“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work gains success. Greatness will come.” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Dwayne Johnson is one strong dude. He has won a US College National Football Championship as well as a World Wrestling Federation Championship. He developed acting strength playing a variety of parts including Luke Hobbs in the Fast and Furious movies and the lead voice role of my grandson’s favorite Disney movie, Moana. He is well known for his incredible work ethic – consistent hard work.
Consistency is also key to having a great workplace culture. Emphasizing and role modeling every day how work gets done provides those important reps that strengthen those culture muscles. And with World Values Day being celebrated on Oct 17, 2019, there’s an opportunity to give your organization’s culture a unique workout.
Exercise #1 – One Value More Focus
Identify one of the top organizational values that you all feel needs more attention. Discuss how your organization might put it more completely into action. If the value is Teamwork, Responsibility, Making a Difference or Respect (for the environment) you might think about tidying and cleaning a local play area or park, or a drive to clean up a local litter black spot. You could decide to “adopt” a local public monument, spruce it up and keep it clean.
Exercise #2 – Telling Stories
If you have a newsletter or town hall coming up, schedule it around World Values Day. This gives you the perfect opportunity to remind everyone about the purpose of the organization and how the organization’s values contribute to meeting that purpose. Recognize people who exemplify these values to give your employees role models of expected behaviors. Tell the story of how the value brought about a great outcome. People love stories and stories help us understand the why behind the recognition.
Exercise #3 – Stop, Start, and Keep
These are always great conversations. Select a value and ask the group to come up with ideas about things that the organization should stop doing that’s creating a barrier to fully living that value. In the same vein, what new things could be introduced to make that value even more powerful to the group? And finally, celebrate what’s right in the company when it comes to this particular value. This exercise will generate a plethora of ideas about what can be done to strengthen your culture.
Bonus +1
Every personal trainer always has that phrase “Just one more” as they push you through your routine. So here’s your just one more – create a Values Wall. Using the customizable World Values Day template, ask your employees to identify a personal value that’s important to them. Post each of the notices on a wall to create a collage representing those values that people are passion about. To interject even more fun, add in selfies, or photos of people demonstrating their value.
This is a great way for employees to learn more about each other. It also shows that we all have more in common than we think.
Consistency is critical
It’s easy to fall off the rails when it comes to our company values. Shifting priorities, leadership changes, and bottom-line pressures can all cause us to take our focus off of how the work is getting done. Reinforcing your culture muscles will help build a strong, positive culture. Not only will you reap better results, but you’ll also be building happier workplaces.
World Values Day is a great opportunity to recognize all that is right with your culture. Are you up for the challenge? Pop me a note, I’d love to hear how you’re celebrating.
