Extensive research demonstrates that culture capital is the new intellectual property and driver of financial performance.
There are five critical issues preoccupying the boardrooms of both large and small companies in all parts of the world:
· How do we increase profits and shareholder value?
·How do we attract and keep talented people?
·How do we build brand loyalty?
·How do we ensure that ethics permeate the corporate culture?
·How do we build a resilient, sustainable company?
The keys to success are to be found in building a high-performance, values-driven culture. In the private sector, the culture of the organisation is the principal source of its competitive advantage and brand differentiation. In the public sector, the culture of the institution is the principal source of its effectiveness in delivering high quality services.
Our experience at the Barrett Values Centre in mapping the values of more than 1000 private and public sector institutions over the past ten years allows us to state categorically that values-driven organisations are the most successful organisations on the planet.
However, the most successful organisations are those that are both values-driven and vision-guided.
When the values of an organisation are in alignment with the values of employees, then high levels of engagement and commitment are unleashed. This leads to more innovation, creativity, and accountability, as well as greater levels of trust, adaptability, and productivity. However, when in addition to values alignment, there is also a sense of mission alignment – when employees find a sense of meaning by working to achieve the vision of the organisation - then the passions and energies of the employees are unleashed and they come to work, not to gain a sense of achievement, but to gain a sense of fulfilment.
Our research shows that there is a logical linkage between values, vision and performance in the corporate sector:
