Aligning behaviours with purpose and values.
In the past, HR were obsessed with their employees behaviours. It was an unhealthy obsession which damaged working relationships and it destroyed people’s lives. HR only ever focused on ‘bad behaviours’ and they used a raft of policies and procedures to manage these behaviours in order to identify someone to blame, shame and punish. Retribution, stress, fear, anxiety, confusion and enmity were the defining features of so many of these HR policies. The list of policies and procedures for managing employees behaviours was almost endless and the sad truth is that they routinely failed to deliver any form of meaningful behavioural change. Ironically, HR’s ‘policy first’ approach to managing behaviours perpetuated the very behaviours they were designed to address. Moreover, they sowed the seeds of division, and they acted as an incubator for toxicity.
Things needed to change. It was time to put people before policy. Goodbye HR. Welcome People and Culture!
Following the training, my perspectives about mediation in the workplace or community have changed significantly and have helped me to be more engaged in building relationships.
What is a Values and Behaviour framework?
A values and behaviour framework is aligned directly to your core values and principles. It describes the behaviours which are desirable (which are aligned to your core values) and those which undesirable and which are misaligned.
Your unique values and behaviours framework is then used to repurpose your entire employee handbook. It is also used at key stages of the employee journey such as for use in job design, recruitment, onboarding, performance reviews, resolving complaints and conflicts, during coaching conversations, to assess suitability for promotions and as part of leadership training and development plans.
By shaping and defining the desirable and undesirable behaviours around your core values, the behaviour framework provides a firm foundation upon which you can deliver a powerful employee and customer experience. Thus, it helps to shape and sustain a transformational culture.
What benefits does a Values and Behaviour Framework deliver?
Because the desirable and undesirable behaviours are clearly articulated, your organization benefits in numerous ways:
- There is less focus on retributive justice and punitive approaches to address undesirable behaviours and it puts more emphasis on creating learning, insights and growth.
- Consequently, there is less need for costly, stressful and damaging HR policies and processes. As a result, your behaviour framework supports the transition from HR to People and Culture.
- Develop skills for your line managers to challenge the misaligned behaviours and to reward and embed the aligned behaviours. These skills include coaching skills, nudge theory, positive psychology, emotional intelligence, appreciative inquiry and mediation.
- Ensure that issues are resolved as close to source and as quickly as possible.
- Positive behaviours become a defining feature of your organization.
Need help developing a Values and Behaviours Framework?
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