Most organizations have a set of core values that define fundamental beliefs in terms of how they do business. It is not uncommon to see statements of core values posted at the workplace, often on a plaque at the entrance or in some other frequently visited location.
Examples of core values include:
Excellence – shared commitment to exceed expected results in our work and services
Dignity – a respect for the inherent value and worth of each person
Integrity – treating others with fairness and respect
Stewardship – responsible use of facilities, equipment, and supplies
Values are deeply ingrained principles that presumably guide organizational actions. But do values really matter? How often are core values actually demonstrated in day to day work? Is there a relationship between core values and employee engagement?
To answer these questions, Newmeasures added questions on commitment to core values to our employee engagement survey at two healthcare locations. Each core value of the organization was cast in the form of a question and workers were asked to what extent that value was demonstrated in day to day work.
We obtained scores on commitment to core values from over 50,000 workers in these two healthcare systems. Statistical analyses of the data revealed two interesting findings. First, workers respond to the values questions in a similar way, suggesting that they form a meaningful, reliable scale. Second, scores on the values scale were strongly linked to ratings of organizational effectiveness and employee engagement. In fact, commitment to core values had the strongest relationship to organizational effectiveness!
Bottom line: Your core values do matter to employees. When they are lived out in work life, employees are more engaged and the organization is more effective.
