Editorial
Your values are a statement of how you live and the principles you abide by. Yet many organizations have an outdated view of what their corporate values mean, with leadership more focused on short-term tactics to try to fix a work environment that has become even more challenging over the last few years.
According to Gartner, the new systemic truths regarding the future of work include:
- Employees are people, not just workers.
- Work is a subset of life, not separate from it.
- Value comes through feelings, not just features.
Things aren’t going to go back to the way they were. More importantly, employees don’t want to go back. They’ve developed a new sense of worth and won’t easily forget if they have felt undervalued. While 82% of employees say it’s important for their organization to see them as a person, not just an employee, only 45% of employees believe their organization does.
Gartner calls this “The Human Deal,” which encompasses everything from employees seeking greater autonomy and flexibility to wanting to feel valued as a person, not just a professional. People want to feel invested in the organization’s purpose, so their work has greater value than just generating more shareholder returns.
Looking at Your Values With Fresh Eyes
A recent LinkedIn survey found that people would rather put up with lower pay (65%) and forgo a fancy title (26%) than deal with a bad workplace environment. The survey also showed that employees care about whether companies foster environments where employees can be themselves (47%) and have a positive impact on society (46%).
Today, employees want to know that they’re making a difference — both within their company and in the world at large. They expect their organization to improve society and enable them to do work that matters. If you aren’t operationalizing those values, it might be time to reexamine if you’re living your corporate values, or just using them to check a box.
“The world has changed with COVID, and it’s almost certain that your old mission, vision and values don’t fully match today’s context. There is a new emerging focus on things like health (both mental and physical), flexibility, diversity and equity and other topics,” writes John Coleman in the Harvard Business Review. “Your customers have likely radically reinvented their lives or businesses, making them reassess what they want or need from your company. And the people in your organization are likely more focused on purpose but less connected to what you stand for, either because they are new (given high turnover) or have been in the midst of reinventing themselves.”
Start by asking what’s changed over the last two years — in your culture, your customers and your competitive landscape. What needs to be left behind? What new ideas have surfaced that need to be brought to the forefront? Ultimately the answers to these questions need to be simple and authentic, so they resonate with employees who are searching for a greater meaning in their work lives.
The Value of Values
As part of The Human Deal, Gartner says that the era of the employment contract, where workers provide service purely in exchange for monetary compensation, is over.
“The intent to leave or stay in a job is only one of the things that people are questioning as part of the larger human story we are living,” says Caitlin Duffy, Research Director in Gartner’s HR practice. “You could call it the ‘Great Reflection.’ …. It’s critical to deliver value and purpose.”
Providing this value-driven environment drives business value, too. According to a recent survey by the National Bureau of Economic Research, 85% of CEOs and CFOs believe an unhealthy culture leads to unethical behavior. The same survey also found that nine out of 10 CFOs believe improving company culture would increase business value and performance.
To drive this value, your corporate values need to be more than just words on your website that you repeat when you’re onboarding new employees. They’re the foundation of your culture, your moral code and the rules you embrace that hold everyone in your organization accountable to the same standards of behavior. And if you aren’t living them, it’s likely that you’re seeing the results across your organization, from demotivated employees to dissatisfied customers.
Related Article: We Need a New Employer-Employee Social Contract
Creating a Company With HEART
If you’ve ever looked at corporate values, you’re undoubtedly familiar with HubSpot’s “Culture Code.” This 128-page deck lays out the company’s values, abbreviated as “HEART” — humble, empathetic, adaptable, remarkable, and transparent.
Katie Burke, chief people officer at HubSpot, joined the 21st Century HR podcast to explain how the HubSpot Culture Code impacts every aspect of the employee experience, from hiring to performance management.
“I love employee engagement in getting your culture code right,” Burke says. “It’s been critical to our success. But it’s really important that people know there were employees who didn’t agree with every single thing that was in it when it launched. There are still employees who don’t agree with every single element of it. If you're doing your culture code right, it’s as important for the people it keeps out as those that it draws in. And so, as a result, you actually have to be willing to have a point of view.
“Creating the Culture Code was incredibly hard, don’t get me wrong,” she adds. “But living it every day is the hardest work that we do collectively as a leadership team and as a company. [The code] makes it, frankly, so much easier to prioritize thinking about culture day to day as a business priority — and [is] part of our competitive advantage at HubSpot.”
Hubspot’s stellar reputation as an employer and financial success prove Burke’s point. The company’s “HEART” values might not be a perfect fit for your organization, but it’s obvious that this clear focus on values has shaped the employee experience — and driven results.
Get Reworked Podcast: How to Intentionally Design Corporate Culture
Building a Values-Driven Culture
HubSpot’s culture code is unique because of its rare emphasis on values and culture. Nearly half of employees (45%) say leadership is minimally or not at all committed to improving culture.
If you’re inspired by HubSpot — or inspired by the improved retention of customers and employees, as well as the financial impacts — how do you get started building a values-driven culture?
- Tell a story. Humans learn best through stories. Words and abstract concepts are fine, but stories about people are irreplaceable. Sharing real-life examples of employees putting your values into action offer an opportunity to recognize and reward your culture carriers.
- Build a culture of recognition. What gets recognized gets repeated. Enable employees to record and submit simple phone videos where they share and celebrate the times that they’ve seen their colleagues living your values, then share these videos at all-hands meetings or through an internal Slack channel.
- Be authentic. Not everyone is going to like your values, and that’s okay — you’re not trying to hire or retain everyone, just the people passionate about your mission. Don’t water down your values trying to be more palatable. And just like you wouldn’t hire an employee who isn’t a good fit, don’t sell to customers who don’t support your values either.
HubSpot didn’t just create a slick slide deck and leave it at that — they gave their talent the resources they needed to excel, from HubTalks, free books and unlimited opportunities to take someone out for a meal to learn something new.
Conference
Sep
16
HR Tech Conference Las Vegas 2025
Register
Conference
Oct
27
Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo Orlando 2025
Register
The usual rationale for skimping on investing in people is that it will give them the skills to get a better job somewhere else, but you don’t have to fight that. You likely won’t hold on to an employee forever, but you can empower them to be their best while you have them, and you can build connections to create long-lasting loyalty.
Purpose matters more than ever — both to your customers and your employees. The foundation of what enables a culture to thrive is how much employees feel engaged, empowered and valued, and that ultimately drives better results for customers and shareholders alike.
Learn how you can join our contributor community.
