Like many companies, the bank where Sandy Smith used to work had a mission statement full of high-minded values like trust and openness with employees. Everybody pretty much believed it — until the company sold out to a bigger bank without bothering to tell employees.

Workers had to learn the news from a co-worker who heard it on her car radio at lunch, says Ms. Smith, a quality-control and training manager. In the 18 months until the sale was completed, morale and output plunged. Employees grew so cynical that they ignored directives from headquarters and ran for the exits even faster than usual in a merger.

"Nobody ever trusted the company’s communications again," Ms. Smith says.

Many companies claim to prize trust, life balance, employee development and other lofty goals, and put them in policies, values statements and wallet cards. Employee-friendly values are all the rage these days.

There’s much to be gained. In research on 200 companies, John Kotter and James Heskett, writing in their 1992 book "Corporate Culture and Performance," found that companies that consistently valued and cared for employees, customers and stockholders had four times faster revenue growth and seven times faster job growth than others over an 11-year period. Values, or deeply held principles and beliefs, can be powerful motivators that, when shared, form a foundation for corporate culture.

But when a company’s stated values clash with its actions, employees grow cynical and angry and often quit or check out mentally.

"Once you jump off the cliff on values, you do more damage than good if you’re not really committed to them," says Stephen Parker of Blessing/White, a Skillman, N.J., consultant on workplace values. "You’ll raise aspirations even higher, and create a bigger crash in morale and productivity."

CLASHES BETWEEN values and actions can permanently taint relationships. An Atlanta attorney tells how the partner she once worked for at a securities-law firm waved a family-values banner, talking about his kids and praising another partner for taking time off to coach a kids’ soccer team.

But when the attorney told the partner she was going home to make lunch for her 13-year-old son, who was ill, the partner hit the roof. "He told me never to discuss my children at the office," and if she had family needs, she "should lie about it, even to him." That made her question the integrity of everything her partner said and did, she says.

There’s no quicker way to alienate employees. Ricardo Santos says he worked for a company whose managers endlessly intoned the mantra, "The customer is always right."

Until it came time to fill orders. Then, salespeople were expected to tamper with the orders and deliver cheaper products than the customer requested, he claims. Mr. Santos quit. Later in his

career, he mortgaged his home to start MSC Distributors, a Hollywood, Fla., food-products concern.

Once burned, people look harder for an employer that puts values into action. Mr. Santos became a franchisee for Happy & Healthy Products, a Boca Raton, Fla., maker of frozen fruit bars. The company’s chief executive, Linda Kerr Kamm, impressed him as honest and open, and he says the firm practices its values of creating a family feeling. After 1 ½ years, Mr. Santos still is happy.

Ms. Smith has moved on to Delaware Valley Financial Services, a Berwyn, Pa., office-services provider, where she says CEO Lois Haber makes an effort to put the firm’s values of honesty and openness into action. Ms. Haber says, "Once you go out there in writing with this stuff, you’d better walk the talk."

THAT ISN'T EASY, even for companies making a planned effort. Merck, a drugmaker known for its employee-friendly policies, acquired Medco Containment Services, a drug-benefits manager, in 1993. Medco employees expected to get the flexible scheduling and leave policies that Merck had built its reputation on.

But progress wasn’t fast enough for the Medco staff. When negotiating labor contracts last year, employees agitated for more help with child-care, improved shift scheduling and expanded family leave. Their high expectations led them to take a harder line than they might have if they hadn’t heard so much about Merck’s stated values.

A Merck-Medco spokesman says that while Merck and its unit compete in very different markets, they "have been sharing approaches, where appropriate, that can improve the workplace." Merck-Medco managers meet routinely with union leaders on workplace issues. "Employee and labor relations are among the top priorities" of Merck-Medco executives, he says. A union negotiator also credits the company with "a sincere interest" in improving the workplace.

Nailing down corporate values takes time. Apache Corp., Houston, an oil and gas concern, last year drew about 15% of its 1,300 employees into talks about values. They settled on several core principles, including integrity and investing in people.

An acid test came quickly, when oil prices fell. The company stuck to its values by continuing training programs and avoiding layoffs, says John Duncan, head of human resources. In time, the values have begun serving as a template for decision-making, and employees are starting to speak up when managers wander off course. The company corrects any managerial missteps.

Sticking to values day-by-day, Mr. Duncan says, is essential "to make them live in your culture."

Copyright © 1996 - 2009
Happy & Healthy Products, Inc.

Be Happy & Healthy® with
Happy & Healthy Products, Inc.