Is it time you "spring cleaned" your organisational values and culture?

I love spring. The weather is warming, the mornings and evenings are lighter and it’s a time for new things, growth and easter eggs. As you may well know from some of my blogs, I have a very sweet tooth and I love the sun, so it’s a happy time for me.

It’s also a time, if you are so inclined, for spring cleaning. Whether this means cleaning out clothes to buy your new summer wardrobe, removing out of date food from the kitchen cupboards, cleaning all the hard to reach places or having a good clear out, it’s a great time for review. Review of what has been left to go unchecked and gather dust or possibly fester a little, what is missing, what needs improving , renewing or updating or what needs to hit the bin.

In the same way we may tackle our homes, our organisations and their culture and values need review. Have you left your values to gather dust or are you living by them? Is your culture what you want it to be or are things missing and do your people practices still fit and get results? Is there a need for change or updating or are there elements within your organisational behaviours or cultures that can be binned for good?

It can be of benefit to review from the top. Have you got in place a mission statement, vision statement and set of company values that drive your organisational objectives, goals and behaviours?

Your vision statement should be about dreaming where you want to get to and your mission states what you are about and why you are different. Your USP above others. If you don’t have these in place then I advise writing them. If you do have them in place consider do they still fit. Have you achieved your previous dreams and need to retarget? Does your mission reflect who you are now or who you were ten years ago? If it’s out of date you need to recreate and tell all your people how you position yourself now as an organisation.

Rebranding your Vision and Mission can be a positive and motivational experience, reminding you of your strengths and talents, what you do well and who you are. It can lead into new objectives and ideas and like a spring clean refresh thinking, behaviours and actions.

I have been working with a company recently where rebranding the vision and mission has led to a new set of values, changes to communication and culture, the creation of KPIs and a new appraisal system all flowing together. A real spring clean with some fantastic results.

Talking of values, do you have them and if so, do you and your people live by them internally and with external bodies?If you have values, spring clean them. Do they fit with your organisation today? Who you are, what you represent, what is important to you and the behaviours you expect? Values can be short or long, simple or complex, catchy, clever or just honest and true. The important thing is they represent you and the culture and behaviours you desire.

If you had to dust off your values, it’s important to consider whether you are living by them. Do your people behave in line with these values? Do you treat customers or clients using the values? Is your culture still built on these values and more importantly perhaps do your employees feel that as an organisation you are living by these values? The only way to truly know is to ask. By questionnaire or facilitated coaching sessions, ask the question and then accept the results. If change is needed embrace the change. It may be that things have slipped or practices have evolved but without being in line with the values. Think spring cleaning, update, change, refresh and bin the old ideas or bad habits that do not live by your values.

When considering employees it’s also worth reviewing engagement. I wrote a recent blog on the rules of engagement with some guidance on how to engage your people. If you want to know if you are engaging them, ask the questions by carrying out an employee engagement survey. A great way to review and determine changes needed or if the answers are good, be proud of what you are doing well and develop what you can add.

In terms of your culture, think about how you feel this is currently. Is there a positive atmosphere of respect and mutual striving for success or are there pockets of resistance, politics or like the out of date food in the cupboard festering issues? If there are issues, do you need to bring these into the open? Empty the cupboard take a fresh look at what you need, bin the bad and only put back the good. Hopefully this won’t leave you hungry with an empty cupboard, but if you have big issues bring them out, let them go and then work on rebuilding a new culture from the ground up. Use your values as small shoots to plant, and like spring, grow from there.

Hopefully your review and actions will leave your organisation refreshed and revitalised and ready for new ideas and success.