21 October 2021
Let's talk about values in leadership.
Workplace environments have been evolving dramatically for over a decade and more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated changes within the workplace. This has exposed weaknesses and, for some businesses, strengths in the effectiveness of company values and how they are put into practice.
We wanted to uncover how leadership drastically changes company culture and how values inform it. We have engaged with brands that have effectively developed a positive working culture – embracing a style of leadership that is always couched firmly in their principles and which is practised throughout the organisation.
Download the report
In our new report, Leading Through Values, we strive to understand what company values are? Who defines the company values of an organisation, and why? Who do the values apply to, and how are they rolled out within the business? And what is the impact on the company, from operational and customer experience perspectives?
According to David Phillips, Managing Director of ILM, "Rapidly evolving workplaces require new leadership skills that accommodate agile and shifting working practices and build consistent ways to ensure people are feeling connected back to the workplace. This can be answered, in part, through values."
Find out how we lead through values
Company culture and company values are not the same thing. Values guide the decisions that are made in a business. They point to what the business values as right and important. Examples of values could be as simple as open communication and acting with integrity. The culture of a company is the collection of processes, practices and interactions that make up the work environment. Values are the principles, the rules of the game. The culture sits on top of that and is the landscape that shifts on top of the values.
We dissect how values are being brought to life in everyday operations and how they've withstood the challenges faced during the pandemic. We spoke to 7 leaders who shed light on how company values were an integral part of their leadership models and how values ultimately play an essential role in:
- Defining organisational purpose and goals
- Standardising strategy and operational delivery
- Directing learning and development
- Performance management
- Talent attraction, recruitment and retention
- Improving customer relations
Thanks to Dermalogica, IBM, Rural Payments Agency, St. Giles’ Trust and Timpson for their input in this report.
