As your organization completes and executes the strategic planning and management process, your organization’s core values will undoubtedly come up in conversation.
Your organization’s core values are foundational in both your everyday business and strategic direction. It’s part of what gives your organization its identity.
Just because your planning team is developing a new strategic plan doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to rewrite or rework your organization’s values. We recently experienced this notion during a planning session with a hotel client in Milwaukee, WI. Here are few takeaways:
- Just because your leadership team has new members doesn’t always mean you need to rework your values statements: If you’ve got a solid values foundation (like our clients had), stand with them! Organizations often face leadership team shake-up, but that doesn’t mean you need to rework your core values. Instead, take this opportunity to engrain your unique values and corporate culture within your new leadership’s team members.
- Your values should inform your planning process: Your organization’s core values articulate the way you want your organization to behave. These should inform the way you operate both strategically and in your day-to-day.
- It’s ok to question business practices: It’s ok to question whether your business practices or results align to your values during the planning process. If the answer is no, consider using the strategic management process to change the way you operate to more directly reflect your values.