Values (Guiding Principles)

Understanding and Communicating Organizational Values

Organizational values are transmitted through formal and informal channels of communication. Formal channels include, in written form, booklets, banners, quotes, logos, business cards, slogans, posters, press releases, and articles. Executives in the organization use organizational value statements in speeches, employee “pep talks,” employee town meetings, and performance evaluations. Employees state organizational values through actions, comments, conversations, stories, decisions, memos, and letters. Whether formally documented or informally understood, all organizations have a set of working values that guide individual activities within the organization and that shape organizational reputation.

Using Organizational Values Effectively

Excellent organizations make use of statements of shared values in numerous ways:

• To set expectations for customers or clients that the organization values quality in its service and products or that it places value on its service to its customers or clients
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• As a clear message of the value the organization places on the importance of its employees
• As a means to better define key components of its mission statement
• As a framework for individual decision making within the organization
• To delineate boundaries of behaviors of executives and employees
• To form the basis for the corporate culture
• To articulate the level of social responsibility or organizational citizenship the organization embraces, such as commitment to healthy children
• To articulate its priorities as related to social issues, such as a clean environment

Developing and Maintaining Organizational Values (Guiding Principles)

In the past decade health care organizations have sought to create a new vision for the performance and delivery of the services provided to health care recipients. Coupled with a new vision is the need for a new set of core values or guiding principles. However, the adoption of cultural values in an organization is a slow process frequently taking years. This is in part due to the changing mores of society in which organizational personnel live and operate. Capturing the sagas, stories, and myths about the perception of existing values provides the first step. Organizational values may not be blatantly obvious but rather are imbedded in the informal communications and actions of the organization's employees. Building on existing values that are consistent with the new vision, the organization can restate old values under the new paradigm. This method can help hasten the acceptance of new values.

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