Bower HR


Define your values – then embed, communicate and reward


Company values are at the heart of every organisation, or should be, but how do you begin to put in place the principles and beliefs that should inform the standards, decision making and actions of everyone in the business? Bower HR in Luton is keen to help clients focus on Employee Value


Propositions (EVPs), working with them to look at their values, what the company stands for, how they can be implemented and how they impact on the workforce. According to Bower HR Director Serena Bower, it’s important for


business owners or managers to not only understand their company values, but to involve employees in identifying those values and then to communicate them across the team, and reward those who show how much they embrace them. “Research by Gallup suggests that one in four employees don’t


believe, understand or even know their company values,” said Serena. “T ere’s no point in simply announcing what you feel your company values to be and then leaving people to work it out for themselves, that just fosters negativity. “People need to feel involved, and by bringing them in to the process


of defi ning those values, engaging them and listening to them, you’ll come up with something everyone believes in, believes is important and understands.


Serena Bower HR Director Bower HR


“One approach we suggest is bringing everyone


together to bounce around ideas and their views, to the point where people are just giving me words and statements they associate with the company and illustrate what they are trying to achieve. By collating all those ideas, dividing them up into categories, we’ll come up with fi ve or six core values and a defi nition for each, so that everyone has been involved, and trusts and respects the process.” T e core values can focus on any number of principles - delivering good customer service, showing respect and integrity, or working collaboratively. T e key factor is that they should be outlined in a way that remains fundamentally the same, even as the size and shape of the company changes. “Take ongoing innovation, for instance,” said


Serena. “As a core value the company agrees that it wants to foster innovation to help the company develop. T at can take many forms, some projects will succeed, some will not, there might be a complete change of direction. But at the heart of it, employees will have the trust and confi dence to innovate, knowing that they will not be judged harshly if an idea doesn’t work out, but rather they will be supported and encouraged to learn from the process, and to try again.” Once agreed, the values need to be embedded and given purpose, going on to shape the experiences of everyone, from the owners, through to the employees and on to customers and clients. T e culture of the company is critical in not only


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ALL THINGS BUSINESS


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