Andy Wright: How shared core values can bridge generation gaps

Andy Wright, executive chair of Vital Power Group

Bob Dylan wrote ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’ in autumn 1963, and the song was released to the public in February 1964, more than sixty years ago.

This song was intended as an anthem of hope for the future, given that it was launched against a backdrop of demonstrations against the war in Vietnam and an environment of civil rights movements.

Many saw this as a protest song, reflecting the growing generation gap and the political divide marking American culture in the 1960s.

So, what has all this got to do with today and more relevantly, the rental industry?

Well firstly, we live in a world today that is continually changing. We have a growing gap between the working age generations in terms of outlook on life, expectations around what a job should be and its importance in our lives.

The role, influence and criticality of technology, the need for diversity and inclusion, the impact of global warming and climate change and, importantly, what we are going to do about aligning all of these highly important components of our working environment and how we might go about doing it are also notable changes.

We have a workforce comprising Baby boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Gen Zs and we aren’t that far away from the first Generation Alpha colleagues turning up for work soon.

All of these groups of people have different backgrounds and life experiences, different expectations of life and consequently different views on how things could and should be done.

The greater good

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Generationally we are also dealing with the era of ‘wokeism’, cancel culture and the role of free speech, as well as shifting political sentiment leading to wider gaps and points of agreement amongst all types of people and consequently employees within the rental sector.

‘The times they are a-changin’, and they are changing faster and more profoundly than ever before!

Given all of the above, it is right now more critical than ever that we have something large and meaningful that we can all get behind as a single cohesive team, all committed to common action for the greater good of the business.

We hear a lot about purpose, vision and mission statements and done well these can be powerful forces for good.

I’m a strong believer in them and have seen the positive effects of them, but they can tend to be full of ‘flowery’ language and written at a high level, leaving things to the interpretation of the individual, so can often fail to join the organisation together as we all might have a different picture of their intent.

No, my view is that the best way to deal with this highly complex, tinder box, organisational jumble of age groups, generations, attitudes and approaches is the development of clearly articulated and agreed ‘Shared Core Values’.

The clue is of course in the use of the word, ‘shared’, which means that time and effort will need to be afforded to ensure that all people on the team are in agreement about what our shared values actually are.

So, why shared values?

Shared values are crucial in shaping relationships and organisations and their cultures.

They create a foundation of trust, understanding and co-operation amongst individuals and teams, which in turn makes it far easier to work towards a common goal, even allowing for the range of different backgrounds, ages and experiences of the team.

When we have agreed shared values in place and they are effectively embedded into an organisation, there are numerous benefits that flow from them.

Certainly not least in that respect is our ability to be confident whilst making decisions because they act as a moral compass, helping individuals and teams to make consistent choices that everyone has agreed is important to the organisation.

Additionally, they can provide a common purpose for the team during difficult times and allow obstacles to be jointly overcome.

A business with clearly defined values creates a place where people feel that they belong, which, in my experience, fills a critical emotional need for people and is a huge contributor to the success of any team.

All of this increases employee engagement and job satisfaction.

Values also allow leaders to navigate difficult situations with consistency and integrity, gaining the trust and respect of the team and strengthening bonds with team members.

So, in summary, a value is a fundamental belief or principle that guides behaviour, decision making and interactions.

They define what is important and even though we are working, today, in the most highly complex of environments they can guide us through these uncharted waters and create clarity for all in this uncertain world.

‘The times they are a-changin’ but our shared core values aren’t.

Andy Wright is executive chair of Vital Power Group,