Editor’s note: During and after our VIP Leadership sessions, we often get asked specific questions from attendees who are new leaders. This blog article features one of those questions. If you have a question or need advice on a particular workplace issue, you can submit those to madeline@jonharrisonvip.com.
“Hi, Jon,
I am new to leadership and this is my first job where I am responsible for leading a team of people. One area that I really want to focus on, as it has not been executed properly or a main focus company-wide, is better communicating our values, vision and goals to my team so they can be united, driven to achieve and motivated about the work we do. What is your advice on how I, a new leader, can do that if the company hasn’t done a great job in putting that information front-and-center before?”
We believe that organizations thrive when it has clearly defined its mission, values, behaviors, goals and work results. But putting those words on paper or posted on a wall are only one part of the process, and fall short entirely if they are not effectively communicated and lived out consistently by both leaders and employees.
Let’s start by first looking at if your organization has a defined set of values and behaviors. Most organizations fail by not setting clear expectations, communicating those expectations, and holding people accountable to them. What ends up happening in many cases where this is ignored or overlooked is that people are uniformed, unmotivated to perform or achieve, and the organization (and its people) compromises in many ways. If any piece of this process is missing or lacking, then cracks in the foundation of the team can form and spread.
If your organization has a mission statement and core values in place, but they are not front and center and a part of the daily work culture, I would suggest taking a look at how these elements are defined and being communicated, then analyze how they are being lived out (and measured). Values must guide every decision, be consistently demonstrated from the top down and must be upheld at any cost. We have all seen the trendy motivational posters with a compelling image that represent several values buzzwords like TEAMWORK, RESPECT and INNOVATION, but if leaders and employees don’t know exactly how that looks in the daily behaviors and work results and it isn’t being measured or held accountable when it falls short, then the words on the poster hung on the wall are completely meaningless.
The words
do matter, but what matters more is explicitly defining and communicating how people exhibit those values and how to carry out behaviors to achieve the defined goals or work results.
One of our core values is RESPECT. We define what respect looks like for our organization:
Our communication (formal or informal) and human interactions display the high value we place on every person.
We know people are different in many ways, and “peel back the onion” to understand and value those differences.
We actively listen to each other, our partners and our clients, seeking to understand before being understood.
Our team also has specific work expectations for both leaders and employees. One example is the expectation for leaders to “Make Sound Decisions.” We have several I-statements that define how leaders “live” this out. A few are:
I am not afraid to ask for help when needed and know I’m encouraged to do so.
I think like an “owner” when I make any decision.
Prior to making a decision, I think, “would I be proud to have this decision or action displayed publicly for all to see?”
These values and expectations are important to our team, and we consistently communicate these in our hiring process, onboarding training, team meetings (both informal and formal) and also use them as the foundation for performance evaluations and feedback. We make sure everyone knows what is important and expected, and we also hold one another accountable to those expectations by tracking, measuring and evaluating what is going well and what needs improvement.
As a new leader, whose perception is that these pieces are not being communicated or executed well in the organization, I would see if your leadership is aware of this shortcoming and see if they are receptive to better defining, communicating and tracking progress of the company’s mission, values and goals. If they are, this could be beneficial to everyone in the organization.
Even if the company doesn’t make sweeping changes or progress in this area, you, as leader of a team, can have an impact on your group of people by clearly defining values and expectations (both behaviors and work results), communicating those often informally and formally, and giving consistent feedback/correction so that everyone is living out the mission, values and goals. It is a two-way street.
When I was a new leader at Caterpillar, I wasn’t able to make extensive changes or progress from the top down, but started small within my team. I did these very things, and over time, other leaders took notice that our group was different in our behaviors and were achieving results. Different departments started doing what our group was doing and it spread throughout the company. In time, corporate took notice of the success within our group, and I was asked to lead and train facilities all over the world using the techniques our small team implemented.
None of this stuff is rocket science. Most leaders and companies know the values and behaviors it takes to be successful and see results. The disconnect comes when leaders/employees are fuzzy on the WHY and HOW.
Here are some things to consider when communicating and measuring the goals for values and results.
DEFINE
Define specifically what each value looks like in practice and HOW you want employees to live that out. If you have a mission statement, how do you practically achieve it? How does each values statement look differently within your organization compared to others who may use that same concept? What are the company’s goals? What does winning look like? What does missing the mark look like?
COMMUNICATE
Your people must know early (we recommend in the hiring process) and often (in training, stand-up meetings, company news meetings, etc.) what the vision is and what behaviors are expected to achieve results. This step is often overlooked because if the information is out there for people to see, then it is assumed everyone is clear and in the know of these details. However, this is not the case. If you are a leader, you are the front line to your people for information. Make sure you take the time to properly explain important details and if you don’t know something, let your people know that you will find someone who has the answer and get back to them.
One service that we offer to our clients is a Culture Guide book that we help create for companies that have their mission, core values and expectations laid out in a clear format. These guides are given to every leader and employee in the organization so that everyone is clear on what is important and expected. The guides are used in hiring, onboarding and employee/leadership training. They can also be used for feedback tools such as employee satisfaction surveys, upward feedback surveys and employee evaluations.
Note: Culture Guides are different from employee handbooks.
EVALUATE
Once expectations are clearly defined and communicated, it is imperative for the values/results behaviors to be upheld. Leaders and employees should regularly receive feedback so they know if they are performing well and helping to achieve the goals/mission of the company. If there is any divergence from the values/results expectations, then people should be made aware so that they can get back on track or make the necessary corrections. If someone or something continually proves to not be a good fit, action needs to be taken. The standard is there to achieve the results. Also take time to report the “wins” of your people, team and organization. The old saying “no news is good news” is too often played out in the workplace, which sucks passion, motivation and productivity from your people. The more people know, the more invested they are.
We can help new leaders, seasoned leaders or organizations with any step of this process. Please feel free to reach out if you need us to evaluate an established process or need us to walk through implementing a more efficient strategy to keep your people united, driven to achieve and motivated about the work they do so that they can be better employees and people at home.
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