A healthy work culture doesn’t happen by accident – it happens by design. In healthcare, where high stress and competing priorities dominate the workplace, leaders play a critical role in shaping the environment. When core values like respect, compassion, and excellence are just words on a poster instead of guiding principles, the result is often disengagement, turnover, and even patient safety concerns.
But how do you take values from words on a wall and turn them into behaviors that employees embrace every day? That’s exactly what I recently discussed on our Coffee Break Podcast with Dr. Anne Gross, Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Anne is a leader who truly walks the talk when it comes to creating a healthy work culture. Our conversation centered on practical ways to ensure core values aren’t just statements, but also standards that shape how we work together.
When Core Values Are Just Words
Too often, organizations define their mission, vision, and values, but those principles never leave the employee handbook. As Anne shared, it’s one thing to say your organization values compassion, respect, impact, excellence, discovery, equity, and inclusion, but how do you get employees to live those values?
If your employees don’t know what your core values mean in practice, then they won’t guide behavior. And when leaders fail to hold themselves and others accountable for living those values, workplace culture suffers, leading to turnover, disengagement, and even patient safety concerns.
So, how do we change this?
Practical Strategies for Living Core Values
Anne and I discussed several practical ways leaders can hardwire core values into everyday workplace interactions.
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Make Core Values Part of Everyday Conversations
One of the best ways to ensure employees embrace core values is to talk about them. CONSTANTLY. Anne shared that at Dana-Farber, she discusses core values at every new employee orientation. Leaders don’t just say, “Here are our values.” They ask employees, “What does compassion mean to you? What does respect look like in action?”
Here is a simple exercise leaders can implement: Take each core value and ask employees:
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- What does it look like when we are living this value?
- What does it look like when we are NOT living this value?
This helps employees translate values into behaviors they can recognize and reinforce.
One of the biggest challenges leaders face is knowing how to call out behaviors that go against core values. As Anne shared, many leaders hesitate to address disrespectful or disruptive behavior because they don’t know how to do it.
By providing leaders with specific scripts and conversation starters, they gain the confidence to intervene. For example, if an employee makes a dismissive comment in a meeting, a leader might say:
“When you rolled your eyes just now, it seemed dismissive. That’s not in line with our value of respect. Let’s make sure we are showing respect to one another in our discussions.”
Naming behaviors in the moment – without being punitive – helps reinforce the culture you want to create.
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Reinforce Core Values with Recognition and Feedback
People repeat what gets recognized. If you want employees to live your core values, you need to acknowledge when they do.
At Dana-Farber, leaders intentionally highlight employees who embody core values. Anne also emphasized the importance of giving employees feedback when their behaviors don’t align with the organization’s values because silence can be mistaken for approval.
A great practice: At the start of meetings, ask team members to share an example of a colleague who demonstrated a core value in action. This normalizes recognition and reinforces positive behaviors.
Build a Culture That Sticks
Culture isn’t created by posters on the wall. It’s built through daily actions and leadership accountability. If we want a workplace where people thrive, feel a sense of belonging, and deliver their best work, we need to ensure that our values aren’t just statements but standards.
Healthcare leaders, here’s your challenge: Pick one strategy from this list and implement it this week. Start small – maybe just a 5-minute discussion about what respect looks like in your next team huddle.
Let’s build teams where core values aren’t just words – they’re how we show up, every single day.
And if you’re looking for more ways to develop the skills needed to lead a healthy, high-performing team, check out our 8 Essential Skills of a Healthy Team workshop. In this workshop, you’ll gain practical tools to help you build a culture where respect, professionalism, and collaboration thrive.
