Framework: Values Mapping

Best for: Leadership teams, founders, and HR professionals who want to embed company values into day-to-day operations and create a culture of accountability.

When to use it: Use this framework when defining or revisiting company values to ensure they’re actionable and not just aspirational. It’s particularly useful for aligning teams, onboarding new employees, and building a culture that reflects your values in both good and challenging times.

Purpose: Many companies stop at creating values, but truly embedding them requires clarity around behaviours that uphold or undermine those values. This framework encourages honesty about the tradeoffs your values create, helping teams hold each other accountable and build a culture that feels authentic, actionable, and aligned with the company’s vision.

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How to:

1. When defining and embedding your company values, go beyond simply stating what you care about. Reflect on the behaviours that support your values and, crucially, the behaviours that undermine them. Use these prompts as guidance:

   • Value: What do you care about? Define the core principle or belief.

   • Good day behaviour: What does this value look like when it’s upheld? Be specific and actionable.

   • Bad day behaviour: What undermines this value? Be honest about the tradeoffs or challenges.

   2. Ensure these behaviours are explicit, and regularly revisit them to keep yourselves and your team accountable.

Top Tips:

Creating values that are more than lip service means being clear about both the good and bad day behaviours. Here are some things to consider when putting this into practice:

• Be transparent with your team about both the aspirations and challenges of living out your values

• Communicate behaviours in real, human terms that people can easily relate to

• Regularly assess and discuss whether behaviours align with your values in team meetings or reviews

• Use both good day and bad day behaviours as guidance in hiring, training, and feedback conversations

• Remember: Authenticity matters. Values without accountability are just words.

Example:

• Value: Compassion

• Good day behaviour: Assuming the most generous interpretation of someone’s intentions, even when we disagree.

• Bad day behaviour: Failing to empathise with others and quickly jumping to negative conclusions about them