Faced with regulatory fragmentation, energy and resource insecurity and the escalating trade tensions, companies today are having to rethink and pivot responses to many things. Changes in sourcing, production and market access, cause repeated restructuring. Technologies like AI are being adopted faster than strategies can be defined. New skill requirements demand new talent, with new attitudes and behaviours. When faced with such choppy seas, values are easy to cast aside, when they are in fact essential for long term success, serving as an essential ‘lighthouse’ to guide the way.
Organisations with a clear sense of identity and purpose perform better and grow faster. Research links this to a 17% boost in productivity (Forbes), 35% higher revenue (Corporate Culture: Evidence From the Field) and 21% greater profitability (Forbes). Values are key, driving alignment across decisions, actions and behaviours – creating a powerful multiplier effect on performance.
Conversely, misalignment undermines resilience and hampers risk response. Today’s organisations must navigate geopolitics and react quickly to the effects of misinformation. While policies are essential, they’re not always practical in the moment. Values provide a reliable guide – helping leaders make decisions and enabling teams to focus on what truly matters.
Recent research%, which surveyed over 750 senior HR decision makers, 84% say ESG and social values have grown in importance to employees over the past five years. Yet economic and geopolitical shifts are making them harder to prioritise. Organisations that respond effectively do so by anchoring decisions in clear, consistent values.
For businesses operating in the US, recent changes to DEI legislation require careful navigation. Scaling back for compliance or short-term savings can harm reputation. Inconsistencies with core or past brand positions risk undermining customer engagement, revenue and employer appeal. Using values consistently to guide decisions helps balance the needs of all stakeholders.
Alongside making the right decisions, organisations need to manage the risk that their people may not act in the right way. Unethical or illegal activity increases with complexities in geography or supply chains. Shared values guide relationship management, internally and with partner organisations.
Values act as a vital compass during change and transformation. Forbes research links low values alignment to higher levels of restructuring, redundancies and talent loss, all of which erode trust. Framing change through the lens of values and purpose helps set a transparent tone, boosting psychological safety and building resilience. Without these cultural anchors, tolerance fades and talent begin to leave.
Creating and sustaining company values is no easy task. Our research found that only 1 in 3 believe their organisation’s values are reflected in the employee experience, and 64% say the reality doesn’t match the culture being promised.
Organisations often face a disconnect between what’s stated in reports or on websites and what’s truly lived day to day. Defining values is only the first step, embedding them across the organisation takes time, commitment and consistency.
Whether creating values from scratch or refreshing existing ones, the process demands thoughtful, deliberate planning. For employees to buy into values they need to be involved in their creation. However, it is equally important to arrive at a final articulation that truly expresses the cultural spirit of the organisation and does not become diluted by everyone having their say.
Keeping values decisions too close risks disengaging others, while involving everyone can lead to vague, diluted outcomes. The key is balance, and a few principles can help:
1. Tailor your engagement. Whether working with a small group or gathering wider input, how you engage shapes how people feel and how invested they are.
2. Involve wisely. Aim for broad representation, not total participation, everyone should feel heard, without slowing the process.
3. Be clear on roles. Use a RACI to define who’s involved, what they’re contributing and why.
4. Communicate throughout. Keep people informed at every stage to maintain transparency and trust.
5. Leverage tech. Use tools to capture employee voice and track sentiment at scale.
6. Explore absence as well as presence. Values are often most visible when they’re missing, don’t overlook that insight.
For many organisations with existing values, the challenge lies in the gap between what’s promised externally and what’s lived internally.
Fixing this starts with clarity on the target culture: what behaviours do leaders want to see that support the organisation’s purpose and strategy? If these don’t naturally align with current values, it may be time for a refresh.
If values and behaviours are aligned, primary and secondary research can help identify what’s getting in the way. Analysing this data across cultural dimensions, from leadership and strategy to environment, community, and performance, reveals clear, prioritised areas for action.
Whether creating, refreshing or embedding values, it’s vital to remember they’re not a one-off exercise. Values need ongoing care, through regular measurement and active cultural management. This supports a rolling programme of interventions that reinforce everyday behaviours, sustain leadership role modelling, and keep policies like performance management aligned. Even after major challenges pass, it’s essential to keep steering the ship.
*Research by scarlettabbott
