Can values add value?

IES Perspectives on HR 2016

Hirsh W | HR Network Paper 123 | Institute for Employment Studies | Apr 2016

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'Values' are all around us, especially these days in relation to employing organisations and behaviour at work. Corporate websites often proclaim 'Our values' although many of them look pretty similar. Values sometimes also appear in recruitment information and other people management processes. Being seen to 'Live the values' is a modern requirement for getting what you want, such as your performance bonus, or promotion.

While questioning, 'is it really practical for organisations to tell employees what to believe', Wendy Hirsh provides wonderfully sensible advice for HR. Values should be 'messed with as little as possible and supported as much as possible' as ‘a way of creating more meaningful alignment'.

Well-designed HR practices, she demonstrates, can really 'make values count'.

This paper was originally published in Thoughts for the day: IES Perspectives on HR 2016