Recruit, reward, retain, and remove based on values but why don’t we remove based on performance? How is this a values issue? What are values?
Values are the core foundation and motivation of the organization and the employees. Values define the culture. Values are what we should live by. Values based questions should be asked in interviews.
We should recruit people who have a values alignment to our alignment. We should reward people whose values are in line with our values. We should ensure that we keep people whose values are aligned to our values and we need to remove people if they’re not living the values.
It’s a little bit like a marriage. You could see the most amazing person and think, “Oh, I’d love to live happily ever after,” and yet their values aren’t compassionate, they don’t have integrity, and you can’t trust them so could you ever marry this person? No.
If you did marry this person, what would be the outcome? Well, it wouldn’t be happily ever after. It’s the same from a business perspective. If your staff members don’t align with your values, then it won’t be happy ever after. Yes, they might be able to do the job. However, if they’re not aligned to the values of the business it won’t be happy ever after. How do I do that? How do you actually recruit based on values?
I ask two questions in interviews. The first question is, “Well, what are our organization’s values?” This shows whether or not the person has done any research on the organization. If they haven’t done that, then you can start to see whether or not they’re really interested in your organization. The second question I ask is, “Well, what are your values and give me some examples of your values.”
Based on their values, you can also pick their personality and their priority. If their values are things like adventure and you’re going to give them a data entry role they may not be the right values alignment for your business.
I reward based on values. Lots of businesses have rewards and recognition programs. I ensure that they are always aligned to the values, that way, what we look for we see. We’re looking for people who are doing good things based on our values, we see our values being displayed all the time.
I use values as a retention strategy. Those people who are aligning themselves to our values, I try to promote and succession plan and help their careers. Finally, I remove based on values. The person might be able to perform the role but if they don’t have a values alignment with the business there won’t be a happy ending.
An example is, when I was recently working with a government department they thought that you could only perform management based on skill and competency. We were able to develop a performance process that actually was about values alignment. For example, if the person wasn’t being compassionate that was a performance issue because they weren’t meeting the minimum care required by that organization.
Have you defined your values? Are they integrated into everything? Is your board and executive team on board? Do you use values based conversation every day? If not, this is a great strategy for recruitment, rewarding, retention, and engagement.