Employees are reassessing their values. So should companies

There’s nothing worse than a set of organizational values that try to cover all bases—the muddle won’t attract top talent, nor provide current employees with the clarity they need to know if they’re trying to decide whether to stay or go. 

Spending time to clearly articulate what you stand for (and what you don’t), and then proactively communicating is key to making the Great Realignment a positive force of change for your organization.

Employees are hyper-aware of the signals coming from leaders and they evaluate both the policies and values their bosses have put in place—and the actions they take. 

As a leader, you need to ask yourself whether your own behavior matches the stated set of values. Don’t be surprised to find a mismatch. The point is to use this to update your values and make “walking the walk” something that comes naturally. The goal is progress, not perfection.

People are tired. They are stressed, maybe even burnt out. So, feeling like your organization cares for you at a human level—not just as a productive cog in a machine—has never been more important. 

This Great Realignment has made engaging with your existing employees more important than ever. Start by devoting time for one-on-one chats, set up anonymous surveys to gather data, and conduct group discussions to review how values are applied in the company. It’s also important to be completely honest with your teams about how you and the company as a whole, have lived up to the values.

We often think that values are qualitative and so can’t be measured. That's not true. 

• For instance, if one of your values centers on having happy teams, you can track the results from employee NPS scores or Glassdoor reviews. 
• Platforms like Lattice, CultureAmp, and Leapsome can help gather and track employee satisfaction across key value dimensions over time—just like you do for customers.