Are New Zealand organisations missing an opportunity to drive, reinforce and bring to life their values by not using their internal communications function?

Ideas Shop’s latest internal communications research suggests many may be. Of 50 practitioners surveyed, only 10% said they were completely aligning key messages with organisational values and 20% were not at all.. 

Furthermore, we’re lagging far behind our international counterparts, according Towers Watson, an international research company specialising in internal communications. Fifty eight percent of organisations globally are educating employees about organisational culture and values.

There is a wealth of research showing that organisational values are an important part of feeling connected to an organisation, a key driver of employee engagement (Gallup Q12 ). And that can’t be ignored when employee engagement is a significant driver of business success: organisations with an engaged workforce will return nearly four times the value per share (Gallup).

Overseas, internal communications practitioners are aligning values with their employee value proposition (EVP) – in other words, they’re matching their organisational values with their brand values to clearly define the ‘offer’ to staff who choose to work for that company.

The Body Shop has one of the strongest observable EVPs with their promise that the environment comes first. An early protestor against whaling and a strong commitment to no animal testing are two of just several examples of the value they place on the environment. In the same way that it attracts customers, it also attracts  sympathetic employees who feel proud to play a small role in protecting the environment. 

Their values have been challenged many times by claims of green washing, most recently in 2006 when it was bought out by L’Oreal. But it seems – from my online research at least – that while there is a small group who remain unconvinced, it’s largely regarded as living its values.

So long as the Body Shop behaves in a way that’s consistent with its values, it will build a highly engaged, productive workforce. 

The test of course is just that – whether an organisation can live up to its values over the long term. It’s not easily achieved – as values themselves can conflict. For example, how does the Body Shop marry up its commitment to the environment when it creates such an enormous volume of waste? 

That brings me back full circle; the role of internal communications is to educate employees about an organisation’s values, including how it’s managing the internal conflicts. 

The pressure is on Kiwi organisations to address the values/internal communications gap quickly: Generation Zers (born at the turn of the Millennium) are already demonstrating that they are influenced by ethics and values when making purchase decisions. No doubt they’ll have the same attitude when deciding between employers – and that will start in as little as five years. 

We’ll shortly release our detailed research report on internal communications. Keep an eye out on our website for more!