton, 2005). Organisational values are frequently regarded as the cornerstone of organisational culture, providing the organisation and its members a sense of identity and purpose (Berson & Avolio, 2004).

To discover more about organisational culture, see one of my earlier blogs.

Theories of Organisational Culture

Edgar Schein’s Model of Organizational Culture 

According to Schein (2010), organizational culture can be divided into three categories: artefacts and symbols, espoused values, and fundamental underlying assumptions. The outward manifestations of culture, such as the built environment and dress code, are represented by artefacts and symbols. Basic underlying assumptions are the unspoken beliefs and values that influence employee behaviour, whereas espoused values are those that an organisation explicitly states.While fundamental, underlying assumptions are the unspoken convictions and principles that direct employee behaviour.

According to Schein, organisational culture can be established at three different levels as in Figure 1.

• Artifacts The visible elements of culture include dress codes, symbols, logos, and slogans.
  
  
• Espoused values The stated values and beliefs that are promoted by the organization.
  
  
• Basic underlying assumptions The deeply held beliefs, attitudes, and values are often unconscious and taken for granted.

Figure 1:  Edgar Schein’s Culture Model (Source expertprogrammanagement.com)

Deal and Kennedy's cultural model 

Based on the values most important to the organisation, Deal and Kennedy's cultural model divides organisational culture into four types (Deal & Kennedy, 1982) as in Figure 2. Work hard/play hard, process, bet your company, and tough guy/macho. These classifications offer a framework for comprehending the most significant values within a specific organisational culture, even though they are not always mutually exclusive.

Figure 2:  Deal and Kennedy’s Organizational Culture Model (Source mbaknol.com)

Why Define The Organization's Values and Ethics

Employees frequently rank the "vision, culture, and values" of the company as the most crucial aspect in determining how they view their employer. Organisations that uphold a consistent set of moral standards are more likely to succeed in the long run. The right people (employees, clients, collaborators) will be drawn to organisation and their loyalty, focus, trust, and cooperation will increase due to clear values (Worklogic, 2023).

Benefits of Formalising Organisational Values:

Here are a few benefits of formalising organisational values (Personio, 2023):

• Distinguishes itself from competitors
  By definition, each organisation has its own set of organisational values. They display uniqueness to the public and may even give organisations a competitive edge. 
  
  
• Guides employee decision-making
  The organisation can ensure that every choice an employee makes aligns with the organization's objectives and mission by clearly defining your organisational values. 
  
  
• Attracts like-minded talent
  Organisational values can help the organisation draw applicants who align with those values and fit the organisational culture. This can assist the organization in creating a team of like-minded employees who will cooperate to achieve the organization's objectives over time 
  
  
• Attracts customers
  Today's customers want to know that the brands they purchase from share their values. Potential customers can see organisation's values on the website, which helps them understand what stand for. 
  
  
• Improves employee engagement
  The organisation's values give the organisation's employees something to aspire to and to believe in. This increases their kinship with the company and raises motivation and engagement levels. 
  
  
• Informs strategic direction
  As organization's values should direct any decisions made by the organisation's employees, they should also serve as the foundation for any meaningful strategic choices  make regarding the direction of the business.

How To Develop Organisational Values

Here are some steps to create a set of shared values for a organisation (Personio, 2023): 

1. Put together a team 
2. Brainstorm values 
3. Compile values into a short list 
4. Get leadership approval

Figure 3: How to define Company Values (Youtube)

Examples of Organisational Values

Here are some real-world examples of organisational values that companies have adopted

Buffer: Six Core Values

With only ten employees, the social media scheduling tool Buffer established its first set of organisational values. Since then, the business has expanded significantly, and in 2018, it updated its values.

1. Default to transparency
2. Cultivate positivity
3. Show gratitude
4. Practice reflection
5. Improve consistently
6. Act beyond yourself

Google: Ten Things We Know To Be True

When the company was only a few years old, Google wrote a list titled "Ten things we know to be true" and periodically checked to see if it still held.

1. Focus on the user and all else will follow
2. It’s best to do one thing really, really well
3. Fast is better than slow
4. Democracy on the web works
5. You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer
6. You can make money without doing evil
7. There’s always more information out there
8. The need for information crosses all borders
9. You can be serious without a suit
10. Great just isn’t good enough

Values Essential to Every Organisation

Core values constantly guide employees and the company as they work towards achieving their shared objectives in a way that is based on an ethical and ideological framework. Every company's core values are unique, just like the company itself. Despite this, some universally applicable principles can be expressed in various ways. 

Here are four such core values every organization could have:

1. Integrity and ethics
2. Respect 
3. Innovation (Not Imitation) 
4. Drive

How To Communicate Organisational Values

Values should run through every aspect of the organisation, including hiring practices, performance management processes, and the criteria used for promotions, rewards, and even redundancies. 

However, organisations can help employees quickly understand and apply company values. For example (Workitdaily, 2022):

• Posters, displays, and other printed materials
• Newsletters and internal blog posts
• Weekly meetings

Conclusion

In conclusion, organizational values are a key component of organizational culture, providing a shared sense of identity and purpose to the organization and its members. They can influence employee behavior, motivation, and ethical decision-making, and are an important consideration for organizations seeking to promote a positive and sustainable organizational culture.

Please share your ideas about "Values that define organisational culture"  in the comments section.

Reference

Berson, Y., & Avolio, B. J. (2004). Transformational leadership and the dissemination of organizational values: A field study. The Leadership Quarterly, 15(5), 625-646. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2004.07.004

Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2011). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework. John Wiley & Sons.

Deal, T. E., & Kennedy, A. A. (1982). Corporate cultures: The rites and rituals of corporate life. Addison-Wesley.

Expertprogrammanagement. (2022). Edgar Schein’s Organizational Culture Model expertprogrammanagement.com  [online] Available from: https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2022/09/edgar-schein-culture-model [Accessed on 2 April 2023].

Francis, A. (2017) Deal and Kennedy’s Organizational Culture Model - MBA Knowledge Base, MBA Knowledge Base. Available from: https://www.mbaknol.com/human-resource-management/deal-and-kennedys-organizational-culture-model. [Accessed on 2 April 2023].

Kreps, G. L., & Denton, D. K. (2005). Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review, 30(4), 853-886. doi: 10.5465/amr.2005.18378877

Personio. (2023). Organisational Values: Meaning, Examples, Purpose and Creation [online] Available from: https://www.personio.com/hr-lexicon/organisational-values [Accessed on 4 April 2023].

Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Workitdaily. (2022). What Are The 4 Core Values Of An Organization? (2022) Work It Daily [online] Available from: https://www.workitdaily.com/must-have-company-core-values/what-are-the-4-core-values-of-an-organization [Accessed on 4 April 2023].

Worklogic. (2023). Organisational Values - Worklogic [online] Available from: https://www.worklogic.com.au/services/organisational-values [Accessed on 4 April 2023].