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It is likely that your organization has a Mission Statement, Annual Report, as well as handbooks for New Employee Orientation with Policies and Procedures. However, do any of these publications have a Statement of Company Values, representing what behaviors are appropriate within your organization? While some may, most organizations certainly should; but why is such a statement so important and when is it necessary?
Description of expectations:
An official Statement of Company Values can be any grouping of words that depicts what is ethically and behaviorally appropriate within your company. For example, one may begin by composing something such as this:
“This organization values dignity, respect, honesty, integrity, and fairness and requires that employees and managers treat each other and its customers in accordance with these values at all times.”
Such a statement is important in specifying the organization’s expectations for how employees and managers treat each other, as well as customers, if your business includes dealing with the public. If complaints regarding negative treatment occur, you can refer to your Statement of Company Values as documented proof of your standard of acceptable behaviors.
It may also be beneficial to include an outline below the statement, breaking down the main idea into subsections to further explain what is expected.
Some further considerations to include in a Statement of Company Values:
- What advice can be provided for possible situations which may arise and cause conflict?
- What would actually constitute an infringement to the value system?
- Does your organization have publicized consequences for infractions to your Statement of Company Values?
- How many infractions by the same person does your organization allow before implementing consequences?
- Do you have a designated person, committee, or department responsible for identifying if behaviors conflict with your organizational values and for employing consequences when they do?
How to enforce positive internal employee interaction within your company:
Providing you have created a clear and fair-minded Statement of Company Values for your employees to reference, your next step is to determine how to enforce these guidelines. Most importantly, leading by example is your first step in generating a constructive and encouraging work environment. Creating a set number of infraction warnings is also an option; however, letting negative behavior slide too many times is essentially ineffective. Write-ups or documenting infringements, and including them in the employee’s human resources file, will allow you to track which employees are not staying in line with your company’s organizational values. Many companies also make use of an EAP (or Employee Assistance Program) for workers who are in crisis or acting unusually confrontational. However, an employer cannot mandate, only suggest, an employee make use of EAP services. However, it can be a proactive alternative for workers who are in need of counseling, but were possibly hesitant to seek it out on their own.
How do employee/customer interactions relate to a company’s value system?
When dealing with the occasional “irate customer”, reactive circumstances must vary, and of course, the same rules which apply to internal company interactions are probably not suitable here. The aphorism, “…the customer is always right,” basically encourages companies to value the business of all customers, and if there is a problem, employees and managers should be already prepared to deal with the issue in a thoughtful and appropriate manner. This is why guidelines on how to handle situations involving a distressed customer would also fall under a company’s organizational value system.
Nevertheless, a situation may arise when an employee is being unduly disrespected. Realistically, if a customer is excessively discourteous, other than asking the customer to take their business elsewhere, there isn’t much more that can be done. You could, however, publicize a procedure allowing employees or managers to, for example, hang up the phone on anyone who is harassing or threatening them in some form; or if the altercation is in person, contacting a member of security or law enforcement service for assistance. Having a proverbial arsenal of go-to recommendations offers confidence to employees who regularly deal with customers, and working this into your company’s official value system, may prevent a potentially bad situation from escalating into a worse one.
In Conclusion
Creating, implementing, and designating responsibility for your Statement of Company Values will not only establish your organization’s standard of acceptable behaviors, but will also promote respect, loyalty and professionalism. These characteristics can only have a positive effect on your company’s morale, therefore enhancing efficiency and productivity.
Stewart, Cooper & Coon, has helped thousands of decision makers and senior executives move up in their careers and achieve significantly improved financial packages within short time frames. Contact Fred Coon – 866-883-4200, Ext. 200