By Kristin Zehnder, CHRP

Have you ever walked into an organization to find a ‘Wall of Values’ detailing their mission and vision statements and thought, “It looks too good to be true?” Is this wall an integral part of the organization or just another barrier collecting dust?

Many companies have gone through the exercise of developing core values, mission and vision statements, while others have had them imposed upon them by a corporate office.

What happens to these values? Absolutely nothing if the process of values-based leadership is not initiated and maintained—a continuous process in which HR plays a critical role.

Core Values Define and Differentiate
Establishing core values unique to an organization is not an easy feat. They need to be clear, concise, and representative of the core culture which differentiates the organization from its competitors. These values are the foundation from which mission and vision statements are created and evolved; core values remain constant, whereas goals, visions and operations may change over time because of factors such as the economy. They are intrinsic in nature, but must be extrinsically deployed to be effective.

Once developed, HR has the opportunity to apply those values strategically by integrating them into recruiting, training, performance management and other key practices. This allows the values to come to life within the organization and be utilized on a daily basis. It is through the practice of aligning the core values with mission, vision and other key strategic elements such as performance management, reward and recognition and operating procedures leads to values-based leadership.

Leadership Key to Values-Based Business
This is all good in theory if the organization practices values-based leadership from the top-down. However, a critical breakdown will occur if senior leaders and management do not behave in a way which is consistent with the values. The effect? Employees of all levels will respond with mistrust, cynicism and disengagement.

Consider how HR can have the most impact in this type of situation. HR often works behind the scenes to help leaders see the benefits of values-based leadership. How do you coach a leadership team, boss, or even owners who may feel that these values do not apply to them? Demanding compliance or participation places HR in the role of policing the project which rarely generates buy-in. It can also backfire simply because it fails to address the “what’s in it for me” factor.

A Problematic Values-Based Scenario
It is in bringing values off the pedestal and into action that true values-based leadership potential can be lost in translation. Imagine the following situation:

A substantial rumour regarding your organization is traveling throughout the ranks. This rumour has merit and needs to be addressed promptly and properly to avoid potential damage. Though the organization’s core values include transparency and integrity, when the issue is brought to your CEO’s attention, you are instructed to ignore questions arising from the rumour and maintain a “business as usual” front.

Clearly, it would benefit the organization to address the rumour and subsequent questions in an honest and forthright manner by sharing what information can be shared. As any HR professional can attest, failure to do so will only exacerbate a growing culture of distrust and disengagement.

Strategic HR Key to Leadership ‘Buy-In’
While garnering executive buy-in can be daunting, in a values-based organization, HR serves a key leadership function: as communicator, catalyst and champion of core culture. HR can help guide them to see that the core values are the foundation from which the vision is created.

If the leadership style is all vision and no values, the internal support mechanism will be lost and the vision will eventually lose direction. Some leaders are so vision-focused that they forget to walk the talk of core values; turning those core values into an HR-initiated conversation can bring clarity.

HR can help senior leaders make the connection that their public support and consistent application of core values not only drives the process of building values-based leadership into the organizational brand—it is the key to its success.

In this case, where HR can serve all parties best is in crafting a crystal clear message for senior leaders that addresses the cost factor up front, as well as the anticipated “What’s in it for me?” and “Why?”

HR Drives the Culture Conversation
Most senior leaders are driven by the bottom line. Since the application of values-based leadership does not need to carry a price tag of any kind, the conversation leads most naturally towards the ROI and implementation.While some may not see the immediate impact, eventually the value of branding core values will prevail.

Of the many hats worn by HR, the role of driving values-based leadership is one of the most important. Design, implementation, identifying gaps, coaching to gaps—as well as finding opportunities to brand and-rebrand the core values to help them become an everyday practice—are all contingent to sustained organizational success.

Having the confidence to coach a resistant senior leader to move beyond a “do as I say, not as I do” approach takes courage. Believing in values-based leadership and having the determination and resilience to bring the ‘Wall of Values’ to life within your organization is challenging, but the end result will be well worth your efforts.

Kirstin Zehnder, BA, CHRP is director of human resources for Harrison Hot Springs.

(PeopleTalk Spring 2015)