Why Establishing Core Values is a Waste of Time and Money

Company culture experts urge leaders to establish clearly defined
values to serve as a guide for decisions and behaviors throughout
an organization. 


 


To ensure they have the best representation of the values shared
among those in leadership, companies often spend gobs of cash and
time on experts who ultimately produce a document aligning the
most common ideals. 


 


Mounted on the wall, and often on the website, these key words or
phrases are meant to ensure everyone is on the same page about
what’s expected and acceptable.


 


While these values are typically inspiring and alluring, they
often fail to produce the intended result—a strong team
environment. In many cases, these key phrases wind up serving to
weaken trust, accountability, collaboration and productivity.


 


Stopping into Best Buy to exchange a gift I received for store
credit, I headed to the customer service line. Fortunately, the
line was quick and I was walking toward the exit in less than 10
minutes.


 


As I made my way toward the exit, I noticed a security guard
patting down the jacket of a guy leaving the store and found
myself concerned—“Did that guy steel something? Are they worried
he stole something? Are they going to pat down my jacket before I
can leave the store?”


 


As I approached the exit discomfort took over and I wound up
doing what I typically do in situations like this—say something
ridiculous.


 


“Can I be next? Do I get this same level of attention?”


 


“No, no…” both of them responded, with a sincere discomfort that
was palpable.


 


Moments later, the young man who was patted down caught up to me
and I asked him, “What is that all about?”


 


“All employees have to be patted down before they can exit the
store,” he said, and continued with, “Which is stupid because if
I wanted to steel something I certainly wouldn’t put it in my
jacket.”


 


“Why do they do that then?” I asked, seriously needing to
understand why any company would come to the conclusion that such
a practice was a good idea.


 


“I have no idea,” he said as he threw his jacket on and headed
off, “but it’s stupid.”


 


Later, I looked up Best Buy’s core values—


 


Unleash the Power of Our People

Learn from Challenge and Change

Show Respect, Humility, and Integrity

Have Fun While Being the Best



 


—and found myself wondering:


 


How does such a lack of trust allow the power of their people
to be unleashed?

Have they thought about identifying theft as a cultural
challenge and enlisting employees to uncover the necessary
change?

Does this practice show respect, or encourage humility and
integrity?

Does the executive team think such a practice is fun for
anyone involved, including customers? How is anyone supposed to
be their best with such a significant lack of trust?



 


While getting on the same page regarding values is important,
what’s more important is consistently asking, “How do we know
we’re living our values?” And, especially for those in
leadership, “Are my behaviors in alignment with our values? How
do I know they are?”


 


The key indicator to discovering the truth behind each question
is looking at employee behaviors, along with customer feedback.
If they aren’t living the values, perhaps it’s because the
leadership is confused about where the real values are born and
die. 


 


Here’s to your greatness,


 


Misti Burmeister