Build a High-Performance Culture with Cultural Coherence
Most organizations have a collection of expectations for how people behave – their values.
If someone was intently observing your workplace today, what would they guess your company’s values to be?
Would they be the same values discussed in employee onboarding? The ones written on the plaque in the lobby?
The truth is, in many organizations the way people act every day is inconsistent with the company's stated values. Most organizations have developed a core values list, and yet they fail to clarify how values translate to actual behaviors…and how people will be held accountable.
This misalignment between words and actions has a detrimental impact on one very important emotion—trust. Without trust, it becomes much more difficult to bring about change, motivate people and meet goals.
An organization’s values serve as shared guiding principles, enabling its members to understand expectations and make choices that reflect what the company stands for. A real and true commitment to these values can enhance employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and profitability. But the values must be more than just words—they must shape behavior at every level.
There’s a word for this type of authenticity – it’s called cultural coherence. When the way people act at work is consistent with what the organization says it stands for, it creates the kind of healthy and distinctive culture which research confirms is a driver of organizational performance.
Cultural coherence is something that can be activated. It starts by defining tangible behaviors that bring your core values to life, and then working to embed them within organizational systems. It becomes even more powerful when individuals make personal commitments, and when teams agree on how to hold one another respectfully accountable for what they commit to.
Want to build more cultural coherence where you work? Here's what the process involves:
Articulate Behaviors
It starts with identifying what the organizational values look like in action. Gather your team and write down all the values-aligned behaviors you can think of.
You’re looking for clear, observable behaviors. Let’s say you have an organizational value of integrity. When you ask, “What specific behaviors show integrity?” someone may come up with an answer that’s a little more abstract like “being honest”. You’ll need to really challenge yourself here. Go a level deeper. What does being honest look like in terms of behavior? Is it speaking up when something is wrong, even when it’s difficult to call it out? Is it communicating transparently about your needs or intentions? Admitting failures and committing to doing better in the future? Telling the truth to someone even when it’s hard for them to hear? Go beyond surface-level synonyms and drill down to find the behaviors that truly indicate how each value can be applied in everyday encounters.
Automate Systems
Despite our best intentions, if we don’t embed these behaviors into our organization’s systems, we fail to act on them. Integrating organizational values into policies, processes and practices is essential to ensure that those values are upheld consistently throughout the organization.
There are many ways that organizations can integrate values-aligned behaviors into their systems. Here are some places where that can happen:
- Hiring and onboarding: An organization can start by asking interview questions that include its values. Select candidates who align with the values, and provide orientation and new-hire training that reinforces them.
- Performance management: Set performance goals that align with organizational values, and evaluate employee performance based on how well people demonstrate and uphold those values through behaviors that can be witnessed and measured. Create philosophies and policies for addressing behaviors that are counter to the culture.
- Decision-making: Make it a habit to evaluate decisions based on how well they align with the organization's values. Every choice is an opportunity to act on what you claim to believe.
- Communications: Use an organizational values lens to build consistency within your messaging. Refer to values often, using language that reinforces them and explores their application in multiple contexts.
- Rewards and recognition: Recognize employees who exemplify values, not only with formal rewards programs, but with habits of appreciation-sharing and acknowledgement of values in team meetings and one-on-ones.
- Community engagement: Support causes and organizations that align with organizational values, encouraging employees to participate in community service and civic engagement activities that reflect what your company stands for.
By integrating core values into its structural systems, an organization anchors its culture – building standards and norms that reinforce values-aligned expectations for every member of the team.
Activate Personal Commitments
Knowing something is true and good doesn’t make it happen. We have to do something.
It’s easy to say what we think everyone else should do. But this is not just about other people’s behaviors. It’s time to look in the mirror.
Ask yourself, “How will I apply these values to my own choices and my own work? What can I do right now, today?” The real magic of values work comes from having people identify how they will personally commit to applying these values in their everyday lives. It may take some deep thought. It may take some practice and some time. But like most things that require a lot of effort, it’s worth it.
To do this with your team, start small. Select one value, and ask every team member to commit to one aligned action. Just one small change, starting immediately, that will help them demonstrate a value more actively.
When a leader reaches this stage with their team, they can say, “Because I think this value is so important, here’s what I’m going to commit to…” and then ask, “now what do each of you want to do?” Capture these commitments in writing, share them across the team, and set a date to come back together and check in.
Clearly defining and voicing personal commitments to one another is the first step to building accountability.
Agree as a Team
Now it’s time for your team to have a heart-to-heart. Consider why it may be challenging to uphold these commitments. Be real. Talk about what makes it hard. Plan for how you will stay true to your values even in tough situations.
You can consider various scenarios and agree to support one another through them.
Ask questions like:
- How can we support each other in remembering and upholding our personal commitments?
- What challenges or obstacles might arise as we work to apply the values to real life?
- How can we appreciate and celebrate each other's successes?
- How do each of us prefer to be approached, coached, and redirected if we get off track?
Answering these questions empowers your team to support one another in meaningful ways. When they are inevitably challenged, they can find their way back to the core of what’s most important.
“A list of company values isn’t enough. We have to work intentionally to make them real.”
Few organizations take the time to define values-aligned behaviors, embed them into systems, foster personal commitments, and create shared accountability. And the reality is, it shows. The experience of working with (or buying from) an organization with misaligned values and actions is not pleasant or productive.
What’s the value of values? They’re the key to unlocking trust, fostering engagement, and driving results. As companies work to attract and retain top talent, maximize engagement, and help their employees thrive in ever-changing work environments, workplace culture matters now more than ever.
Looking for support to take your team through this process? Download a free team exercise or partner with Mindpower Strategic to facilitate a session on The Power of Values.
About Angela (she|her)
As the founder and principal consultant of Mindpower Strategic, Angela Cooper helps organizations cultivate mindsets that empower, energize, and engage people. She offers strategic diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting, facilitates insightful learning experiences, and leads change management work to build healthier cultures.
Cooper has over 20 years of experience spanning the disciplines of DEI, culture-shaping, communication, strategic planning, project leadership, operations management and process engineering. She spent several years leading DEI and culture strategy as a Chief Diversity Officer at the Fortune 300 level. Through Mindpower Strategic, Angela now serves as a trusted partner for forward-thinking business leaders who are driving meaningful change towards a more inclusive future.