As we continue to resume work in a very different way than pre-pandemic times, companies across all industries are experiencing what has been coined as the great resignation. During these times of change, your company’s culture can feel chaotic, confusing, and difficult to define. Chaos alone can make employees feel uncertain of the immediate future. Now is an excellent time to pause and reflect on your company’s mission and values.
Your mission and values offer a framework of how your organization is built and give real insights into the current culture. Using the values as a “north star” can be a great way to help curate a culture where employees feel they can contribute, develop, and navigate the sea of constant change.
Now employees want to feel they are making an impact and want to develop more than ever. What are some of the things your company can do to help build a culture aligned to core values and provide a solid foundation for employees to come back to mindsets that align with their work?
Help Employees Connect to Your Core Values
ICW Group has four core values, which include Focus, Integrity, Honor and Passion. To begin giving more context to our core values, we developed some guiding principles around mindsets that align directly with our values. As an organizational effectiveness consultant, these mindsets have given our leaders a platform to have meaningful conversations with their team members. As a result, employees have begun to not just read our core values on a wall but experience them in action.
As an example, three of our mindsets align under passion; they are empowering yourself and others, embracing change, and pursuing learning. A team member evaluating a career path in our organization or experiencing what it may be like to work cross-functionally with other departments should have a mindset of taking personal responsibility for their actions and inspiring others to take ownership of their actions.
According to Vince Maldonado, our Branch Manager, Claims, “I encourage team members on a daily basis to reflect on the mindsets. In fact, I posted the mindsets in my office. Additionally, during performance discussions, I asked team members to choose a mindset that will guide them during the next performance period. In essence, utilizing a mindset as a goal for each team member to achieve. Providing the best insurance experience possible begins with providing the best work environment possible. The ICW Group mindsets foster a work environment that is second to none.”
Coming back to your core values and developing key mindsets around those values can be a critical component in retention for your company. As an organizational effectiveness consultant, I work with leaders daily on how values can help create effective relationships and retain talent. What are you doing to retain talent in your organization?
