Organizational values are vital for an organization: they clarify how employees are expected to behave, drive engagement and productivity, and contribute to your company’s unique culture.
If you want your company to be truly driven by its values, the first step is to make them explicit by writing them down and clarifying the positive associated behaviors (called virtues), the second step is to communicate them consistently.
If you haven’t documented your organizational values yet, head over here to download our free worksheet, or contact us for a consultation.
Are you all set with documenting your values and virtues?
Then it’s time to start communicating them across your organization. A great way to do that is to integrate them in your internal communications.
Here are 4 ways you can promote your company values through your internal comms.
Share examples of how your values can be lived out
For your employees to know how they can live out your values, they must know what the associated virtues are - the positive behaviors associated with values. One way to help employees recognize the virtues is to include examples in your internal comms, Let’s say you are sending an email to prepare employees for an important strategic project, and teamwork is one of your organizational values. In your message, remind your employees of the virtues you associate with teamwork, such as asking for help when needed, displaying solidarity, and not being afraid of giving honest feedback. Highlight the impact of those virtues on the final outcome: working effectively as a team will allow you to get the project to the finish line.
Choose internal communications channels that support your values
There are a lot of internal comms channels to choose from. As you are making that decision, why not think about how each of these channels supports your values directly?
Let’s say one of your values is Continuous learning. We know that for people to grow they need to be given great feedback. Consider selecting channels or tools that enable that, such as FeedBear, and encourage your employees and managers to use them for that purpose.
If one of your values is compassion, choose a platform that encourages employees to be compassionate with one another. For example, OfficeVibe includes a feature called Good Vibes, that prompts employees to share recognition with one another. This enables employees to perform small acts of kindness that will uplift the person on the receiving end, bringing to life this organizational value.
Mention your values often, whenever and wherever relevant
People need to hear a message 7 times before taking action. If you want your employees to embody your values, you must communicate them consistently and often. Meaning, you should refer to your values whenever the opportunity arises. For example, if one of your values is continuous learning, and your employees are focusing only on meeting deadlines without taking initiatives to further their knowledge and skills, mention it in your feedback. If one of your values is community, and you’re setting up a fundraiser, encourage your organization to donate and spread the word by pointing out your shared value.
Publicly recognize employees who champion values
Public recognition is the ultimate form of recognition. If an employee went above and beyond in living up to a value, praise them in your internal comms. This increases employee engagement and motivates employees to keep espousing values.
For example, on Slack, you can assign emojis for each for your values, and use them in congratulatory messages in group channels. For bigger achievements, leverage your newsletters or townhalls, and share praise in front of the whole organization!
Values and internal comms both contribute to aligning and engaging an organization. We hope this piece helped you include organizational values in your internal comms. The Centaurs are always here to help, so book a one-on-one with us if you want our help on the topic!
If you have a long-term plan for your internal comms yet , you can still start with small actions. Check out our latest insight on the 6 things you can do today to improve your internal comms.