A sincere and meaningful set of values distinguishes a company by clarifying its identity and uniting its people in a shared goal. Truly authentic values infuse an organisation with sound, fundamental beliefs, aligning what all customer service team members say and do to consistently portray the uniqueness of your brand. Organisations that have a clear approach to engaging everyone in these values and ensuring they have the how to skills to demonstrate them also benefit hugely from the buy-in and unity that this creates.

When we talk to people at all levels in organisations about their company values, we find that almost all agree that they are a good description of how the organisation should be perceived both internally and externally. The challenge for leaders is that many frontline team members and managers alike say they are unsure how to apply them to everyday working practice.

Here are 3 steps you can use to bring the values to life through focused activities.

Step 1 – Take stock

A good starting point is to take stock and objectively evaluate whether the behaviours that you see every day in your organisation do reflect the values. You can consider how customers and stakeholders perceive your organisation when they look in and experience it; what emotions do they feel as they walk away, reflecting on what they heard and saw? Is their overall experience consistent with the company values you want to promote?

When values are successfully ingrained in a company’s culture, they should serve as a guiding light for how people behave, ensuring that every customer receives consistent service that reflects those values in a sincere and genuine way. Ultimately, the words you choose for your values are exactly how your people should wish their service and behaviour to be described. Listening and observing behaviours objectively against the values provides a good starting point for seeing whether you are satisfied that your team are living the values in their interactions with each other and customers.

Step 2 – Articulate the positives, and any gaps

When you have an objective view of how the values are being demonstrated, you can articulate the positives, what is working well and where you are seeing great demonstration that the leadership team agrees on how your values should be lived. Conversely, it is also important to articulate where you are not seeing or hearing the behaviours; what would you like to move from and to? By having this objective view, you can use it to take stock again in the future to evaluate the effectiveness of any training or other activities you do to embed the values into your culture.

Step 3 – Provide specific how-to tools and resources

When you have identified the gaps, providing some specific training and support to help people to demonstrate the values in a way that is authentic to them will create a momentum and fast track the organisation’s cultural development. Working with organisations across many sectors and cultures has made it very clear to us at MGI that there is, in fact, a mindset and approach to communication that can be used to demonstrate the values of any successfully functioning organisation. There are two important factors here – the fundamental mindset that each person has and the ability to positively communicate that mindset to others through language and actions.

Empowering everyone with a mindset of ownership and responsibility, optimism, respect for others and a belief in the value that each individual contributes to achieving organisational goals has been proven to be the foundation for living organisational values. This is complemented by having the ability to communicate positively with a solution-focus, whatever the situation, in order to consistently demonstrate the values. When we have reviewed our customers’ organisational values, we have been able to show the alignment of these two important factors to each set of values.

MGI’s Mindset, Language & Actions Toolkit can be aligned to any positive, responsible and professional set of values and can be used as the fast track to help everyone understand how to live organisational values through what they say and do. By giving people tools that equip them to demonstrate your values in their own authentic way, you will close the gap between understanding and buying into the values and actually feeling confident that they demonstrate them in all they say and do.

How can we help?

Find out how our Mindset Language and Actions Toolkit can be tailored to provide your people with a clear pathway to the guiding principles of your company’s values and purpose – book a chat with us today. 

Read our latest articles

Explore our latest blogs, written on topics to help you and your people thrive at work.

Pathway to thriving and success: building your team’s resilience   

As today’s workforce navigates a dynamic environment, the need for skills that enhance wellbeing, resilience and optimism is an important priority. By focusing on their people’s needs, leaders can provide tools to empower their teams with confidence and resilience. This foundation strengthens collaborative efforts, fostering productive and positive workplaces that drive both individual and organisational […]

Discover

Mastering three vital customer service skills in frontline financial services 

Working within the financial sector around the world has demonstrated to us at MGI the importance of three key customer service skills for all in the frontline to master. To create positive customer experiences, build trust, and retain customers requires an excellent balance of both people and technical skills and knowledge. Whether it’s handling a […]

Discover

The fundamental people skills needed by managers and leaders  

Effective leadership and management are built on a solid foundation of people skills. Wherever an individual sits in an organisation, the ability to communicate respectfully, take ownership, focus on solutions and contribute positively to the organisation is paramount. These essential skills define how managers lead, inspire and collaborate with others and fostering them will lay […]

Discover

Building optimism as part of your customer service ethos  

Optimism is a fundamental characteristic that shapes how service givers interact with customers, solve problems and contribute to the overall success of an organisation. Optimism fuels a positive outlook, encourages creativity in problem-solving and builds trust with customers. It empowers service givers to approach challenges as opportunities, ensuring that customers always feel heard, valued and […]

Discover

5 ways to improve customer care in your organisation 

Knowing that service-givers in an organisation care about their customers and work diligently to do their best for them is an important factor in delivering service excellence. Therefore, a clear focus on customer care should be at the heart of any organisation. Delivering exceptional service strengthens relationships while boosting customer loyalty and satisfaction. To truly […]

Discover

Empathy in Customer Service: Strategies for handling challenging situations 

Empathy is essential in customer service, as it helps build trust and ensures customers feel heard and valued. In our discussions with customers, there is a strong desire and need to help service givers professionally express empathy. Showing empathy is a vital service skill and can turn a negative experience into a positive one. Below […]

Discover

Pathway to thriving and success: building your team’s resilience   

As today’s workforce navigates a dynamic environment, the need for skills that enhance wellbeing, resilience and optimism is an important priority. By focusing on their people’s needs, leaders can provide tools to empower their teams with confidence and resilience. This foundation strengthens collaborative efforts, fostering productive and positive workplaces that drive both individual and organisational […]

Discover

Mastering three vital customer service skills in frontline financial services 

Working within the financial sector around the world has demonstrated to us at MGI the importance of three key customer service skills for all in the frontline to master. To create positive customer experiences, build trust, and retain customers requires an excellent balance of both people and technical skills and knowledge. Whether it’s handling a […]

Discover

The fundamental people skills needed by managers and leaders  

Effective leadership and management are built on a solid foundation of people skills. Wherever an individual sits in an organisation, the ability to communicate respectfully, take ownership, focus on solutions and contribute positively to the organisation is paramount. These essential skills define how managers lead, inspire and collaborate with others and fostering them will lay […]

Discover

Building optimism as part of your customer service ethos  

Optimism is a fundamental characteristic that shapes how service givers interact with customers, solve problems and contribute to the overall success of an organisation. Optimism fuels a positive outlook, encourages creativity in problem-solving and builds trust with customers. It empowers service givers to approach challenges as opportunities, ensuring that customers always feel heard, valued and […]

Discover

5 ways to improve customer care in your organisation 

Knowing that service-givers in an organisation care about their customers and work diligently to do their best for them is an important factor in delivering service excellence. Therefore, a clear focus on customer care should be at the heart of any organisation. Delivering exceptional service strengthens relationships while boosting customer loyalty and satisfaction. To truly […]

Discover

Empathy in Customer Service: Strategies for handling challenging situations 

Empathy is essential in customer service, as it helps build trust and ensures customers feel heard and valued. In our discussions with customers, there is a strong desire and need to help service givers professionally express empathy. Showing empathy is a vital service skill and can turn a negative experience into a positive one. Below […]

Discover

Connect with us

Ready to discover what we can do for you?

Get in touch