1. MSc HRM EFFROSYNI PANAGIOTOU
2.7 The failure of organisations to communicate their values
Despite the fact that the communication of organisational values to employees yields numerous
benefits, organisations still fail to accomplish that and find it difficult to efficiently convey their values
to employees. The problem with that starts from the position where organisations themselves place
their values and the attitude of employees in managerial posts.
To begin with, there is question to whether organisations know how to clearly define their values.
As it has been discussed earlier, the ambiguous nature of values makes it a challenging topic to talk
about and investigate. It is little wonder why Wembley (1999: 176) mentions in his study that
organisations get confused sometimes and consider things like ‘customers’, ‘quality’ and ‘productivity’
as values, whereas these issues are more related to performance and business goals. He also adds
that organisations make the mistake of putting a lot of energy in producing values or ethical codes
but they do less when it comes to integrating them in the daily life of the workplace (Wembley,
op.cit.: 177).
Other problems which are being discussed in literature have to do with the fact that values are
not taken into account as much as they should. For instance, there can be cases where managers and
CEOs do not act or do not have beliefs according to organisational values (Ginsburg & Miller, 1992:
23). Values seem to be more part of an ideal world rather than part of an organisation’s culture which
is how it should actually be. An explanation to this –except of the intangible nature of values- is the
fact that managers fail to understand the impact that values exert on individuals and generally in
organisations (Liedtka, 1989: 806). Values are not like performance reviews or measurable annual

2. MSc HRM EFFROSYNI PANAGIOTOU
reports, which are usually given priority because they are profound factors to understand and link
them with business goals.
The above concerns about the position of values in organisations have stimulated the author’s
interest and have been the reason for the realisation of the present research. It is a fact that in
literature a lot of ways on how managers can communicate organisational values are presented, but
few things are said about which values should be communicated and which ways would be the most
effective (De Chernatony et al, 2006: 74). As a result, this dissertation aims to give adequate answers
on that by its completion and make useful recommendations for the organisations.
6.1 Summarising key points of the research
The communication of organisational values is a topic that has interested authors to produce
knowledge concerning the factors that affect it. A lot of emphasis has been given on theoretical
explanations about the role of internal communication, HR policies and leadership, but less is said
about the reality that exists in the workplaces and which are employees’ perceptions on that. This
dissertation investigated and clarified the effective communication of organisational values from
employees’ perspective and concluded to the following key points:
 Values can only be felt and reflected in others’ actions and behaviour. That is why everyday
interaction with colleagues and managers was proven to be the most effective way for
organisational values to be communicated to employees’ and espoused by them. The feeling
employees get from working in an organisation, the daily discussions with their colleagues

3. MSc HRM EFFROSYNI PANAGIOTOU
and the everyday work which is based on the core values of their organisation is what helps
them realise that values exist and define the organisational culture. This efficient interaction
between the organisational members is determined by the quality of the internal
communication system of the organisation.
 Managers are those who have the greatest impact on employees. They are basically presented
as role models because they lead by examples. They are in a position to tell to their
subordinates what they should, what they should not do and show them the implementation
of organisational values through examples that occur every day in the workplace.
 The role of the HR function is also considered to be very important. It is its responsibility the
organisation and coordination of activities which contribute to an effective communication of
organisational values. That involves the design of trainings and evaluation process, the
composition of the Code of Ethics and generally the reflection of organisational values in HR
policies. However, participants did raise concerns about the selection of employees whose
values are congruent to those of the organisation.
 Organisations focus mainly on training and especially the induction process in order to
convey their values to employees. Training is considered to be an important method too on
condition that it is repeated and provided face-to-face in order to augment engagement with
organisational values.