New to HR: How Can I Effectively Teach Company Values and Ethics to My Team?

Dear Friends,

I am new to the HR field. As such, I do not have the expertise that you all specialize in. I request you to help me solve this jigsaw puzzle. I am trying to teach my fellow employees of my company's values, mission, vision, and ethics stand for. Any new innovative ideas that can make my job simpler, please reply.

Thanks,
Shahida

Dear Shahida,

Values come from our upbringing (Sanskara). There are intrinsic and extrinsic values. We better know good and bad values. What is good in India may be bad in the UK. So, values are subjective in nature.

Corporate vision is a short, succinct, and inspiring statement of what the organization intends to become and to achieve at some point in the future, often stated in competitive terms. Vision refers to the category of intentions that are broad, all-inclusive, and forward-thinking. It is the image that a business must have of its goals before it sets out to reach them. It describes aspirations for the future, without specifying the means that will be used to achieve those desired ends.

Example:

Vision & Mission

Infosys' Vision:

"To be a globally respected corporation that provides best-of-breed business solutions, leveraging technology, delivered by best-in-class people."

Infosys' Mission Statement:

"To achieve our objectives in an environment of fairness, honesty, and courtesy towards our clients, employees, vendors, and society at large."

The values that drive us: C-LIFE

Customer Delight: A commitment to surpassing our customer expectations.

Leadership by Example: A commitment to set standards in our business and transactions and be an exemplar for the industry and our own teams.

Integrity and Transparency: A commitment to be ethical, sincere, and open in our dealings.

Fairness: A commitment to be objective and transaction-oriented, thereby earning trust and respect.

Pursuit of Excellence: A commitment to strive relentlessly, to constantly improve ourselves, our teams, our services, and products so as to become the best.

Ethics is derived from the Greek word ETHIkos which means Character. It deals with what is good and what is bad. E.g., using pesticides in cola or Pepsi is unethical, lying to the boss is unethical.

Hope this will help you.

Regards,

Sameer

Dear Sameer,

Thank you for all the information that you sent to me. I really appreciate the time that you have taken out from your busy schedule to help me. I do understand that mission, vision, values, and ethics are big high-funda things if we look at them as they appear (meaning the language they are written in). But at the end of the day, they are here to guide us so that we follow the right path.

On behalf of my company, what I am trying to do is make my employees understand the terms like mission, vision, and ethics. Even though all of these terms are explained during the induction and posters of the same put up on the walls, employees tend to forget why they have joined a particular company. Please help me stir their memory a little.

I was thinking of an internal survey to understand what employees comprehend by these words. But I am having difficulty framing the questions. As I cannot ask questions like "Do you know the mission that your company is trying to achieve?"

Thanks, Shahida

Dear Shahida,

It's really difficult to ask questions. You can go for the observation method, informal talks with employees at tea/lunchtime. You can make use of Grapevine Communication for your purpose. I hope this will help you.

Regards,
Sameer

Dear Shahida,

You can try an objective questions test for 25 to 30 minutes on the VISION, MISSION, AND ETHICS of your company. I have done the same for a US-based hotel company. It was of great use, and we were able to plan our reorientation program.

If you require more info regarding the above, I would be able to help you.

Best regards,
Manju :)

Please sit with your founder/owner/top management. Ask them to explain specific real experiences/events that happened in the company in alignment with the mission and values. Convert these experiences into "real life stories" and use them in your training programs.

Open a common webpage on your company's INTRANET. Ask employees to post anonymously or otherwise optional events/experiences in your company or other companies that align with your company's values and vision. As this will be an open web page, messages will travel.