If values define your vision and your vision shapes the behaviour that builds
the community that drives your organisation, you would have to agree that your
values are key, wouldn’t you? Certainly the clearer, the more comprehensive and
the more consistent your values are the stronger your community will be – and the
more successful and the more sustainable your organisation will be as a result.
Remember: “No community = no business.”
So how well are you doing at communicating and
cementing yours?
One thing is for sure, you cannot do it properly if you are not consistent.
And the problem is that very often businesses are sending out conflicting
messages. Let me give you an example.
Earlier today I received an email with the headline, “We are helping businesses to thrive and survive in 2013. Can we
help
you?” It then began by saying that “it
has been a tough couple of years” but “we
want to help.” So far so good, but it then goes on to state that prices
will be going up from the end of the month and that I need to act quickly to
take advantage of their services before they do.
“Aha! The standard time-limited-offer sales tactic”, I hear you say. However,
what’s so off-putting is the fact that the sender does not recognise that the
message is incompatible with the content. The apparent sympathy of the opening admission
that times are tough is completely blown to bits by a price increase of 30.87%!
You have to be asking yourself if they
really want to help and who? I mean 30.87% – pull the other one!
And this is just one instance. You can find countless examples like this
every day without even trying. The thing is, if you create a message like this
that jars with potential customers – the very people for whom you are trying to
build a community in the first place – what else are you doing that sabotages
all your other efforts? And the likelihood is that you are. Poor employee
engagement is one sure sign that you haven’t got it right with your people. And
the consequences of such inconsistency can be disastrous.
You don’t have to look further than the recent investigation into the
Stafford NHS Primary Care Trust for evidence of that. I am sure there isn’t a single
doctor or nurse there who did not want to help sick patients. So how did it end
up as “the scandal that shamed the NHS”?
Somehow, somewhere inconsistency has crept in and values were subverted and
inappropriate behaviour followed.
So how consistent are you? What damage is such inconsistency wreaking in your
organisation?