Introduction
The term “corporate culture” once invoked ideas of values sharing, collaborative purpose, and a sense of belonging, which went beyond the boundaries of self-interest. For decades, organizations celebrated unique cultures that distinguished them from others, which inspired employees and guaranteed their customers a promise. However, as this century continues to unfold—wracked by volatility, technological change, and a relentless emphasis on metrics and profits—too many observers are reflecting on the death, or at least the decline, of authentic corporate culture. More often, a hollowed-out corporate culture remains: sponsorships without depth, mission statements without substance, and engaged employees are virtually nonexistent. So the question is: what has killed corporate culture, and more importantly, how do we breathe life back into it by returning to basic values-based principles?
The Age of Purpose and Belonging
A strong corporate culture was historically built on values—be it innovation, customer service, integrity, and community responsibility. Employees were able to find meaning in the work they did, leaders emulated the desired behaviors, and customers made emotional connections with brands that meant much more than profits.
The Changes that Eroded Culture
Many factors have chipped away at this foundation over time:
Fixation on Numbers: An unending focus on quarterly results and key performance indicators (KPIs) has produced a transactional focus, where the “how” of achieving the goals has almost been lost in translation to the “what.”
Globalization and Scale: With mergers and acquisitions, the rapid growth of organizations, the demise of local connection and sense of community faded in favor of bland generalities styled to appeal broadly but resonate with almost none.
Technology Disruption: While remote work, digital communications, and algorithmic management have improved process efficiencies for organizations, they have diminished in-person interactions that organically cultivate trust and sense of community.
Turbulence at the Top: Leadership turnover is a constant and often comes with shifting priorities, which leave employees grappling with the notion of what corporate values are truly enduring. It also leads to a perceived lack of “living the values” at the top.
Brand Washing: In the interest of appearing forward-thinking, most organizations adopted the language of values – diversity, sustainability, innovation, etc. – while none revamped themes or processes in a way that demonstrated they were trying to live those values.
The Emergence of Social Media and Lack of Accountability: While accountability does sometimes happen, for the most part people have become used to saying what they want with no repercussions. Responsible communication has become a novelty.
The Result
The cumulative result of all of this is a palpable sense of alienation. Employee engagement surveys show organizational morale continues to be on the decline. Increasingly common ethics scandals and lack of public trust have made the headlines. The Great Resignation, along with “quiet quitting,” allude to a larger malaise that the values we are trying to achieve, or adopt, are not present in the everyday lived experience of the majority of organizations as they exhibit a similar lack of living the values. It has also led to a “lost generation”. Younger people simply don’t know what a great corporate culture looks like, and accepts that this is what work is supposed to be like. It’s an enormous failure of leadership.
The Need to Re-establish Values
To reverse the demise of organizational culture, organizations must fall back in love with collaboratively crafting the organizations values and recommit to living in accordance with those values – not as part of a broader branding initiative, but so that they become the reality of how staff engage in their work, with each other and with clients and their communities. Values-driven cultures offer advantages beyond reputation:
Employee Engagement: Employees that believe in what their employers represent will bring energy, creativity, and loyalty to their work.
Trust & Accountability: Because shared values help build trust both internally and externally, they help to create a shared understanding of value in the accountability process. They also provide a shared “compass” for ethical decision-making during tough, potentially high-impact, decision-making.
Resilience: When confronting crises and times of ambiguity, value statements help organizations navigate forward into the unknown.
Customer Loyalty: Customers are becoming highly selective about brands. They are actively looking for organizations whose actions align with their brand promises. Companies that align promises with actions will cultivate customer loyalty.
How do We Restore a Values-Driven Culture
Find your own values:
It starts with you. If your personal values don’t align with the expectations for your job, and with the team and company values, then work to change that. Personal values of integrity, empathy and value delivery are non-negotiable. Those should also be the foundational values at a team and company level if we are to breathe life into the dying corporate culture landscape.
Find your organization’s core values:
Next, evaluate the organization’s original mission and values. Talk to founders, long-standing employees and stakeholders to learn what principles were at the heart of the organization’s founding. Don’t stray into buzzword territory, and don’t be afraid to draw inspiration from other organizations.
Engagement & Modeling for Leaders:
Engagement begins with you. Leaders must be committed to values not just at the beginning of a meeting, but continuously. Leaders must exemplify the values through the way they make decisions, communicate to their employees, and develop their strategic initiatives. They must make hard decisions that align with values, even if it means sacrificing short-term financial gains for long-term organizational growth.
Systematically Embed Values:
Values should never be the “at work” like they are on posters. The following opportunities should systematically embed values into all aspects of company life:
Hiring & Onboarding – At hiring, it’s important to find a fit. New hires should learn about your organization’s core values on day one and be exposed to the culture as soon as possible.
Performance Management – It’s important to assess (not just what) employees are doing, but (how) they are doing it.
Recognition and Rewards: Recognize and reward the behaviors that represent your values by making role models visible and celebrated.
Decision-Making: Run your strategic decisions by your values. If the action contradicts your values, question it; it doesn’t matter how much profit there could be gained.
Open Communication and Feedback Loops
Allow employees from all levels to raise concerns, ask questions about inconsistencies, and suggest improvements. Leaders must listen and sincerely respond, while clearly demonstrating that the values are not only espoused but engaged.
Community and Connection
Create opportunities for authentic connection by gathering employees in person, collaborating across functions, and participating in community service. Communicate that everyone—acts in a front-line role or an executive suite role—is part of a values-based community.
Accountability and Improvement
Holding each other accountable to an agreed set of values is the best way to nurture a deep and meaningful organizational “this is how we do things” culture. It’s hard for people to complain when held accountable if they’ve been part of drafting and rolling out an aligned set of values. Establish ways to track progress, share stories about successes and failures, and be open to change. A values-driven organization can be imperfect, but it is honest and values its people’s improvement.
Challenging Barriers
Distrust
After years of meaningless change, employees may feel distrusting. And it will take some time and continuous trust, with repeated, visible commitments to values, for distrust to change into belief. Holding all levels of the organization to the same levels of accountability will go a long way to removing distrust.
Complexity
Today’s workplace is diverse and global. A values driven culture can bring many different peoples from many different places together if the values have meaning to everyone. Continuous reinforcement, and where necessary, corrective actions will simplify expectations.
Profit
Profit is critical, but should be pursued without violating core values. Leading organizations are demonstrating that integrity and financial results are very possible and not mutually exclusive.
In Conclusion
While the death of corporate culture may appear inevitable, it may only be a result of drift, indifference, and misplaced priorities. Great organizations have the ability to re-excite passion, trust, and engagement, by humbly going back to the fundamental, values based, principles that made them great in the first place! By doing so, organizations will become successful long-term, and remain a positive part of our society. Returning to core values is not fast or easy, but must be done because culture is not what an organization says, culture is what organizations do; each and every day.