Are You Wasting Your Time On Values Statements?

The corporate credo. Companies have wasted millions of dollars and countless hours of employees' time agonizing over the wording of statements that are inscribed on plaques and hung on walls. There is a clear assumption that people's behavior will change because the pronouncements on plaques are "inspirational" or certain words "integrate our strategy and values." There is an implicit hope that when people -- especially managers -- hear great words, they will start to exhibit great behavior.

Sometimes these words morph as people try to keep up with the latest trends in corporate-speak. A company may begin by striving for "customer satisfaction," then advance to "total customer satisfaction," and then finally reach the pinnacle of "customer delight."

But this obsession with words belies one very large problem: There is almost no correlation between the words on the wall and the behavior of leaders. Every company wants "integrity," "respect for people," "quality," "customer satisfaction," "innovation," and "return for shareholders." Sometimes companies get creative and toss in something about "community" or "suppliers." But since the big messages are all basically the same, the words quickly lose their real meaning to employees -- if they had any in the first place.

Enron is a great example. Before the energy conglomerate's collapse in 2001, I had the opportunity to review Enron's values. I was shown a wonderful video on Enron's ethics and integrity. I was greatly impressed by the company's espoused high-minded beliefs and the care that was put into the video. Examples of Enron's good deeds in the community and the professed character of Enron's executives were particularly noteworthy.

It was one of the most smoothly professional presentations on ethics and values that I have ever seen. Clearly, Enron spent a fortune "packaging" these wonderful messages. It didn't really matter. Despite the lofty words, many of Enron's top executives either have been indicted or are in jail.

The situation couldn't be more different at Johnson & Johnson. The pharmaceutical company is famous for its Credo, which was written many years ago and reflected the sincere values of the leaders of the company at that time. The J&J Credo could be considered rather quaint by today's standards. It contains several old-fashioned phrases, such as "must be good citizens -- support good works and charities -- and bear our fair share of taxes" and "maintain in good order the property that we are privileged to use." It lacks the slick PR packaging that I observed at Enron.

Yet, even with its less-powerful language and seemingly dated presentation, the J&J Credo works -- primarily because over many years, the company's management has taken the values that it offers seriously. J&J executives have consistently challenged themselves and employees not just to understand the values, but to live them in day-to-day behavior. When I conducted leadership training for J&J, one of its very top executives spent many hours with every class. The executive's task was not to talk about compensation or other perks of J&J management; it was to discuss living the company's values.

A couple of years ago, my partner, Howard Morgan, and I completed a study of more than 11,000 managers in eight major corporations. (See "Leadership Is a Contact Sport," by Marshall Goldsmith and Howard Morgan, s+b, Fall 2004.) We looked at the impact of leadership development programs in changing executive behavior. As it turns out, each of the eight companies had different values and different words to describe ideal leadership behavior. But these differences in words made absolutely no difference in determining the way leaders behaved. One company spent thousands of hours composing just the right words to express its view of how leaders should act -- in vain. I am sure that the first draft would have been just as useful.

At many companies, performance appraisal forms seem to undergo the same careful scrutiny as credos. In fact, more effort seems to be given to producing the perfect words on an appraisal form than to managing employee performance itself. I worked with one company that had used at least 15 different performance appraisal forms and was contemplating yet another change because the present sheet "wasn't working"! If changing the words on the page could improve the performance management process, every company's appraisal system would be perfect by now.

Companies that do the best job of living up to their values and developing ethical employees, including managers, recognize that the real cause of success -- or failure -- is always the people, not the words.

Rather than wasting time on reinventing words about desired leadership behavior, companies should ensure that leaders get (and act upon) feedback from employees -- the people who actually observe this behavior. Rather than wasting time on changing performance appraisal forms, leaders need to learn from employees to ensure that they are providing the right coaching.

Ultimately, our actions will say much more to employees about our values and our leadership skills than our words ever can. If our actions are wise, no one will care if the words on the wall are not perfect. If our actions are foolish, the wonderful words posted on the wall will only make us look more ridiculous.

Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is a world authority in helping successful leaders get even better - by achieving positive, lasting change in behavior: for themselves, their people and their teams.

Marshall's website contains over 300 free articles, columns and videos.

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Comments

[rlugbill]

The reason that there is often an incongruity between the values statement and the real behavior of the corporation is that legally, corporations only duty is to produce profits for the shareholders. The corporation is really only answerable to the shareholders.

So, we come up with these values statements, but they run counter to the real goals of the organization, which is to produce profits. So, yes, they are a waste of time for the most part.

[mandycat]

The author of this article says "But this obsession with words belies one very large problem: There is almost no correlation between the words on the wall and the behavior of leaders....." But my dear sir, that's not the point of value statements. They're nothing but wallpaper, designed to distract employees, shareholders and regulators from the fact that the typical 21st century American corporation is run solely for the benefit of the C-Suite, where they reap all the rewards and the rest of us assume all the risks.

Business reporters must keep some sort of template on hand to save themselves the tedium of having to write the same story from scratch over and over.

"The CEO of ______, Inc. announced today that he is leaving the company, having achieved all his major goals. Earnings are down _____percent over last year. The company's debt of $_____billion is ___percent higher than at the beginning of Mr. ____'s tenure. The company will take a $______milion charge in the ___quarter to cover Mr. _______'s departure, including $___million in cash and $____ million for stock options and stock awards."

All you have to do is fill in the blanks and there's today's business news, hot off the press.

[DrPaulWard]

I agree that companies spend too much time on corporate values statements but understanding our personal values is worthwhile. Individual values drive individual behaviors, which in turn drive individual performance and, ultimately, organizational performance.
Your article does not address the broader issue of cultural change. Many organizations have attempted cultural transformation, with limited success. Culture reflects the interrelationship of shared behaviors, beliefs, and assumptions acquired over time by members of an organization. Culture unfolds in two ways: evolutionary and architectural. Evolutionary development is the unplanned emergence of behaviors, beliefs, and assumptions resulting from the company’s day-to-day operations. Such cultures do not develop from a systematic plan. They result from a history of individual decisions, each made under particular circumstances. Out of these “isolated” circumstances is generated a collection of behaviors, beliefs, and assumptions called the corporation’s culture. Architectural development is the proactive deployment and maintenance of specific behaviors, beliefs, and assumptions precisely designed to support corporate strategic objectives. Here, the culture is carefully planned and implemented to achieve success as it is defined by top management. Focusing on behavioral change in leaders is a part of architecting desired culture.

[nammy50]

I cringe everytime I read a "mission statement" from a corporate entity.