MAYAN TZOLKIN- TRUECOUNT KALENDER » dividuals to consider when (in their c

Corporate Values Provide Strong Foundations for Organisational Effectiveness Business Articles | March 26 Air Max 270 Hot Punch , 2008
The values an organisation holds and shares with its people can be instilled and reinforced through its management education and development efforts. Does this have an impact on organisational alignment and in particular, managerial decision making? What's the CEOs role?


Copyright (c) 2008 Bob Selden - Author, \"What To Do When You Become The Boss\"


I once worked for an organisation that seemed to embody the epitome of the ideal. In fact, everything the management gurus suggest should be evident in the "excellent" organisation Air Max 270 Light Bone , was there. Employees who were dedicated, management who cared about the staff (and who knew the business!) and customers who were loyal. The organisation even had a marketing department that involved the staff in the latest advertising and promotional schemes before going public! The corporate colours were blue and gold, and it was said that staff would die for the company if necessary and their blood would flow in the corporate colours!


Although I thoroughly enjoyed working there (and like all the others, would have shed blood Air Max 270 White , too), I thought the halcyon environment was merely a fluke and it was my good fortune to strike it lucky. With hindsight, I can now see the logic of why this organisation worked so well: it was the solid foundations on which this idyllic structure was built.


Those foundations were the corporate values. However, they were not mentioned overtly. Nor were they written up on any brass plaques. But evident they were. How did this organisation succeed in having "everyone singing from the same book"? The answer lies in the nature and extent of the training that all staff experienced which was established and supported by the CEO. For example Air Max 270 Black , everyone joining the company attended two weeks of induction training before commencing in his or her role. This even applied to senior managers, who might be responsible for managing some of their fellow trainees.


It has taken me some years and the study of hundreds of organisations to realise that cementing organisation values into the training fabric of an organisation can have a dramatic impact on collective performance.


Some management writers have coined a phrase that has become more faddish than realistic - "walking the talk". It is intended to mean that management (and particularly top management) must model the behaviour they expect of others. But how often does it happen and more importantly, does it work?


As Rob Lebow (1997) points out: "The only thing that really changes behaviour is when the proclaimed values are practiced at every level including at the top". The inference can be drawn that not only must managers "do what they say", but there also must be a collective understanding of "what precisely it is that we should all do".


Management education and development can be the vehicle that drives the collective understanding and turns the corporate values into practical Air Max 270 Sale , day-to-day behaviour.


My experience suggests that few organisations take the time and effort to base their management training on such solid foundations as corporate values.


Has your organisation tried MBO? Quality Circles? TQM? ISO9000+? Benchmarking? Process Engineering (or re-engineering)? Core competencies? Six Sigma? While all these strategies are based on sound theory (and often other organisation's experience), they do not reflect the very nature of why your organisation has been successful - corporate behaviour that is based on shared values. As a senior manager of a very successful Korean organisation put it "Corporate values work in mysterious ways - they can spur performance and satisfaction while instilling a sense of pride in belonging to a unique organisation".


All organisations have values, whether they be publicly evident or not. Before deciding to base the organisation's training on the values, it is important to have some understanding of what these values are. Lebow suggests there are two types of values; business values and people values.


Business values are directed at the outside world Air Max 270 , for example, "high product quality" and "superior customer service". People values are directed to the inside world, for example, "trusting people" and "giving credit where it is due". My experience suggests that when the business values and the people values are in harmony Cheap Nike Air Max 270 , the organisation is healthy. When the two are not in sync, training and education (whilst being well meaning) will not be effective over the longer term.


It is the leaders of the organisation, especially the CEO who must convert the corporate values into day-to-day behaviour at all levels. Additionally, Evans and Afors (1996) found that leaders who are committed and stick to their principles are those who have a personal alignment between their own welfare Nike Air Max 270 Dusty Cactus , the common good, and the organisation's values.


To help leaders develop the necessary leadership skills, training should be planned in four phases.


1. Identify each leader's personal values.


This requires individuals to consider when (in their career to date) they have been most satisfied, motivated Nike Air Max 270 Hot Punch , and valued at work. What values did this role satisfy? This enables the leader to enunciate, perhaps for the first time, the values he or she inherently hold and often use as their basis for decision making.


2. Using their personal values as a base, leaders then develop a scenario of their ideal organisation.


Phase two req