Cairo university Faculty of commerce Business administration department MBA program-second year-English Organization Development

Value Based Organization [VBO]

Definitions and process
Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Salem 12/8/2009

Value Based Organization [VBO]

Values Based Organization [VBO]

Definitions
Values are traits or qualities that are considered worthwhile; they represent an individuals highest priorities and deeply held driving forces. Value statements are grounded in values and define how people want to behave with each other in the organization. They are statements about how the organization will value customers, suppliers, and the internal community. Value statements describe actions that are the living enactment of the fundamental values held by most individuals within the organization. Vision is a statement about what the organization wants to become. The vision should resonate with all members of the organization and help them feel proud, excited, and part of something much bigger than themselves. A vision should stretch the organizations capabilities and image of itself. It gives shape and direction to the organizations future. Mission/Purpose is a precise description of what an organization does. It should describe the business the organization is in. It is a definition of "why" the organization exists currently. Each member of an organization should be able to verbally express this mission. Strategies are the broadly defined four or five key approaches the organization will use to accomplish its mission and drive toward the vision. Goals and action plans usually flow from each strategy. One example of a strategy is employee empowerment and teams. Another is to pursue a new worldwide market in Africa. Another is to streamline your current distribution system using lean management principles. We recommend that we start developing this strategic framework by identifying our organizations values. Create an opportunity for as many
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people as possible to participate in this process. All the rest of our strategic framework should grow from living these. What are Values? The following are examples of values. We might use these as the starting point for discussing values within our organization. ambition, competency, individuality, equality, integrity, service, responsibility, accuracy, respect, dedication, diversity, improvement, enjoyment/fun, loyalty, credibility, honesty, innovativeness, teamwork, excellence, accountability, empowerment, quality, efficiency, dignity, collaboration, stewardship, empathy, accomplishment, courage, wisdom, independence, security, challenge, influence, learning, compassion, friendliness, discipline/order, generosity, persistency, optimism, dependability, flexibility Why Identify and Establish Values? Effective organizations identify and develop a clear, concise and shared meaning of values/beliefs, priorities, and direction so that everyone understands and can contribute. Once defined, values impact every aspect of our organization. We must support and nurture this impact or identifying values will have been a wasted exercise. People will feel fooled and misled unless they see the impact of the exercise within our organization. If we want the values that we identify to have an impact, the following must occur.

People demonstrate and model the values in action in their personal work behaviors, decision making, contribution, and interpersonal interaction. Organizational values help each person establish priorities in their daily work life. Values guide every decision that is made once the organization has cooperatively created the values and the value statements.

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Value Based Organization [VBO]

Rewards and recognition within the organization are structured to recognize those people whose work embodies the values the organization embraced. Organizational goals are grounded in the identified values. Adoption of the values and the behaviors that result is recognized in regular performance feedback. People hire and promote individuals whose outlook and actions are congruent with the values. Only the active participation of all members of the organization will ensure a truly organization-wide, value-based, shared culture.

Values form the foundation for everything that happens in our workplace. It permeates the workplace. We naturally hire people who share our values. Whatever our value, will largely govern the actions of our workforce. Sample Workplace Value-based Actions If we value integrity and we experience a quality problem in our manufacturing process, we honestly inform our customers of the exact nature of the problem. We discuss our actions to eliminate the problem, and the anticipated delivery time the customers can expect. If integrity is not a fundamental value, we may make excuses and mislead the customers. If we value and care about the people in our organization, we will pay for health insurance, dental insurance, retirement accounts and provide regular raises and bonuses for dedicated staff. If we value equality and a sense of family, we will wipe out the physical trappings of power, status, and inequality such as executive parking places and offices that grow larger by a foot with every promotion. Whatever our Value Is What we Live in our Organization I know, as an individual, what I personally value. However, most of us work in organizations that have already operated for many years. The values, and the subsequent culture created by those values, are in place, for better or worse.

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Value Based Organization [VBO]

If we are generally happy with our work environment, we undoubtedly selected an organization with values congruent with our own. If we're not, watch for the disconnects between what we value and the actions of people in our organization. As an HR professional, we will want to influence our larger organization to identify its core values, and make them the foundation for its interactions with employees, customers, and suppliers. Minimally, we will want to work within our own HR organization to identify a strategic framework for serving our customers that is firmly value-based. Strategic Framework Every organization has a vision or picture of what it desires for its future, whether foggy or crystal clear. The current mission of the organization or the purpose for its existence is also understood in general terms. The values members of the organization manifest in daily decision making, and the norms or relationship guidelines which informally define how people interact with each other and customers are also visible. But are these usually vague and unspoken understandings enough to fuel our long term success? I dont think so. Every organization has a choice. We can allow these fundamental underpinnings of our organization to develop on their own with each individual acting in a self-defined vacuum. Or, we can invest the time to proactively define them to best serve members of the organization and its customers. Many successful organizations agree upon and articulate their vision, mission or purpose, values, and strategies so all organization members can enroll in and own their achievement.

Process
Values exist in every workplace. Our organizations culture is partially the outward demonstration of the values currently existing in our

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Value Based Organization [VBO]

workplace. The question we need to ask is whether these existing values are creating the workplace we desire. Do these values promote a culture of extraordinary customer care by happy, motivated, productive people? If not, we need to launch a major culture program, with the following steps:
1. 2. 3.

Identify the values that currently exist in our workplace; Determine (assess)if these are the right values for our workplace; and Change the actions and behaviors by which the values are demonstrated, if necessary.

To really make a difference in our organization, we need to do all the three above. Values Development Process How to develop and articulate shared workplace values? While the focus is on values identification and alignment, we can use this process to develop any product or course of action that needs widespread support, enrollment in, and ownership from our staff. It is used successfully to help organization develop mission statements, visions for the future, relationship guidelines and norms, prioritized action plans, and departmental goals. Steps in a Values Identification Process To identify organization values, we bring together our executive group to:

Learn about and discuss the power of shared values; Obtain consensus that these leaders are committed to creating a value-based workplace; Define the role of the executives in leading this process; and Provide written material the executives can share with their reporting staff.

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Value Based Organization [VBO]

The Team Culture and Training Team, a cross-functional group of employees from every level of the organization, asked the executive group to initiate and lead this process. Where possible, acting on a desire for change that is percolating from all corners of an organization, is a powerful assurance of success. Design and schedule a series of values alignment sessions in which all members of the organization will participate. Schedule each member of the organization to attend a three-four hour session. (If the group is small, it is most effective for all members to meet in one session together.) These sessions are most effective when led by a trained facilitator. This allows each member of our organization to fully participate in the process. Alternatively, train internal facilitators who lead one session, and participate in another. Prior to the values identification and alignment sessions, each leader must do the following:

Share any written materials as well as the spirit and context of the executives values discussion with every individual in your reporting group. Promote the rationale for, need for, and desired organizational impact of the process. Make certain our reporting staff members understand the importance of their participation in the process. Assure that every member of our reporting group is signed up for and attends a session. Answer questions and provide feedback about any staff concerns to the rest of the executive or cross-functional group leading the process.

Values Identification Workshop Overview The facilitator begins the sessions with a brief overview, since the rationale and process have already been communicated by organization leaders. Key concepts include the following.
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Value Based Organization [VBO]

Each person brings his or her own set of values to the workplace. Sharing similar or agreed upon values at work helps clarify: --expected behavior and actions to each other and customers, --how decisions are made, and --exactly what is important in the organization.

Steps in Workplace Values Identification During the workplace values identification session, participants begin by identifying their own individual values. These are the five-ten most important values they hold as individuals and bring to the workplace every day. It is the melding of all of the values of the members of our workforce that creates our current work environment. This process will be most effective when participants work from the list of possible values we mentioned above. People voluntarily post the values that each person has identified as their most important. Then, everyone in the session walks around to look at the various lists. This is a learning opportunity and can provide great insight into the beliefs and needs of coworkers. we can ask people to verbally talk about their list of values with another individual in a mutual sharing. Participants then work with a small group of people, from across the organization, to identify which of their personal values are the most important for creating the environment the group wants to live in at work. Participants in the small groups then prioritize these identified values into a list of five-six they most want to see expressed at work. When the small groups have completed their task, they share their prioritized lists with all session participants. Generally, some of the values appear on each small group list. In a larger organization, these prioritized lists are tallied across all sessions for frequency and meaning. In a small organization, in which everyone is participating simultaneously, prioritize and reach agreement on the most important values. Value Statements
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Value Based Organization [VBO]

During this session, or in an additional session, participants discuss how and whether these values are currently operational in our workplace. People then define each value by describing what they will see in behaviors and actions when the value is truly incorporated into the organization belief system and culture. The more graphic we can make these statements, the better for producing shared meaning. Several examples of these value statements follow: Integrity: We maintain credibility by making certain our actions always match our words. Respect: We respect each patient's right to be involved, to the greatest extent possible or desired, in making informed decisions about his or her health and plan of care. Accountability: We accept personal responsibility to efficiently use organization resources, improve our systems, and help others improve their effectiveness. Now we know how to identify workplace values and value statements. Follow-up Process for Workplace Values Identification Using the work and insights from each values identification session, volunteers from each session meet to:

Reach consensus on the values; develop value statements for each of the prioritized values; and Share the value statements with all staff for feedback and refinement.

Staff will discuss the draft value statements during organization-wide meetings, where possible. The total group adopts the values by voting when the organization believes the value statements are complete. Problems might encounter the implementation (resistance to change) No matter how well designed and planned our change program is, not everyone will be singing its praises.

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Value Based Organization [VBO]

Employees resist change for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from a straightforward intellectual disagreement over facts to deep-seated psychological prejudices. Some of these reasons for employee resistance may include: belief that the change initiative is a temporary fad belief that fellow employees or managers are incompetent loss of authority or control loss of status or social standing lack of faith in their ability to learn new skills feeling of change overload (too much too soon) lack of trust in or dislike of managers loss of job security loss of family or personal time feeling that the organization is not entitled to the extra effort For some people resisting change, there may be multiple reasons. Adding to this complexity is the fact that sometimes the stated reason hides the real, more deeply personal reason. We will also need to recognize that people work through a psychological change process as they give up the old and come to either embrace or reject the new. Typically, they may experience an initial denial, and then begin to realize that the change cannot be ignored. Strong feelings may emerge, such as fear, anger, helplessness and frustration. Finally, the person accepts the change either negatively, with feelings of resignation and complacency, or positively, with renewed enthusiasm to capitalize on the changes. Watch out for employees who get stuck in one phase. Offer our support. Allow space for people to work through the stages. Give employees time to draw breath and listen with empathy. Who are your resisters and how are they resisting? Change recipients who are dead against the change will either resist overtly, voicing their objections loudly and often, or covertly. Covert resisters operate from the underground, masking their defiance, but posing us a much more serious challenge. We have identified four basic types of reaction to organizational change. Where do our change recipients sit?

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Value Based Organization [VBO]

Enthusiasts These change recipients are intrinsically wedded to the change idea. They may agree dispassionately that the change will be of benefit to the organization, or they may stand to receive some personal gain from the change, such as a guarantee of job security, more status or a higher salary. Enthusiasts will use opportunities to broadcast approval for the change and will try to convince others of its merits. They will also model the new behavior early and will volunteer for membership of teams. These early adopters may also make good choices as trainers and coaches during the implementation process. Followers range from those that are generally compliant, wishing to take the path of least resistance, to those that are initially reticent to adapt, but eventually do so once they accept the inevitability of the change. These change recipients will do what is required, but no more. Objectors will display their resistance to change whenever the opportunity arises. They may disrupt meetings, not attend training, take unapproved leave and refuse to carry out instructions. Objectors will continue to use superseded systems and processes when others are taking up the new ways of doing things. They are not averse to arguing with managers and fellow workers and will try to convince others to continue with the old ways. In a unionized environment, resistance can take the form of strikes, lockouts, work to rule, legal challenges and boycotts.

Followers

Objectors

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Value Based Organization [VBO]

Underground Change recipients working for the underground have solid motivations for not making their resistance public. They may fear direct punishment, such as termination or fines, or more personal costs, such as ridicule or loss of status and authority. Managers who are against the change but need to be seen to be in support of it are prime candidates for promoting underground resistance. This style of resistance is, by its nature, always covert and can take many forms. Common among these are falsifying reports, inputting incorrect data, stealing, damaging infrastructure and equipment, using sarcasm, spreading rumors, excessive absences, shoddy work and go slow.

What can we do now? One thing we can do in managing resistance is work with our key employees to construct a Force Field analysis diagram using Kurt Lewins Force Field Analysis technique. This will give us a powerful indication of where we will need to devote our energies.

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Value Based Organization [VBO]

Example of a Force Field analysis diagram

Tips for Overcoming Resistance to Change Treating the forces against change is a more productive use of resources than simply reinforcing the forces for change. Choose the most powerful of the restraining forces and devote time and energy to weakening these. Think of how we could apply the drivers for change we identified in our analysis to either weakening or eliminating an opposing force. Show the fiercest resisters whats in it for them. Appeal to them either in terms of personal gain (such as status, salary bonus, recognition, and so on) or loss avoided (such as financial loss or job outplacement prevented). Get customers or suppliers to explain to change resisters face to face how the current situation disadvantages them in concrete terms. Put resisters on teams that allow them to play some decision-making part in the change process, however small.

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Value Based Organization [VBO]

Defuse political power plays amongst managers and other employees by conducting broad-based meetings where goals and tactics are openly discussed and introduce processes that leave little room for individual discretion. Endeavor to look at the world through the eyes of the change resister. Listen openly and honestly to what they are trying to say. Examine our own basic beliefs and assumptions. Through engaging resisters, be prepared to change ourselves.

The Leaders' Role Following the Workplace Values Process Following the values identification and alignment sessions and agreement on the values, leaders, with staff, will:

Communicate and discuss the mission and organizational values frequently with staff members; Establish organizational goals that are grounded in the identified values; Model personal work behaviors, decision making, contribution, and interpersonal interaction that reflect the values; Translate the values into expectations, priorities, and behaviors with colleagues, reporting staff, and self; Link participation in the adoption of the values and the behaviors that result, to regular performance feedback and the performance development process; Reward and recognize staff members whose actions and accomplishments reflect the values in action within the organization; Hire and promote individuals whose outlook and actions are congruent with these values; and Meet periodically to talk about how the group is doing via living the identified values.

Make This Workplace Values Process Not Just another Exercise Cautions:

Dont oversell the process. Always anchor, or relate the values expressed to real world problems.
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By: Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Salem

Value Based Organization [VBO]

Encourage people to identify examples where there is a gap between values, or beliefs, and behavior. Remember that you are not going to alter a person's values and beliefs by talking about them. Values clarification exercises are, at best, an opportunity to share them, not change them.

If we want our investment in this workplace values identification and alignment process to make a difference in our organization, the leadership and individual follow-up is critical. The organization must commit to change and enhance work behaviors, actions, and interactions. Reward and recognition systems and performance management systems must support and reward new behaviors. Consequences must exist for behaviors that undermine the values agreed upon. Examples of Workplace Values

Integrity Belonging/Caring Helping/Contributing Inner Harmony, Peace of Mind Personal Growth, Learning, and Self-Actualization Achievement /Accomplishment Financial Stability Accountability Respect Excellence Fun

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