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Why Your Company's Values Are Just Wall Decorations

I walked into a client's Melbourne office last month and nearly laughed out loud. There, painted in beautiful serif font across the reception wall, were the words "INTEGRITY • INNOVATION • COLLABORATION • RESPECT." Meanwhile, the receptionist was literally on the phone telling a customer that their complaint "wasn't her problem" whilst three managers stood around gossiping about which department was getting the axe next quarter.

This is the corporate equivalent of putting a "World's Greatest Dad" mug on your desk whilst forgetting your kid's birthday. Again.

After twenty-two years in workplace consulting, I've seen more company values statements than I've had hot dinners, and let me tell you something that'll ruffle some feathers: 89% of them are complete bollocks. Well-intentioned bollocks, but bollocks nonetheless.

The Great Values Delusion

Here's what happens. Leadership team gets together for their annual retreat (usually somewhere with overpriced coffee and motivational quotes on the walls). Someone suggests they need to "refresh their values." Three hours and seventeen buzzwords later, they've crafted something that sounds like it was generated by a corporate AI having a particularly creative day.

"We are committed to fostering an environment of sustainable excellence through authentic relationships and transformational growth."

Mate, what does that even mean?

I've sat in boardrooms where executives spent forty-five minutes debating whether "excellence" or "quality" better represented their commitment to... excellence. Meanwhile, their customer service team was processing refunds with all the enthusiasm of a wet weekend in Ballarat.

The real kicker? These same companies genuinely believe that mounting their values on the wall will somehow magically transform their culture. It's like thinking a gym membership will make you fit without actually doing the work.

The Disconnect is Real (And Expensive)

Let me share something that might sting a bit. Your employees know when you're faking it. They've got finely tuned bullshit detectors that would make airport security jealous.

I was working with a Brisbane-based tech company whose values included "work-life balance" and "family first." Beautiful sentiment. Except their CEO was sending emails at 11 PM on Sundays and expecting responses by Monday morning. Their star developer quit the week I arrived, citing burnout. The exit interview? "They talk about family first, but the only family they care about is their profit margins."

That resignation cost them $180,000 in replacement costs, lost productivity, and project delays. Expensive wall art, that values poster.

The problem isn't that companies don't want to live their values. Most leadership teams I work with are decent people with good intentions. The problem is they've confused aspiration with reality. They've written down who they want to be instead of honestly assessing who they actually are.

What Actually Works (Spoiler: It's Harder Than Pretty Posters)

Right, here's where I'm going to lose some of you. Ready?

Forget about values altogether.

I know, I know. Sounds like business heresy. But hear me out.

Instead of starting with lofty ideals, start with brutal honesty about your current behaviours. Walk around your office (or log into your video calls) and observe what actually happens when nobody's performing for the boss.

How do people treat each other during stressful periods? What gets prioritised when deadlines loom? How are mistakes handled? What stories do employees tell their partners over dinner?

That's your real culture. Everything else is marketing.

Once you've got an honest picture, then you can start the real work of effective communication training and building systems that reinforce the behaviours you actually want to see.

Notice I said systems, not slogans.

The Three Questions That Actually Matter

I've developed a simple diagnostic that cuts through the corporate speak. It's three questions, and the answers will tell you everything you need to know about whether your values are real or just expensive wallpaper.

Question 1: What gets rewarded?

Not what you say gets rewarded. What actually gets rewarded. Who got promoted last year? What behaviours do they consistently demonstrate? If your values say "collaboration" but your star performers are notorious for throwing colleagues under the bus, well... your real values are showing.

Question 2: What gets punished?

Again, not officially. Practically. Is the person who speaks up about problems seen as a troublemaker? Do people who prioritise quality over speed get overlooked for advancement? The behaviours you tolerate become your standards.

Question 3: What stories do people tell?

Every organisation has legends. Stories that get passed around, especially to new employees. What are yours about? The manager who stayed late to help a struggling team member? Or the time someone got fired for questioning a dodgy decision? These stories are your real culture curriculum.

I remember working with a Perth mining company whose official values included "safety first." But the most popular story in the break room was about a supervisor who cut corners on safety protocols to meet a deadline and got a bonus for it. Guess which message was stronger?

The Accountability Problem

Here's where most companies completely lose the plot. They create these beautiful values statements, then... nothing. No measurement, no accountability, no integration into actual business processes.

It's like deciding you want to get fit, buying expensive workout gear, taking a selfie at the gym, then going home to binge Netflix and Uber Eats. The intention was there, but where's the follow-through?

The companies that actually live their values (and trust me, they're rare) build them into everything. Hiring decisions. Performance reviews. Budget allocations. Meeting agendas. They don't just talk about values during onboarding; they reference them when making tough decisions.

Google's "Don't be evil" might sound naive (and they've certainly stumbled), but for years it was a genuine decision-making filter. Atlassian's emphasis on transparency isn't just marketing speak - they actually publish salary bands and internal metrics. When your values have teeth, people notice.

The Small Stuff That Actually Matters

You want to know what builds real culture? It's not the big proclamations. It's the hundred tiny decisions that happen when leadership isn't watching.

Does your "customer-focused" company empower front-line staff to solve problems, or do they need three approvals to issue a $50 refund? Does your "innovative" organisation encourage experimentation, or do people get crucified for failures?

I worked with a Sydney retailer whose values emphasised "empowerment" and "customer excellence." Sounds good, right? But their customer service reps couldn't adjust a delivery date without manager approval. Their "innovation" meetings were just status updates in disguise. Their real values? Control and risk aversion.

The transformation happened when they stopped focusing on the wall poster and started examining their actual policies and procedures. They identified seventeen different approval processes that contradicted their stated values and eliminated fourteen of them. Customer satisfaction jumped 23% in six months.

Simple changes. Real impact.

Why This Matters More Now

Look, I've been banging this drum for over two decades, but the stakes have never been higher. The modern workforce has options. Good people can work from anywhere, for anyone. They're not going to stick around for pretty words and ugly realities.

The companies thriving right now aren't the ones with the most inspiring values statements. They're the ones whose day-to-day operations actually reflect what they claim to believe. The ones where workplace communication training isn't just a box-ticking exercise but a genuine investment in living their principles.

Your competition isn't just other companies anymore. It's every other potential employer who might offer your best people a culture that actually walks its talk.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Here's the bit that makes boardrooms squirm: authentic culture work is messy, time-consuming, and expensive. It requires leaders to admit when they're wrong, change systems that seem to be working, and sometimes make decisions that hurt short-term profits.

It's much easier to hire a branding agency, workshop some inspiring words, and call it a day. But that's not culture development. That's just expensive interior decorating.

Real culture change means looking in the mirror and acknowledging the gap between your aspirations and your actions. It means having uncomfortable conversations about sacred cows and untouchable processes. It means accepting that your beautiful values might need to be rewritten to reflect who you actually are, not who you think you should be.

What You Can Do Tomorrow

Right, enough philosophising. Here's your homework.

Spend one day - just one - observing your workplace without trying to fix anything. Watch how decisions get made. Notice what conversations happen (and which ones don't). Pay attention to who speaks up in meetings and who stays quiet.

Then ask yourself: if someone who'd never seen your values statement spent a week in your organisation, what would they say your real values are based purely on what they observed?

The answer might surprise you. It might even scare you a bit.

But here's the thing: once you see the gap clearly, you can start closing it. Not with prettier posters or more inspiring retreats, but with the hard work of aligning your daily operations with your stated beliefs.

Your employees are watching. Your customers are judging. Your competition is capitalising on your disconnects.

Your values don't live on your walls. They live in your actions.

Time to decide which ones you want to be famous for.