Management by values

Management by values fundamental to achieve success and solve problems at a deeper level in any organisation

Standards and values play an important role in our society, and they are now more important than ever. How can I best achieve my objectives? How should we treat each other? What is possible and what is allowed? What is unethical? In addition, our society is increasingly emphasising what makes each person unique, triggering marked interpersonal differences. How can you then combine the possibilities in such a way as to do justice both to the individual and to the environment in which he operates? The Barrett approach gives you a tool that helps you to do just that. It makes apparently intangible motives measurable and visible, and at the same time shows what binds and gives meaning to the individual, the team and the organisation.

For 20 years our organisation has been investigating and working with the factors that motivate and mobilise people and organisations. Very important factors such as personal growth, professional development, appreciation, giving meaning and making individual contributions. These are precisely the factors that play a major role in this approach. Barrett has brought this all together within a larger theoretical and social framework and has developed a practical method for its rapid, efficient and concrete deployment in business. The essence of Whole System Change is:

Success factor 1: Focus on team approach

A crucial point is that starting teambuilding and personal development processes simultaneously leads to greater personal effectiveness and skill. That massively increases the opportunity to unlock and exploit the potential for success. People therefore conduct this programme out of curiosity with regard to self-knowledge and effective interpersonal skills. Both are necessary to ensure that all joint exercises are successful. In order to have a maximum impact on team-building and organisational development programmes, this must be combined with or preceded by a personal effectiveness programme.

Success factor 2: Focus on personal effectiveness

Many organisations focus on personal development without also working on structural changes in teams or the organisation. This leads only to dissatisfaction and disappointment among managers and employees. When employees return from programmes that develop their personal skills, they bring a greater personal awareness of how to treat their colleagues. They become disappointed that whereas they have changed the organisation has not. The new behaviour is not practised by their managers, and nor is it rewarded or appreciated.

Success factor 3: Focus on tailor-made programmes (both personal effectiveness and organisation/team development)

Organisational advisers and change experts too often use programmes that are insufficiently tailored to the organisation and its objectives. Personal effectiveness or organisational development programmes must match the specific needs of the organisation, division or business unit for which they are intended. If you carry out a value culture assessment of the organisation, you will immediately know which subjects you need to tackle and which subjects your personal effectiveness and team development programmes must focus on in order to achieve the desired successes and changes.

Every organisation consists of management and employees. Everyone looks and works on the basis of certain values, consciously or otherwise. It is the people (all of them) that create the success of the business. Therefore, to ensure that a business runs efficiently, attention must always be devoted to the people in the business. Practical experience shows – as does Barrett’s work – that when employees are valued and also value themselves, when they can make choices and take responsibility, their motivation increases strongly. It is essential to build a transparent system of feedback and evaluation in which everyone participates. Motivated employees deliver demonstrably better results – including in financial terms – and enjoy their work even more. Sickness absence also falls considerably: conscious employees who enjoy their work take much less time off. Inspiration and motivation on the part of employees can help a company to get through difficult times and rise to the top. In short, if leaders of organisations deliberately make values part of their policy, changes occur in the teams’ approach and in people’s commitment, enabling major advances in terms of business results and culture. American research has shown that the most successful companies have two major characteristics: management by values and creativity in their business culture. It has also been shown that the value of the business rises enormously, to as much as seven times the shareholder value of a control group of businesses that do not practise management by values or visionary leadership.

Dirk Spangenberg, Certified Management Consultant (CMC), Master in Management Consultancy (MMC)

Barrett trainer and owner of Spangenberg Consultants