Aligning corporate culture and human values 

Stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors and the media expect businesses to live their values, clearly demonstrating that policies, practices and employee experience match the image presented externally.

To become part of the fabric of business, values such as sustainability and diversity, equality & inclusion (DEI) need ESG management via leadership buy-in.

In our research report, in partnership with the Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA), responsible business practices (78%), along with workforce related values such as DEI (78%) and employee wellbeing (73%) indeed appear to be well recognised at board level.

However, despite legislative and societal pressure, ESG goals such as climate change and environmental issues are less so, with only 58% citing this as a high priority.

Our report aims to provide HR professionals with the data needed to spot the ESG gaps that managing an organisation through culture and values requires. It also helps equip them with practical tools to help them work with leadership on their ESG goals journey.

Of course, creating a business where human values and purpose are part of everyday culture requires commitment across the whole organisation, not just at board level. Yet while there is synergy between board-level and HR-level ESG goals around values such as DEI and improving employee wellbeing, our research shows these are not always reflected at line manager level and are almost absent when monitoring supply chains.

Over time, this disparity between stated intention and actual behaviour risks reputational damage, with knock-on effects for employee engagement, retention and workplace culture.

This report is the second in a three-part series that will provide the context and practical steps needed to meet the challenge of transforming organisational culture into one that engages its employees and reduces its people risks via effective ESG management.

An intersectional approach to diversity, equality and inclusivity (DEI) examines how people’s social identities can overlap, compounding discrimination. Its premise is that the interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class and gender can create interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.