Why Values, What Values?
"Our people are our most important asset." You’ve heard these words many  times, if you work in an organization. Yet how many organizations act  as if they really believe these words? Not many. These words are the  clear expression of a value, and values are visible through the actions  people take, not their talk. 
  Values form the foundation for everything that happens in your  workplace. If you are the founder of an organization, your values  permeate the workplace. You naturally hire people who share your values.  Whatever you value, will largely govern the actions of your workforce.
 
Sample Workplace Value-based Actions
 If you value integrity and you experience a quality problem in your  manufacturing process, you honestly inform your customer of the exact  nature of the problem. You discuss your actions to eliminate the  problem, and the anticipated delivery time the customer can expect. If  integrity is not a fundamental value, you may make excuses and mislead  the customer. 
  If you value and care about the people in your organization, you will  pay for health insurance, dental insurance, retirement accounts and  provide regular raises and bonuses for dedicated staff. If you value  equality and a sense of family, you will wipe out the physical trappings  of power, status, and inequality such as executive parking places and  offices that grow larger by a foot with every promotion.
  
Whatever You Value Is What You Live in Your Organization
 
You know, as an individual, what you personally value. However, most  of you work in organizations that have already operated for many years.  The values, and the subsequent culture created by those values, are in place, for better or worse.
 
If you are generally happy with your work environment, you  undoubtedly selected an organization with values congruent with your  own. If you're not, watch for the disconnects between what you value and  the actions of people in your organization.
  As an HR professional, you will want to influence your larger  organization to identify its core values, and make them the foundation  for its interactions with employees, customers, and suppliers.  Minimally, you will want to work within your own HR organization to  identify a strategic framework for serving your customers that is firmly  value-based.
  
Strategic Framework
 Every organization has a vision or picture of what it desires for its  future, whether foggy or crystal clear. The current mission of the  organization or the purpose for its existence is also understood in  general terms.
 The values members of the organization manifest in daily decision  making, and the norms or relationship guidelines which informally define  how people interact with each other and customers, are also visible.  But are these usually vague and unspoken understandings enough to fuel  your long term success? I don’t think so. 
  Every organization has a choice. You can allow these fundamental  underpinnings of your organization to develop on their own with each  individual acting in a self-defined vacuum. Or, you can invest the time  to proactively define them to best serve members of the organization and  its customers.
  Many successful organizations agree upon and articulate their vision,  mission or purpose, values, and strategies so all organization members  can enroll in and own their achievement. 
  Next, read about the  
strategic planning framework to create your  vision, mission, and values.
The Strategic Planning Framework for Vision, Mission, Values
Want the background about why values are important in an organization? See the impact that 
identifying organizational values can have. 
Values are traits or qualities that are considered worthwhile;  they represent an individual’s highest priorities and deeply held  driving forces.
 Value statements are grounded in values and define how people  want to behave with each other in the organization. They are statements  about how the organization will value customers, suppliers, and the  internal community. Value statements describe actions that are the  living enactment of the fundamental values held by most individuals  within the organization.
  Vision is a statement about what the organization wants to  become. The vision should resonate with all members of the organization  and help them feel proud, excited, and part of something much bigger  than themselves. A vision should stretch the organization’s capabilities  and image of itself. It gives shape and direction to the organization’s  future.
  Mission/Purpose is a precise description of what an organization  does. It should describe the business the organization is in. It is a  definition of "why" the organization exists currently. Each member of an  organization should be able to verbally express this mission.
  Strategies are the broadly defined four or five key approaches  the organization will use to accomplish its mission and drive toward the  vision. Goals and action plans usually flow from each strategy.
 One example of a strategy is employee empowerment  and teams. Another is to pursue a new worldwide market in Asia. Another  is to streamline your current distribution system using lean management  principles.
  I recommend that you start developing this strategic framework by  identifying your organization’s values. Create an opportunity for as  many people as possible to participate in this process. All the rest of  your strategic framework should grow from living these.
   
What are Values?
 The following are examples of values. You might use these as the starting point for discussing values within your organization.
  ambition, competency, individuality, equality, integrity, service,  responsibility, accuracy, respect, dedication, diversity, improvement,  enjoyment/fun, loyalty, credibility, honesty, innovativeness, teamwork,  excellence, accountability, empowerment, quality, efficiency, dignity,  collaboration, stewardship, empathy, accomplishment, courage, wisdom,  independence, security, challenge, influence, learning, compassion,  friendliness, discipline/order, generosity, persistency,optimism,  dependability, flexibility 
  
Why Identify and Establish Values?
 Effective organizations identify and develop a clear, concise and shared  meaning of values/beliefs, priorities, and direction so that everyone  understands and can contribute. Once defined, values impact every aspect  of your organization.
 You must support and nurture this impact or identifying values will have  been a wasted exercise. People will feel fooled and misled unless they  see the impact of the exercise within your organization.
 If you want the values you identify to have an impact, the following must occur.
  
- People demonstrate and model the values in action in their  personal work behaviors, decision making, contribution, and  interpersonal interaction.
- Organizational values help each person establish priorities in their daily work life.
 
- Values guide every decision that is made once the organization has cooperatively created the values and the value statements.
 
- Rewards and recognition within the organization are structured  to recognize those people whose work embodies the values the  organization embraced.
 
- Organizational goals are grounded in the identified values.
 
- Adoption of the values and the behaviors that result is recognized in regular performance feedback.
 
- People hire and promote individuals whose outlook and actions are congruent with the values.
 
- Only the active participation of all members of the  organization will ensure a truly organization-wide, value-based, shared  culture.
Want more indepth information about each of these? See vision, mission or purpose, values, and strategies defined.