Why not to create separate department level values from company values
The best companies I know who execute the best all have a clear vision statement and defined, publically visible values. Everyone in the company can point to them on their company website, can recite them, and can exemplify them at work.
Shockingly, however, the the most disfunctional companies I’ve seen are NOT companies that don’t have their values defined, but companies who instead allow their own department heads to create their own values for their teams.
Why should departments not create their own values?
3 reasons:
- The values of a team may be in direct opposition to the company’s values, causing an “us vs. them” mentality amongst teams. How people behave will differ team by team… which doesn’t really make for one “team.”
- It can create misalignment around goals and what strong execution looks like. As a result, execution slows. Politics form. Frustration and resentment set in. Trust decays. Pretty soon, anger will permeate across all levels of the org.
- It can create issues around employee retention, particularly around performance reviews and promotions. If one team is promoting it’s people, while another isn’t… it can get weird… fast. A players will leave the org, and B players will remain to sort through the mess.
Instead of creating department values, focus that energy on creating role competencies instead.
Role competencies define how you expect a new hire to operate in order to hit their goals. Key word here: THEIR goals.
Every role should have competencies that apply to that specific role that may be unique / different than another role in the company.
You may be looking for a Product Manager, who in order to his their goals would need to skew heavier quant than say a Video Content Creator, who you want to be amazing at fast production and be a great conversationalist.
You may want a Product Designer to have an insane level of empathy, and a Business Analytics hire to have insane level of analytical horsepower.
Competencies for roles should always be well defined… these are the things you NEED to see in the hire for them to succeed in their role. Company values are the things needed for the organization to succeed and obtain their vision.
To summarize. Company values = Yes. Role competencies = Yes. Department values = No. If you’d like help defining your company’s values, reach out. Happy to help.
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