Organisation values are sum of its workforce

It is a commonly held belief that motivation and high-performance emanates from a company’s policies and culture. However, it requires a value-driven workforce that shares a similar ethical code.

To bolster this, organisations must put sufficient checks and balances in their hiring and staff appraisal process to ensure its workforce has fully aligned values. Besides, companies themselves need to remain vigilant their core values remain intact at all times. Certain events, such as a change in management or any merger and acquisition activity can at times bring organisational core values under the scanner.

The primary driver of motivation and professional performance is self-driven. Staff with a high set of values do outperform. These individuals not only uphold their ethical standards but do strengthen others’ beliefs.

The value matrix of each organisation is influenced by a set of shared universal values that are encrypted as a result of upbringing. Society and its education system also can change minds. A sound value system eventually helps in building a community that includes workplace productivity and happiness too.

People can’t have separate rules of engagement for self, society, and the organisation.

Move in unison

Those employees failing to embrace the company’s values and culture cannot lead a company’s success. However, it is not always easy to align these as people have their own set of beliefs.

In this context, specific values and beliefs do not get embedded in the early stages, and influencing them beyond a particular point becomes difficult. We expect such people to do self-introspection as they align their beliefs and values with those identified as good, if not ideal, for the organisation.

Embed corporate values early on

It is a no-brainer to maintain that personal values and professional values are interrelated. It is therefore, mission-critical for any high-value culture organisation to strengthen the hiring and recruitment process. This enables the organisation to have people coming on board with aligned values.

Indeed, an organisation’s own culture and policies will further bolster individual performance. A high-performance organisation needs the collaboration of all stakeholders shareholders, management, and its entire workforce. Robust company governance and ethical leadership cement this bonding of the right personal and professional mix.

No company can achieve employee motivation on its own, but requires a workforce that is self-driven for its individual goals and objectives. A company can surely strengthen this, but cannot hand hold everyone to the same objective.

Values are the right lever, and these form the basis of any sustainable civil order. These also set the fundamentals of any organisation. Therefore, value embodiment at the recruiting level — or any corrective action after that — must not be misunderstood or termed discriminatory.

To ensure fairness and transparency, they should provide a comprehensive mechanism so that the value matrix remains its essential cornerstone and with no disparity in its policies and practice.

Ethical values work for the self, family and others — then why not give it the best shot at your workplace?

Tariq Chauhan is CEO at EFS Facilities Services Group.