Corporate coldness doesn’t work any longer. Just ask Elon Musk. Months after his brutal mass layoffs – with many of Twitter’s 6,000 downsizing victims finding they’d gotten the axe only when they lost access to email – the company is still struggling. Ad revenues and stock performance have plummeted. Consumers are racing to competitors, including Threads. And all because he forgot the most essential rule in business today: People matter.  Change initiatives require empathy to succeed even when making tough calls, like reducing staff. 

Prophet calls this a human-centered approach to change. Our research and experience prove that companies approaching transformation from this point of view are more agile and responsive to the needs of their people and have more flexibility when it comes to adjusting roadmaps as they move through their journey. They have more robust, loyal workforces because they align new governance policies around people, not technology. Even before profits and efficiencies, these companies center their strategies on the people in the business.  

The impact is clear. In May 2023, Prophet commissioned Forrester to explore how firms use human-centricity to design their transformation initiatives and assess their performance. This joint research confirmed that firms that adopt a human-centric focus were: 

• 10x more likely to see revenue growth of 20% or higher
• better able to engage employees and create impactful stakeholder experiences
• able to improve overall levels of innovation, time to market, creative differentiation, and capture new markets with enhanced product offerings

We’re not saying this approach is straightforward. If the last few years have proved anything, change isn’t linear. Leaders face new demands and are often driving multiple changes simultaneously. CEO tenure keeps falling. And even though murky economic forecasts are causing layoffs in many sectors, investors still demand growth. It often feels that the expectation that businesses change and then keep changing is more significant than ever. 

Yet our research and experience working with change leaders have shown us that it pays to adopt a human-centered approach – ensuring strategies are holistic and integrated improves the success of any single initiative. 

Prophet’s Four Directions of Change Model Cultivates a Human-Centric Mindset 

Change isn’t one-dimensional. Neither are people. So human centricity can’t be, either. By definition, it’s holistic. It requires a constant shift in perspective, understanding no organization or industry operates in a vacuum. All businesses, from small B2B companies to sprawling consumer giants, work in constantly expanding ecosystems. 

To successfully navigate this expansion, we believe leaders need to pay attention and respond to each “dimension” at which change occurs. Four directions are essential: 

1. Look outside-in.

 Real-world forces and societal changes are happening all the time. Workforce demands and expectations that emerged in the last few years continue to intensify, and organizations must respond. The top triggers? Employee well-being and mental health, cited by 71% of companies we surveyed, sustainability and climate change (65%), the ongoing challenges of remote and hybrid work (64%) and diversity, and equity and inclusion (61%). Addressing these needs takes an integrated and experimental approach – aligning people, operations and technology functions to address new ways of working. 

2. Lean on the existing culture, inside-out.

Leaders should consistently assess their organization’s aptitude or fitness for change and build a unique change journey from this starting point. We know the most effective change accelerator is a powerful, actionable ambition. But to reach those goals and set an ambition, organizations need an honest assessment of their performance across critical fundamentals. They need to know how well they enable employees to adapt to required changes and build the best mechanisms to support them. They need to push decision-making rights downward, as reducing hierarchical decisions improves asset allocation and boosts effectiveness. Leaders should leverage their organization’s strengths – reinforcing the elements that drive pride and comfort around change while painting a brighter future in areas where change will improve their people and the business. 

3. Coordinate a leader-led change.

Leaders need to communicate, direct and model the change desired. Unless executives believe in and model the change required, it will fail. Our research on how well companies collaborate for transformation finds that leaders who don’t practice what they preach are a leading cause of initiative failure. Additionally, having an aligned leadership team is key to managing prioritization and execution – ensuring there’s a coordinated effort to focus on what matters and manage capacity internally. When defining “the way we do things around here” and motivating employees to adopt these same behaviors, senior leaders must act first to exemplify what effort and success look like.  

4. Engage from the ground up.

Leaders include those impacted most in the strategy, development and activation. Companies can decrease implementation time and increase employee engagement by including members of the affected employee groups in strategic change initiatives, such as having them co-create solutions, recognizing them through stories of behaviors in action, or elevating them as change champions. When doing this, it is critical to ensure representation across race, gender, tenure, generation, and geography in addition to business units and levels. 

Managing Across These Four Directions in Action: How It Works 

The new CEO of the largest business unit of a major global industrial client asked for our help as she took on her role, recognizing that to achieve sustainable growth, significant change was needed inside the organization, both in mindset and ways of working. We started by building a picture of the current cultural dynamics for her and her leadership team and integrated this into the strategy development. 

With this integrated foundation, we were able to codify the key behavioral shifts required and the program of work across the cultural ecosystem required to enable this.  The interdependency of strategy and culture inherent in the program ensured that the change work itself was inside-out as well as outside-in, leader-led of course, but also focused on front-line engagement and performance. 

At its heart, this change journey was shaped from the ground up. Our work was defined by reviewing key employee insights and engaging the organization in identifying the key shifts we needed to make to achieve our ambition.   

From the outset, a leader-led principle was established for this work, reflecting the importance of leaders not just understanding but championing and role modeling change. Initially, key leadership groups input into the assessment and then helped co-create the program of work. The beginning of this journey was then largely focused on leadership skills and capabilities. We defined a multi-stage journey with different levels of leadership to ensure alignment, championship, connection and focus in owning the transformation. This involved both regular engagements as well as dedicated events like full-day in-person summits (held twice- yearly since).  

Naturally, the work was dominantly inside-out – building a compelling “story” for the journey the organization was on and using this to help all employees understand the criticality of the strategy and culture work driven by their purpose.  The “story” activation approach was informed by engaging the front line – getting the voice of the day-to-day operators into the work.  Helping these audiences fully appreciate how their work delivers real value in the world has been instrumental – with 84% of employees feeling personally connected to purpose in their latest employee voice findings.  

Outside-in, we built a renewed partnership with union leaders – a critical strategy in what is a heavily unionized working environment where relations had historically been strained. This collaboration with union leaders enabled us to align on a set of central issues to be resolved – ranging from inclusion and diversity to safety and future of work implications. 

The program has run for three years – and in that time all four of these change dimensions have been sustained – even as different focus areas for the work have evolved. Our work together continues to transform the way the organization operates and how it maintains relevance in such a rapidly changing market and world. Importantly, the purpose is frequently cited as one of the key reasons employees join and stay with the organization. Survey results also show that our work has helped to align and guide day-to-day actions of employees across the organization. 

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At the core of an organization sits its DNA, which includes its purpose, values and Employee Value Proposition (EVP). A strong DNA can inspire, provide clarity and accelerate growth. And for the last decade, our purpose, values and EVP have done just that for our organization.   

But the world has changed– and so has Prophet. More than 60% of our colleagues started during the global pandemic. We’ve evolved from a brand strategy firm into a growth and transformation consulting firm, with a newly defined purpose. And, the needs of our clients have rapidly changed, which is why we recently redefined our values and EVP.   

Our new cultural touchstones are more modern, inclusive and transparent and directly connect to our aspiration as a firm. And while our values are not the right ones for every organization, we are proud of how we lived them out through the process of defining them. We believe there are valuable lessons for others looking to reinvigorate their organization through this kind of work.   

Four Best Practices for Creating Strong Values, as Shaped by Prophet’s New Values

Create with Courage

When something could be better, we don’t settle– we create. Pushing boundaries. Tackling the biggest challenges that grow our clients and move society. We put our heart into our work while applying our intellect, creativity and rigor to execute.

To power your talent strategy and drive top line growth, you need to be bold about your values. Ask yourself: “what are the mindsets and behaviors we need to connect our teams and power our business?” Create with Courage, Open minds, Give and Grow, Share Joy. 

At Prophet, our mission is to help our clients unlock uncommon growth. So, we challenged ourselves to not just evolve our values but to also step back and connect each value to that growth. Specifically our new value, Create with Courage, was created to help give every Propheteer the common language and inspiration to push boundaries and tackle the biggest challenges that face our clients and society.   

That courage also takes dedication. We expanded Prophet’s visual identity to create an “uncommon visual system”. We are measuring their presence to ensure we deliver our new values. We have updated our quarterly employee engagement survey to measure the impact our new values and EVP have on our employees. We will also be updating our external client survey to see how they are impacting the work and being experienced by our clients.  

Open Minds 

We’re united, but different, which allows us and our clients to achieve more together. It’s in our nature to seek diverse voices and embrace all backgrounds and lived experiences. By showing up honestly and openly, we discover new paths for connection and creativity. 

Values can’t be written in a boardroom. If everyone at the organization truly owns them, then your people’s voices need to play an important role in shaping them. This can be more difficult as your organization becomes more digital, global and hopefully diverse. 

We took a highly inclusive approach to develop our new values. We wanted to make sure we heard not only the distinct perspectives of our organization but also the new ways we work together. We used both synchronous and asynchronous input mechanisms and leveraged co-creative digital tools to maximize reach and input opportunities across our new hybrid organization. 

Our value, Open Minds, takes the traditional adjective of being open-minded and makes it a verb, encouraging each of us to actively open the minds of others and elevate voices that need to be heard.  Working with our head of DEI, we brought that lens to our full set of values to make sure they resonated and created psychological safety for our community.  

We also worked with our global leaders to ensure our values and EVP reflected our global organization. To do so, we collaborated with our international colleagues to translate our values into Mandarin Chinese and German to ensure the translation reflected the true meaning of our values. 

Give and Grow 

There’s no shortage of generosity here. We invest in the personal and professional growth of our people and our clients, by being a coach, a sounding board or a cheering section. We all have unique needs and goals, but we’re in this together- and by offering our time, empathy and brainpower to support the collective potential of our teams, clients and communities, we all flourish together. 

Introducing and living new values and EVP is a long-term journey, which is why they need to be aspirational but clearly define the path forward.  

Our value, Give and Grow, is anchored in the truth of our business. How we drive uncommon growth is through our people. And our people require support in their growth pathways to continue living out our purpose. Prioritizing the investment we make in each other and celebrating that outcome is critical to our success. When asked what makes Prophet different, this willingness to support each other, our clients and our communities sings loud.  

But we’re not done, and we have room to grow across all of our values. Through our research, we have identified which parts of our business resonate with each value most to guide how we invest in creating new tools and guidance in strengthening our connection.  

One immediate change we made was connecting our new values directly with our kudos system. Within days, we saw everyone take ownership of the values and recognize each other for living their values. We were able to transform our kudos system on our company intranet into a self-sustaining storytelling system. 

Share Joy 

Joy is vital– to our relationships, our work and our well-being. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, enjoying the ride, while making time for what brings us joy. Protecting it. Sharing it. It feeds our spirits, and keeps us connected to what, and who, really matters to us. By building in more space for rest, community and fun, our humanity shines a little brighter. 

Values and EVP should be fun!  Joy is vital to work and what keeps people energized for whatever is to come. Of course, it’s important to prioritize clarity over cleverness, but having values that reflect your organization’s culture is paramount.   

We had quite a bit of fun making our values. Of course, the core team that built them enjoyed many puns, a mid-workstream magic show, moments of in-person collaboration and the rush of creativity in delivering exciting work.   

But we made sure to share that joy with the rest of the organization. Leading up to the launch, we offered a “tease” previewing fake values, including values that we would never have used like, “likability.” At the launch, we made light of some old habits from our previous values and encouraged “uncommon” attire that worked perfectly for one office’s Halloween party.  

We also gave out individually uncommon hip packs made from sustainable materials filled with custom decks of cards that reflected the unique shuffles we made as a team. The kick-off was a communal, celebratory and exciting moment for our team.   

Check out our new values.  

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The past few years have felt like anything but a game – unless that game is Monopoly and you’re losing to your older sibling after landing on Park Place for the eighth time. In this case, the taunting sibling has more teeth: global pandemics, social reckonings and war. 

All of these factors have shaken people’s sense of safety, identity and trust. And these challenges have required companies in every industry to accelerate transformation—something that’s difficult in an environment where people are exhausted, frustrated and, at times, scared.  

Fortunately, many companies are heeding the call to take care of their people with 90% of employers reporting an increase in investment in mental health programs (come on, the other 10%!) according to Wellable Labs’ “2022 Employee Wellness Industry Trends Report.” 

And while holistic well-being is incredibly important, work itself still lacks the humanity (the human beings in “well-being”) needed to sustain change. But that’s where play comes in. Forgive the pun, but it plays a part in the transformation.  

What is Play and How Does it Tie Into Transformation? 

Prophet’s Change Fitness Model reflects the different starting points for how companies see and address change, ranging from the transactional belief that “change is an obstacle to overcome” to the transformational state of play where transformation can be a sport to be enjoyed. 

You can think of play as “batteries not included.” Because, given the constant nature of change, those who have achieved play can spend less energy overcoming each effort and more time being fueled by it.  

So how do you get to the state of play? Exactly—you play!  

Scientists Meredith Van Vleet and Brooke Feeney define play as: A behavior or activity carried out with the goal of amusement and fun that involves an enthusiastic and in-the-moment attitude or approach, and is highly interactive among play partners or with the activity itself.  

Applying this lens to work clarifies the opportunity–making work that people enjoy, that brings out enthusiasm and deepens connections.  

The skeptic will say, “We don’t have time for play – we have work to do!” But those ahead of the curve see the intrinsic need to link the two. Better play means better work. In fact, in a 2019 study by Brigham Young University, teams that played video games together were 20% more productive than others.  

That’s because play unlocks creativity, helping people tap into new sources of inspiration and ways of thinking—which creates better solutions.  

And, especially at a time when the universe is playing chess with humanity, play creates sustainability and safety, encouraging people to enjoy what they’re doing, so they’ll want to do it more. And it deepens skill building, encouraging trial and growth in new ways. Checkmate. 

Of course, play is easier said than done and toxic environments will reject it. People can’t experiment if they believe their job or reputation is at risk. They won’t be themselves if they don’t like the people they’re working with. And they won’t prioritize play if they’re getting mixed or conflicting signals from leadership.  

Play shouldn’t be isolated to an innovation team, a single brainstorm, an occasional company outing nor the funniest person in the room. Play needs to take place across all levels and contexts – across a company’s culture, teams and individuals. Each reinforces the other with a company’s culture making it easier for teams to be able to play, and individuals bringing their whole selves to both innovation and the everyday.    

How to Create a Culture of Play Within Your Organization  

So how might you best implement a culture of play? We couldn’t not use the SMILE acronym, could we?  

Safe 

No one wants to play “the floor is lava” with actual lava. People need to feel safe in their environment. That means feeling confident that they can make mistakes and learn from them, not be punished by them.  

According to Peter Temes, founder and president of the Institute for Innovation in Large Organizations (ILO), “that hasn’t changed since we began this work 15 years ago, and probably hasn’t changed from decades prior to that—this idea of lowering the cost of failure.”  

Leaders can create safety by modeling and being transparent about failures and growth opportunities. Most importantly, leaders’ actions must speak louder than words – when individuals fail, they need to celebrate those learnings, not focus on the implications. 

Leaders can also help create a sense of safety through joy and levity in the workplace. Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, authors of “Humor, Seriously,” have shown that companies that embedded humor in their culture had employees who were 16% more likely to stay at their jobs feel engaged and experience satisfaction.  

Meaningful 

By nature, games have stakes and meaning – it’s what makes them exciting and, as defined above, creates the enthusiasm that creates play. Giving meaning to play can take many forms.  

One way is through reinforcing an organization’s purpose, helping people see why their work matters. Some companies create meaning through competition – whether individual incentives, team challenges or by focusing on external competition.  

One company created an internal fantasy league, resulting in an 18% increase in outbound calls and an increase in morale. Making play meaningful like this can be a great cause for celebration and recognition as well—reminding people about why they need to be invested in what they’re doing. Of course, “meaningful” must be rooted in safety – if people fear the stakes are too high, that fear can hold them back.  

Individual 

Everyone’s favorite radio station is WiiFM – “What’s in it for me.” Ask someone about a project they’re working on, and they might smile. But ask them what they did this weekend, and they’ll light up—even more so if they get to talk about personal hobbies or passions.  

Create more ways for people to light up, and you’ll create more ways to unlock that joy and translate it into their work and relationships. At a systemic level, consider how you’re fostering individuals’ passions and making them feel heard and represented. And at a team and day-to-day level, find ways to share them.  

Linked 

On the other side of the “individual” see-saw is the need to bring people together. Often, people have more fun working with other people, and collaboration creates those all-important feelings of togetherness and belonging. Prophet’s 2022 Catalysts research: The Collaborative Advantage finds that employees achieve better outcomes personally and professionally when they collaborate – 65% of respondents cited higher levels of productivity as a result.  

In hybrid environments, it becomes more challenging, where it may seem like people are working together on endless transactional Zoom calls. In reality, there is a shrinking emphasis on true connections which require smaller group interactions and a mix of both work-related and non-work-related focuses.  

Exploratory 

People need new inputs to get to new outputs. Trying a new dish can be more fun and exciting than eating the same meal for the fifth time this week. Consider how to fuel people’s joy and creativity by putting them in new situations, hearing from new voices or thinking about things in new ways. Then, use that space to give people a chance to get their hands dirty, safely.  

Build in the flexibility for exploration. A global airline used the power of play to teach the organization its seating pricing strategy. Leaders used a game of “The Flight is Right,” taking the principles of “The Price is Right” and applying it to the complex principles that airlines face. By approaching the learning in a new way, and allowing people to play and participate, the message stuck.  

LEGO’s serious play methodology is another great example of encouraging exploration to envision challenges in new ways while tapping into the joy of being a child.  

The creativity expert, Edward De Bono, describes “Rivers of Thinking” – the building nature of experiences that help us to unlock new solutions. When we fill our rivers with the same water, it becomes difficult to explore new ones.  

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Employees now expect far more from their employers than just a paycheck. Today’s reality is that peeking behind the velvet curtain of an organization is as easy as logging on to Glassdoor, so those looking to attract and retain the best talent are having to think really carefully about their approach to employee well-being. A shiny manifesto on the company website certainly isn’t going to cut it any longer. 

In our recent report, Fit for Change: Driving Growth and Transformation in the Future of Work, our Organization and Culture practice unpacked the primary forces shaping cultural change and the message was clear: employee well-being and mental health are the top drivers and, in addition to this, 71% of the companies we surveyed stated that well-being will increase in importance over the next three years.  

“Employee well-being right now is a given and I don’t think that will stop on the day we vaccinate everyone.”

– Quick Service Restaurant Executive (UK)

This isn’t new. In 1943, Maslow noted that before people can be their best, they need to have their physiological and safety needs met. The pandemic put a spotlight not only on physical safety but mental safety too. The virus created a universal health risk, creating new standards such as social distancing and face coverings, while also exposing the less frequently discussed challenges of isolation and depression. This impact has been especially felt by minorities and women – groups that have already been challenged by traditional ways of working and broader socio-economic issues.

Organizations had to pivot to meet safety needs swiftly – most taking on, at minimum, the physical safety concerns of their people. The recent announcement from the Biden administration to enforce the OSHA policy of protecting employees from ‘grave danger’ has raised the safety standard and also calls into question the role of government and business on individuals’ care.  

What is clear, however, is that employees – and the world – are paying attention to companies that fail to care for their people. For example, Amazon has a history of creating challenging environments for its employees, however, the pandemic made that oversight even more severe. A damning exposé from the New York Times featured several major missteps, including failing to disclose the number of cases occurring at warehouses, causing many individuals to be unaware of just how at risk they were. One New York warehouse had at least 700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 between March 2020 and March 2021. When it came to Amazon’s duty of care to its employees, not even the minimum needs were being met.   

However, the risks of not protecting your people extend beyond the obvious moral responsibility. New research by SilverCloud Health found that 46% of its survey respondents chose to quit or considered quitting a job due to mental health needs, a stat that will only serve to accelerate the ’Great Resignation’ if companies don’t create holistic wellness game plans.  

Being a leading employer committed to your employees’ wellbeing has significant benefits:   

• Reduced turnover: According to Mercer’s 2017 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plan, employers who create cultures of health see 11% lower turnover than employers who did little to prioritize employee well-being.  
• Improving performance: Employees with high well-being are almost twice as likely to be engaged and enjoy their work.

So, what can you do to make sure you’re building a resilient organization, leading with the wellbeing of your people?   

• Listen between the lines: These are unparalleled times and the impact of new ways of working are surfacing new issues. By now, organizations have hopefully addressed the physical safety needs of their people, but leaders should be paying attention to the broader set of well-being needs. According to the same research by SilverCloud, when U.S. employees say they are okay, 84% don’t always mean it and 37% mean it less than half the time. Employees can be reluctant to share if they fear retaliation or don’t believe anything will come from being honest. Leaders need to be trained to listen without consequences to build a culture of trust, especially within HR where employees can be skeptical of their motivations. Also, organizations need to create more safe spaces and forums for employees to share their challenges in and out of work and build in additional mechanisms to recognize where employees need help, even if they’re not directly saying it.
  “You have to balance introversion and extroversion in a remote environment. Find ways to reach out to people to make sure they are okay without asking too much of them. Open up happy hours and let people join if they want or don’t want to. And if managers know people struggle with mental health, reach out to them.” – a GVP of Strategy & Operations
• Be human first, then a leader: To create an environment where people feel safe to express what they need and take advantage of resources, employees should see those behaviors modeled from the top. Leaders should be transparent and vulnerable – sharing the resources they use and how they are feeling. At the same time, be empathetic, recognizing that some will have very different challenges than others within their organizations. There are some organizations that are going above and beyond by not just creating more supportive leaders, but also creating roles for leaders to focus on organizational wellness. Deloitte, for example, just appointed its first Chief Wellness Officer.
  “It’s about empathizing with associates and what they’re dealing with. Empathizing with the fact that different people may be having different experiences and recognizing how real that is.” – Medical Products Executive 
• Build a stronger organizational “Body” to build healthier human bodies: The Body, or an organization’s systems, is core to providing the support needed by employees, especially in terms of benefits and programs. Meaningful change must happen at multiple levels across your organization. At the corporate level, there should be ongoing innovations to address broader well-being. According to a recent report, The Future of Benefits, by Care.com, 57% of senior leaders said that care benefits are being considered a higher priority by organizations to better support their employees in both work and life. Also, 63% of respondents said they plan to increase their company’s already existing childcare benefits. Employer-sponsored benefits can also be supplemented by new solutions from companies like Peloton and Noom.
• Work in a way that works best for you: Benefits from the top are critical, but true change will happen locally within teams. Our research report has found that a key fundamental to change requires businesses to push decision rights downward and this is true when creating a culture of well-being. Teams should be given the flexibility to build well-being solutions into their day-to-day, implementing ‘meeting-free blocks’, full team days off and whatever else is needed.
  “Employees need to feel empowered and responsible for managing their work and the flex time. We are getting people to understand that they’re going to have more flexibility, focus on getting the work done and allowing teams to feel like teams.” – EVP of Stewardship, Global CPG Brand
• If you change nothing, nothing will change: Your employees’ well-being is constantly evolving and so too should your efforts to meet them. Consider external factors like time of year or the state of your hybrid work. What employees need in summer will vary from winter, so respond and support accordingly. And don’t be afraid to try and pilot new programs to demonstrate your continued investment in your people. Prophet’s Change Fitness model, shows the most resilient organizations embrace experimentation – rather than simply creating new programs to overcome challenges. So, organizations should focus on evolving in partnership to continue getting the best from their people. 

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Leaders need to consider a broader set of actions, not only to make their strategies more effective but to help better engage employees too.

As a leader, you are defining a new set of priorities and getting ready to roll them out to your organization. The strategy is rooted in research, thoughtfully shaped and ready to take off. Or, you’re responding to the quick shifts of the current environment – finding ways to keep your employees safe while delivering value in new ways for customers. But what do you really need to make these strategies stick?

In his book, Simplicity, Bill Jensen outlines what his extensive research revealed about the questions employees ask when given an assignment. Of course, questions like “What exactly do you want me to do?” “What does it have to do with my job?” “How will I be measured?” and “What’s in it for me?” are standard. However, the most important question employees have may surprise you: “What tools and resources are available to me?”

In this period of rapid change – well-defined behaviors can be that employee engagement tool for your organization. While investments that require greater development take time to implement, clearly defined behaviors can inspire and guide transformation both within and beyond the pandemic. This doesn’t mean over-prescribing behaviors for every initiative, but rather linking a core set of guiding behaviors to priorities and making them actionable in daily contexts.

What makes for clearly defined employee behaviors? Behaviors should align to a business strategy or purpose, specific to individuals and teams and their roles. These behaviors should allow for flexibility and judgment while being measurable. Leadership behaviors can define ways to enable teams to live out company values. For example, they can specifically encourage adding a diversity of employee voices in key projects. Behaviors for frontline employees may include actions around service – opening the door for customers entering, or safety, wiping surfaces down after each interaction.

Think about your latest strategy and its objectives – how are you making it real for your organization and employees? What tools and resources are you equipping your teams to leverage? Specifically, what employee behaviors are you encouraging that reinforce said objectives?

“Behaviors should align to a business strategy or purpose, specific to individuals and teams and their roles.”

Prophet recently worked with a telecommunications provider committed to deepening relationships with customers. But in challenging settings like call centers where individuals have to solve issues quickly, “deepening relationships” would be far too broad of a directive. In partnership with the provider, Prophet helped define three core behaviors that employees could exhibit in any conversation. These behaviors weren’t mandatory scripts, rather a playbook to help make the strategy more concrete for the learner and measurable for the organization. We then applied these behaviors across various high-priority touchpoints to make them even stickier for the learner. Learners were highly engaged with the strategy, found the playbook very useful and are already putting it to use in their day-to-day.

And while organizations often think about defining behaviors for customer-facing employees, a clear set of behaviors can be critical for how employees work together. For example, in response to changing expectations of work from home during the pandemic, leadership at IBM defined a pledge on how to best support each other. The pledge doesn’t stop at generalizations – but rather gets incredibly specific. In a LinkedIn post, CEO Arvind Krishna elaborates on each pledge – taking “I pledge to be family sensitive” to the next level by defining “if [you] have to put a call on hold to handle a household issue, it is 100% OK.” Organizations around the globe are reinforcing the importance of creating better workplaces, but IBM has taken it to the next level by defining what better actually means.

Of course, behaviors require an ecosystem to stick – as we elaborate in our article Brand Behaviors Critical for Leaders, Managers and Employees. Organizations need to clarify the ambition for the behaviors, define the behaviors well, and then codify and connect them to the broader cultural ecosystem.

Once you have a clear set of behaviors, you need to, once again, consider what tools you’re offering to employees. As you roll out your behaviors program, consider a range of tools that can drive adoption and create strategies that stick.

• Lower investment tools like internal resource hubs with scripts and guides, or huddle guides for coaches to encourage new behaviors.
• Greater investments and tools including both live and asynchronous learning programs and realigned performance expectations
• Full system changes and support such as built-in digital tools and AI tracking, which can enable more effective, real-time measurement and tracking

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Goodbye 2020. The year that tested humanity like no other this century. The year that took experiences away from us and gave us others we might never have imagined, some of which we undoubtedly would like to “return to sender.” At Prophet, like everyone, our working world was transformed in a matter of weeks. Then the weeks turned to months and, still incredibly busy with client work, we crawled to the end of the year wanting to put 2020 firmly behind us.

And so, it’s hello 2021 … when our true hope is that the discovery and roll-out of vaccines around the world will make this year a better one and that many of the things we crave – like social interaction with colleagues and working with our clients in person – will return.

While we can be optimistic, the watershed moment has not yet arrived. The new variant of COVID-19 is threatening the stability of many health systems around the world and countries are pressing the “lockdown” button once again.

“In an era where change is constant, there is one truth that is unchanging – this moment calls for “intentional caring” or what we might simply call compassion.”

Heading into the new year, you’re likely to have plans you’re ready to execute or develop. These are formed by a set of assumptions – goals you are trying to achieve and an understanding of your organization. But in an era where change is constant, there is one truth that is unchanging – this moment calls for “intentional caring” or what we might simply call compassion.

The response of leadership has been a key source – or otherwise – of resilience for any organization navigating through the last 12 months. Our global research in 2020, which was in the field as parts of the world started to battle the pandemic, revealed the key attributes for transformational leadership: inviting many voices, combining agility with curiosity, empathy for the employee, bringing others along the journey, staying the course with a growth mindset and prioritizing substance over “spin.” These attributes are foundational to developing into a compassionate leader and leading with empathy and compassion will not only help you strengthen your assumptions, but also ensure that whatever action you take supports your people who need it now more than ever.

Triggered by the global pandemic and social justice movements, we published our view on a set of change accelerations – “slingshot effects” – that organizations need to recognize and work with going forward to build resilience and that leaders should embrace to cultivate compassion.

As we reflect on the ongoing uncertainty at the start of 2021, we see a subset of these shifts as particularly compassionate – and they, in turn, elevate the need for a particular leadership response:

1. Work/Life Balance > Making Life Work

Companies need to move deliberately beyond questions of where people work to be more intentional about how people work to ensure their lives work. As lockdowns continue, learnings from 2020 have to be grasped, but also sustained into a recognition of the whole lives of every employee.

2. Command & Control > Empower the Edge

Achieving organizational resiliency requires changing the way we think about governance, roles and decision rights. We had to respond at speed when the pandemic struck in 2020 – and many organizations have hardwired the changes made then into their operating models. Many others have not, however, and will continue to be challenged in 2021 if this is not addressed.

3. Development by Default > Development by Design

The last year has revealed significant capability gaps in most organizations, such as capabilities required for rapid cross-functional and agile work; customer-centric product, service and experience management; and data-driven decision making. Companies will need to be deliberate in identifying their biggest gaps to be filled and building robust learning programs now to develop capabilities starting with critical functions.

4. Physical Serendipity > Virtual Serendipity

After months of distancing and restrictions to our day to day lives, employees are finding themselves bereft of personal interaction and a source of inspiration. They desperately need ways to create virtual “water cooler” moments both large and small — ways of forging chance connections amongst individuals as well as across teams and business lines.

5. Change as a Journey > Change as a Flow

Embracing change as a flow starts at the top — resetting the purpose to be that of an enduring journey and embracing change as a core competency of your organization and leadership.

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Rarely have organizations been forced to tackle volatility in so many areas all at once until the global coronavirus pandemic, demanding many to evolve in ways they hadn’t previously considered plausible, or possible to accomplish in such short timeframes. With the right approach, however, the gravity of the current situation can become an opportunity, a slingshot to accelerate transformation and speed an organization’s course to a more resilient future.

From witnessing the lightspeed changes being made in organizations around the world over the past few months, the latest report from our Organization & Culture experts – The Slingshot Effect – lays out the specific shifts organizations need to make now. With the right processes, commitment, workforce and mindset, others can learn how to ‘slingshot’ their organizations’ transformation, build the flexibility to thrive on change and the agility to respond to any future shocks faster.

In this report you will learn:

• Why taking a human-centered approach remains a key element in any successful transformation
• How to determine the most relevant shift in order to build resilience where your organization needs it most
• Where to prioritize action and guidance on what to do next
• Examples of how other companies are moving forward

Download the report below.

Sixty-two percent of global consumers say their country will not make it through the current crises if companies don’t step up. Customers and employees are looking to their favorite brands to help solve problems, creating an enormous opportunity for companies that are purpose-driven.

But while purpose is essential for any brand today, just having one is not enough: Brands are on trial. Stakeholders are calling brands out on hypocrisy, mixed messages and failed initiatives. Even companies that thought they had a clear purpose need to prove they are investing in substantial change and not just “woke washing.”

Defining and living your organization’s purpose is hard. It’s messy. And it’s never-ending. But the most successful companies in these trying times will derive their purpose from shared human values, stay true to what they do and be relevant to what their stakeholders need. And they’ll act on it every day.

“Make sure your purpose is grounded in shared human values–including employees–and take responsibility when things go wrong.”

These four companies are using purpose in powerful ways, and working hard to live it in challenging times:

Citi: Inspiring growth and progress

Citi’s purpose–to provide financial services that “enable growth and progress”–took on electrifying new meaning as the economic impact of the pandemic shook its employees, customers and neighborhoods. Citi went beyond what most banks did – loan forgiveness and mortgage relief– to not just delay devastation but truly deliver on that purpose. “Citi’s mission and purpose have long been rooted in enabling growth and progress. As the world continues to search for solutions to address the global pandemic, racism, and more, at Citi we know that our role is to identify issues to stand for and influence in order to enable relevant and meaningful progress for our clients, colleagues and communities,” said Mary Ann Villanueva, Director of Citi’s Brand Culture and Engagement.

Efforts included committing $100 million in support aimed directly at that promise of progress, launching Restarting Together to encourage startups supporting society through the crisis, helping customers secure PPP loans, and helping those most impacted by the pandemic including the World Central Kitchen and National Disability Institute and many more. Citi has also expanded beyond financial progress to support racial equality through recent campaigns and commitments to the Black Lives Matter movement, including investing in Community Development Financial Institutions, which play a vital role in low-income communities and communities of color.

Airbnb: Deepening authenticity

When a company’s purpose ties directly to what it does, brands feel more authentic. This becomes even more important during times of change. Airbnb exists to “create a world where you can belong anywhere.” With sweeping travel restrictions and lockdowns, the company had to pivot quickly to find new ways to express hospitality. Open Homes for COVID-19 frontline workers gave hosts an immediate way to help. And it began creating online experiences that allow guests to learn new activities and meet people from around the world. By enabling people to connect, even while stuck at home, Airbnb is finding new ways to stay relevant.

Glossier: Listening builds a shared community

Shared purposes are not just relevant to one audience, they are felt deeply by each–employees, customers and communities. That calls for genuine listening to make sure that actions, products and services align with the values and beliefs of those stakeholders. Glossier’s purpose is “to give voice through beauty” by “leveraging the power of the personal narrative.” Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, Glossier’s most frequent request was for a product to help with increased irritated skin from repeated handwashing. Inspired by stories and comments, Glossier quickly developed a hand cream, donating thousands of units to first responders.

The company is also recognizing that obsession with that external community has a downside, leading it to prioritize the needs of customers over that of its own workers, especially people of color. When shoppers engage in racist behavior, for example, the company’s “the customer is always right” stance gets toxic. Glossier isn’t running away from that dissonance but trying to learn. The lesson? Make sure your purpose is grounded in shared human values–including employees–and take responsibility when things go wrong.

Walmart: So actionable, it’s indispensable

The final dimension emerges when companies demonstrate that purpose is not just an empty promise. If companies can’t deliver, it doesn’t matter how inspiring or authentic they are. People pay attention to what brands do, not what they say. Walmart has long struggled with negative perceptions. But it continues to make progress through finding new ways to act on “saving people money so they can live better.”

Because of its vast size, it pays great attention to subtleties and the importance of multiple actions. Among the steady drumbeats that help all people “live better”? In addition to cash bonuses for employees, it’s closing all locations this Thanksgiving to show gratitude. It introduced Express delivery so customers can avoid crowds. It turned parking lots into drive-in theaters, showing movies for free. And in requiring all employees and shoppers to wear masks and supporting expanded testing efforts, it’s helping everyone.

Just as people look to friends, family, and government during hard times, they are holding a magnifying glass up to businesses. Customers expect companies to treat people well, engage the community and evolve to meet a changing world. Workers are questioning employee value propositions. They want businesses to put people over profit. Words and actions matter.

Does your purpose…

• Make the world better? Even companies with a pragmatic purpose can inspire others.
• Create believers? When businesses connect purpose to the way they earn money, it’s authentic and makes perfect sense.
• Apply to all audiences? The right purpose resonates with employees, customers, communities and investors.
• Translate into action? If an organization can’t deliver on promises, everything else is pointless. Enabled by leaders, companies constantly need to bring their purpose to life.

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The world is upside down (for you and all your employees) and it’s difficult to know which way to go. Here, we outline those companies whose values have successfully helped them to navigate this crisis, and how they are informing their approach to long-term decision making and working to galvanize the workforce.  

Values under pressure 

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the world and how it operates. First and foremost, it is a human and social crisis, affecting millions of people and upending lives. It has also had a significant and ever-growing impact on businesses and the global economy.

We have seen businesses respond to the crisis in several ways – which can have lasting implications for their company. For example, CVS Health provided bonuses to employees who were required to be at CVS facilities to assist patients and customers, as well as helping employees with child and elder care needs. They also plan to hire an additional 50,000 full-time, part-time and temporary employees, filling many of the roles with existing CVS Health clients who have had to furlough workers, including Hilton and Marriott. Recognizing their employees’ commitment, as well as proactively supporting their needs, helped employees to feel acknowledged and respected during these uncertain times.

Amazon, on the other hand, has squelched efforts by employees to seek rights and benefits that protect them and their customers and has been secretive about existing cases – diminishing trust and creating dissonance with employees and customers.

Why the difference? It comes down to how leadership translates their values into action. It’s often in times of crisis – when companies are forced to make difficult decisions – that their true priorities are shown. COVID-19 has provided an intense microscope into organizations’ values and how they guide their actions. Some have struggled, keeping their values as words on a page and leaving their people in the dark. While others have thrived – bringing their values to life as they manage the short-term needs of their employees with the long-term commitments of various stakeholders. This balance requires bringing stakeholders into the decision-making, being transparent in how decisions are made, and proving commitment through new skills, processes and rituals. Organizations are a macrocosm of people, and to truly lead with values across the organization, we must align how employees are equipped, governed, and engaged.

Translating your values for a crisis

Values should guide leaders through decisions, particularly difficult ones, that can determine the future of the organization. Getting them right can galvanize the workforce around what is really important (e.g., working together, being human, adapting), and can be pivotal in a company’s survival and growth over the long term.

Times of turbulence provide a unique opportunity for leaders to evaluate how their values actually show up. Understanding what the values need to do versus what they actually do can help leadership translate them into more meaningful guides for employees. What do themes like ‘transparency’ mean during a period of extreme change? How do themes like ‘caring’ show up when thousands of workers may need to be furloughed or endure extreme work conditions?

“It’s often in times of crisis – when companies are forced to make difficult decisions – that their true priorities are shown.”

We’ve seen companies use their values to guide positive actions. With a significant impact on the food and beverage industry due to the coronavirus, Starbuck’s CEO Kevin Johnson led with their values, “creating a culture of warmth and belonging” and “acting with courage” in an open letter to US employees. First, the company committed to pay all employees for 30 days, whether they chose to come to work or not. Second, the company recognized that re-opening stores would look different across the country, and empowered local leaders to make the decision of when to reopen, with the support of tools and resources.

Ensuring employees are equipped with skills and behaviors to live the values

In times of crisis, situations can change daily, if not hourly. Employees need to feel they are equipped with the right skills and behaviors to deliver on the values as circumstances change, and where new skills might be needed. For example, if an organization prioritizes innovation, are new skills needed to collaborate virtually? For companies that prioritize community and impact, are new skills needed to deliver that impact during the crisis? For behaviors, companies should be as specific as possible about how values should translate in different settings and situations to make sure they’re clear what’s allowed in times of crisis and what’s expected of them to provide better service.

Kering Group, a multinational luxury group, translated their skills in production from runway looks to face masks, while ensuring strict measures to protect staffs’ health. Shifting their capabilities to provide supplies needed by healthcare workers to combat the growing number of coronavirus cases demonstrated Kering’s value around caring more than a poster ever could.

Of course, these skills and resources need to be balanced with the reality of your business, but when runway looks aren’t needed and there is employee capacity, turning to values can have an important impact on many.

Creating processes that reflect your values

To ensure employees can deliver on values without fear or friction, the proper processes and governance need to be in place. Consistency is key here as processes should be applied consistently and at all levels. Where there are inconsistencies, it’s important to be transparent about why those choices are being made.

During times of crisis, existing processes may need to be adapted. Employee evaluations and competencies may need to be rethought to align with how the nature of an organization’s work has changed. Some organizations may find they need to inject new processes, such as implementing new customer support guidelines, to empower employees to make decisions aligned with their values. Others may find that some processes might need to be paused to help remove the red tape or bureaucratic procedures that typically slow organizations down and prevent employees from making values-led decisions quickly. Making changes like eliminating unnecessary layers of approval can actually turn times of crisis into catalysts for change.

For example, the biopharmaceutical company Gilead, has put its values of integrity and accountability first. They have worked with regulatory authorities, adapting processes to establish additional expanded access programs for remdesivir, their investigational medicine for COVID-19. Gilead adapted their approach to ensure they could help accelerate the process of providing remdesivir to severely ill patients, who could potentially benefit from the treatment. By leading with their values, Gilead has been able to balance the need for urgent action to save lives with the responsibility to do so safely.

Helping employees feel the values through rituals

During times of crisis, employees often feel confused and overwhelmed so it should be a priority of the leadership to communicate just how valued they truly are. This can be brought to life in meaningful and human ways by reinforcing values through stories, new rituals, or shifts in incentives. Even small changes like reminding employees to stretch, take lunch breaks, or meditate can help employees feel the values with themes like teamwork, selflessness, and respect.

It is important to maintain existing rituals, where possible, to show continuity. New rituals may also be needed to deliver on values in new ways. At Prophet, we have transitioned our office happy hours, pulse checks, and even office-wide events to virtual platforms. Continuing these rituals and providing a platform for employees to share personal stories has brought Prophet’s values of “Fearlessly Human, Unexpectedly Irreverent” and “Enjoying the Ride” to life – demonstrating humanity and empowering employees to bring their whole selves to the table. Positive behaviors and rituals such as these are productive changes that can be good to maintain, even after normalcy returns.

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The Lay of the Land

As companies become more global, cost pressures mount, and, more recently, global risks including COVID-19 flood the news, meetings are succumbing to the need to keep attendees safe – whether that’s high-profile public events such as SXSW, or large internal meetings, such as Google’s I/O Conference.

“How do we bring people together for important meetings without having them in person?”

Organizations are being forced to ask – how do we bring people together for important meetings without having them in person? The answer goes beyond simply taking a meeting and adding a conference line or a video conference link. It requires an expanded use of tools and technologies, thoughtful preparation and reinforcement of the objectives of a session.

Our Roadmap

Important meetings, whether a brainstorming workshop, alignment session, or even global town halls are critical to build relationships and familiarity amongst attendees, enable collaboration and create meaningful experiences. Too often, these objectives can be missed in the process of going virtual – particularly for larger-scale meetings or collaborative work sessions.

Here are some best practices from our work with both virtual and in-person events:

Step 1: Prepare the agenda and content with different perspectives:

• Take a broader view: Recognize the realities of your attendees – balancing the time zones, languages and cultural norms of where people are. While you may have more control in a live setting where everyone is together, it is important to virtually meet individuals where they are and be clear, concise and respectful of different cultures.
• Set the stage. Ensuring participants are in the right headspace and environment can help people remain engaged. Be sensitive to more abnormal environments, while still providing clear instructions from the onset, whether it be asking people to be in a quiet space or sharing the agenda with built in bio breaks. As more and more individuals are asked to work from home and manage kids who may not be in school, you will have to think about the different types of work environments that will come with these changes.
• Get the right tools:. Ensure all participants have access to the right tools – ask them to download to their systems and ensure they have access prior to the start time. As a backup, send materials as separate attachments in case streaming access becomes an issue. Consider what other tools your team needs to collaborate in an ongoing way, whether that be Microsoft Teams, Slack, or WeChat to enable virtual connections.

Step 2: Instill a sense of humanity by creating ways to connect:

• Don’t forget introductions. To break through the barriers of distance, it is important to incorporate ways to build rapport amongst attendees. This can be done by allowing attendees to share names, locations, and fun facts, or providing bios beforehand. Prompts that are forward looking (what are you looking forward to this summer?) or provoke thoughtful discussion related to the topic (what was your first job?) help build deeper connections.
• Video, Video, Video! Making sure attendees are using video establishes a human connection. Video allows you to read others’ facial expressions, encourages attendees to actively participate by holding them accountable and helps to reduce multitasking. Screensharing can also help keep people, literally, on the same page.
• Create intimacy through other channels. In live meetings, there are often breakout groups or sidebars that provide ways for attendees to discuss topics in-depth. By using virtually run events, you can enable focused conversation by breaking participants into smaller groups via Zoom or encourage people to submit questions or comments through a shared channel, enabling participants to express thoughts or questions without disruption.

 Step 3: Facilitate interaction and collaboration:

• Separate process and content roles. Frequently, well-run meetings have separate roles for process and participation. In other words, they have a professional facilitator. When working virtually, even in smaller group meetings, it’s best to have someone designated to focus on the process: guiding the group towards the required outcomes. The individual responsible for process should also be responsible for recapping all decisions and next steps to reduce any risk of confusion over what was agreed upon.
• Utilize digital collaboration tools. There are many digital tools available to facilitate this collaboration—many of which make engaging with peers online even more effective than in-person. Polling tools such as Menti can allow for real-time group alignment (i.e., which of these ideas do you like best?), or brainstorming and planning tools like Mural for active, real-time co-creation when building out new concepts. These tools also enable more voices to be heard, leading to more impactful results as more ideas can be put forward and synthesized faster.
• Consider breaking sessions into smaller parts: Extended virtual collaboration can be exhausting – consider if your meeting can be divided into smaller segments to allow for greater engagement, more time to evolve thinking between sessions and the ability to modulate for what the meeting needs.

Step 4: Create meaningful experiences to drive content home:

• Create meaningful experiences to drive content home. Inspire thoughtful experiences. During a virtual meeting, mechanisms such as a digital gallery that participants click through or pre-recorded videos can excite attendees – creating a space for them to engage in the content in meaningful ways.
• Consider the full journey. Think about ways to excite attendees before a session with an “Inspiration Dose” to spark thinking or an “Inspiration Suitcase” with artifacts that relates to the topic. Inspiration doses can be as easy as sending a link to a video, a brief story or an article to get attendees to think in new ways. Following the meeting, virtual touchpoints such as a post-read, microsites or digital training courses can be critical to reinforcing the content.
• Maintain the energy. Reading the room can be tough over virtual platforms, so take the extra effort to check in on how attendees are doing and build in energizers as necessary. Riddles, brain teasers and even physical challenges can raise energy levels. For example, try asking attendees to rip a piece of paper it into the shape of an elephant (or any shape) behind their back. Compare shapes and declare a winner!

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Every time consumers open their wallets, they show their preference for the brands they trust.  A key driver of relevance is the values brands stand for and the way they bring those values to life in the customer experience.

The 2019 Prophet Brand Relevance Index® gives us a unique view into how brands today stay relevant to consumers. To determine relevance, Prophet surveyed 13,500 U.S. consumers about more than 225 brands across 27 industries. It measured four brand principles: customer obsession, ruthless pragmatism, pervasive innovation and distinctive inspiration. Within these principles, we measured how customers rated brands on a set of values and beliefs that align with their own.

The study reinforced a strong correlation between relevance and values (R²=0.55), suggesting that brands that effectively demonstrate strong values externally have greater relevance with the consumers they are engaging.  Said another way, consumers place greater weight on how brands demonstrate and live their values rather than the specific values themselves. We can look to brands that perform highly on “has a set of values and beliefs that align with my own” to learn how to help drive greater relevance in the market.

 The Importance of Brand Values

To have a lasting impact, brand values need to be more than words on a wall – they need to come to life across touchpoints, internally and externally. Internally, values can engage, empower and equip. They form the foundation of a company’s culture, defining behavioral standards, unifying employees, boosting morale and helping employees work towards a shared vision. When employees enthusiastically live the company’s values, those values radiate externally and can be felt by customers.

Brands that turn their commitment to values inside out create deeper relationships with consumers who share those values and believe in the brand’s bigger purpose. Brands with weaker values – or those that don’t live up to their values – can have negative impacts on customers’ perceptions of the brand. To see the impact values can have on brand perceptions, we studied brands that are winning with customers and employees around a shared set of beliefs and values.

1. USAA – Values That Build Empathy

USAA, #46 in the BRI overall, brings their values to life for employees, empowering them and transforming how they engage with customers. The company starts by reinforcing its values internally, providing employees with a USAA membership and conducting extensive training. Through USAA’s “Surround Sound” approach, trainees read deployment letters from soldiers and even practice carrying a 65-lb backpack. These values-driven experiences enable employees to see their work through the customers’ eyes, creating a connection between the employee and the needs of the customer. As a result, customers feel that USAA employees truly understand their needs, which are rooted in their personal beliefs and values.

“When employees enthusiastically live the company’s values, those values radiate externally and can be felt by customers.”

2. Disney – Values Motivate at Every Touchpoint

Disney, #5 in the BRI overall, has beliefs that are continuously reinforced throughout the organization – through how leaders communicate, to how performance is measured, to how employees are recognized and rewarded. Disney’s professional development team, Disney Institute, showcases the “business behind the magic” as a resource for companies across industries. One feature, “Disney’s Approach to Employee Engagement,” explains the company’s commitment to selecting the right people and retaining them. A key aspect of this commitment? Reiterating the brand’s core purpose – to create happiness – and empowering each employee from the start to provide outstanding service to guests with this purpose in mind. This constant reinforcement and clear communication of expectations create an intentional culture where decisions are rooted in those beliefs. And customers feel the values as the magic of Disney is brought to life across channels and touchpoints.

3. Chick-fil-A – Values Drive Consistent, Quality Experiences

Chick-fil-A, #27 in the BRI overall, has values that are an integral part of their company, with each team member – from corporate leaders to frontline employees – living them every day. Unlike the rest of the QSR industry which largely takes a transactional approach to customers and employees, Chick-fil-A has constructed an intentional culture rooted in family values with a “servant leadership” mindset. This is nurtured in the culture across every touchpoint, from how they recruit talent (e.g., observing how potential hires interact with employees) to how they engage with customers (e.g., closed on Sundays and saying “it’s my pleasure” when serving customers), and ensures employees truly live the culture and values every day.

Chick-fil-A’s values are so deeply engrained in employees’ lives, that they permeate into customers’ experiences. The chain has established a high bar for what customers will experience at any of their restaurants in the country, and with values that are instilled on the individual level, the brand consistently delivers.

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