Many of the postings on this (and other forums) ask for advice, and I think that as a network we should eek the opinions and views of others; however having looked at many postings recently and noticed that not one has said:

“We have an issue with xx our values say yy – what are your opinions?”

Knowing what other organisations do in particular circumstances is useful, however if their written or espoused values are different to ours do we still listen to the advice because it makes sense to us?

We need to take into account any difference in business model or organisational values. I know that many active participants here are employed by organisations that are working within the EFQM framework, so any policy change will impact their organisational score.

Do you ‘sanity’ check any policies against your written values? For example, one individual I know works for a well know telecoms company. They use the EFQM as they apply for the quality awards – yet some of their policies do not support their values or goals under the EFQM framework. Specifically they say that they encourage staff to volunteer to help the community and will give a couple of hours a month to assist this. On July 7th last year an employee was refused permission to leave the building to assist the Red Cross support the London Ambulance service (he is an emergency ambulance technician) – this was an official request for emergency support not a ‘wanabe’ hero. The decision (while from a business point of view correct) conflicts with the stated values of the organisation.

How much of this goes on in our organisation – we say one thing is our values but policy says something else?

How do you take mission & values into account when putting policies and procedures together?

Mike

Mike Morrison