I took this class to learn about behavior change models in
the environmental psychology space such that I could compare these models to
those that I used in the corporate world, as a change management consultant.
In many cases, the models used are understandably different, due to the inherent differences between the citizens being targeted for environmental interventions and the typical corporate employee. That said, through this post, I want to explore the corporate application of one model specifically, Stern’s Value-Believe-Norm model, using a case study of one of my past clients, Kraft Foods.
In 2005, Booz Allen Hamilton and the Aspen Institute conducted to survey on corporate values. Their core finding was that many large companies are explicitly adopting corporate values, representing a significant change from 10 years prior. For example, Kraft Foods adopted the following values in 2009:
- We inspire trust.
- We act like owners.
- We keep it simple.
- We are open and inclusive.
- We tell it like it is.
- We lead from the head and the heart.
- We discuss. We decide. We deliver.
First, in order to leverage the values above to apply the
VBN model, we would have to know that these value are truly “lived” by the
employee population and the leadership team. While it is safe to assume that not every employee
embodies these values, overall I believe that Kraft employees do. And, I think
that’s fairly logical, because companies lead with their values when hiring
employees, so employees are opting into Kraft’s values with eyes wide open.
Second, to apply the VBN model, I think it is necessary to explore how corporate values translate to employee beliefs. For example, when considering the value “We tell it like it is,” we would expect this value to translate into the belief that employees should speak up to offer criticism or support of policies, products, leadership initiatives, etc. Again, in general, I think this holds true. Not only do Kraft leaders encourage junior employees to speak up, performance reviews are grounded in these values, so an employee would have to demonstrate this belief over time to be successful at Kraft.
Now, I think it is worthwhile to give an example of how this could be applied. In 2014, I was engaged by the company to help with a Supply Chain process implementation. We were effectively revamping all processes related to Kraft’s supply chain. My role on the project was to facilitate the behavior change component of the project.
In many ways, we unknowingly applied the VBN model. For instance, the associated communications campaign was grounded in the value of “We keep it simple,” meaning that when we announced the changes to the broader company we explained how these changes would help Kraft to make their processes simpler. This was relatively successful, as it’s hard to argue with changes that are directly aligned to company’s values. But, we failed to carry this over into efforts like training. During training on the new processes, we could have and should have emphasized how these new skills reinforced Kraft’s values. In doing so, I believe we could have more effectively created personal norms in employees, resulting in longer lasting behavior change.
All in all, I think that this model could be a valuable tool for corporate change management efforts. First, if organizational leadership is pushing for a change that does not align to the organizations values, then this would become immediately apparent and the initiative might need to be reconsidered. Second, by aligning change to a corporation’s values, we more easily justify the change effort and create better “corporate citizens.” Third, and perhaps most importantly, when change efforts are strongly aligned to corporate values, then they inherently reinforce these values, pushing corporate values to the forefront of employee’s minds.
Finally, during our discussion with Ray yesterday, Julia asked to what extent psychologists have studied the evolution of values, and Ray commented that this research has been limited primarily due to the rigid nature of values. However, if the logic that I presented above does hold true, the corporate sector may actually be an interesting case study in the evolution of values, due to the fact that their values are well-documented and performance (i.e. behavior) is well documented through a variety of financial and operational factors.
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