Company values: don’t confuse your culture with your code of conduct

1 Oct

A woman stands between two phrases: one phrase says "Code of conduct". The other phrase says "Culture".

Whenever we help a client uncover and articulate their organisation’s values, we always warn against opting for “table stakes” values. You know, those values like Integrity, Honesty and Respect, which should be the minimum pay-to-play for any business.

Recently, we were challenged on our antipathy to Integrity-style values. “You still need table stakes!” said a strategy consultant who we’re collaborating with on a client project.

Why, the consultant wondered, had Responsible not made the cut when it came to the three values we’d recommended for our mutual client?

Now, this particular consultant specialises in working with companies that operate in highly regulated industries — so we totally got where they were coming from.

And our response to their challenge? We agree! It was true that acting responsibly is essential if the organisation in question is to remain in business.

But, we replied, documenting the firm’s commitment to responsibility is the preserve of its Code of Conduct. If your Code of Conduct is fit for purpose, you shouldn’t need to shout about the basic ethical standards every employee is expected to adhere to.

The values we, at Broom & Moon, help companies articulate go beyond such basic corporate “hygiene”. They’re the values that capture what’s unique about your org and its culture.

Both types of values will guide employees’ behaviour — but in different ways. Here’s a handy summary of the differences between the two:

Cultural values

Aspirational: who we want to be

Values are distinctive to your organisation

Implicit: will be uncovered through conversations with employees

Bottom up: bubble up from below

Located in EVP materials (e.g. your career site)

Code of conduct values

Essential: who we need to be

Similar values held by competitors

Explicit: must be clearly documented

Top-down: imposed from above