Values-Based Organisational Reporting
How can organisations transform their reporting systems to to help align with and reflect their core values?
Welcome to Part 1 of our 10-part series on Values-Based Ways of Working. In this opening article, we explore how Organisations can use Reporting and Governance as a powerful driver for embedding values across the organisation’s operations and management.
We believe that integrating organisational values into reporting and governance frameworks helps to enhance business performance, as well as enable a deeper, richer layer of insights for decision-making by organisational leaders.
Throughout this series, we will cover key aspects of embedding values across various operational areas, from customer-centric practices to digital transformation, helping organisations foster transparency, improve decision-making, and stay true to their values, strategic purpose and their mission. By following these steps, organisations can create a stronger and more resilient foundation for sustainable growth.
At Integris Group Services, our values of Honesty, Integrity, Conviction, Action, and Sensitivity [i] are at the core of how we work, and how we help clients streamline operations, improve governance, and enhance decision-making. Our commitment to Honesty ensures that our reports are transparent and accurate, and our value of Action drives us to focus on the insights that matter most. This approach helps us drive performance, foster accountability, and unlock real value for our clients.
The Role of Values in Decision-Centric Reporting
Effective reporting is not just about presenting data; it’s about enabling decision-making. This aligns with our values of Conviction and Integrity, ensuring that reports are designed to cut through the clutter and focus on the insights that matter most.
Decision-centric reporting, as highlighted in BCG’s [ii] findings, allows leaders to make quicker, more informed choices, giving them the control they need to steer their business in the right direction.
System Thinking in Governance
Governance and reporting must be part of a cohesive system that drives business performance. At Integris, we have elected to use our values to guide governance, ensuring that reporting systems are embedded into well-structured performance management processes that review outcomes, as well as drive future actions.
Explore our insights here for a deeper look at how effective governance intersects with corporate sustainability and social responsibility. [iii]
User-Centric Reporting Design
BCG’s [ii] focus on user experience resonates with our values of Sensitivity and Action.
Effective reporting must be intuitive and easy to navigate, tailored to the needs of decision-makers. By prioritising the end-user experience, we ensure that reporting systems are as automated as possible, but are still action-focused. This helps leaders feel enabled and valued in the reporting process, as well as helping team members and management to quickly derive, and present, the insights needed for decision making.
Three Key Examples in Action
To help present examples of values in action, by aligning reporting practices with core values, organisations are empowered to make smarter decisions, build accountability, and drive meaningful results.
Here are three tangible examples that show the power of values-driven reporting in action:
Simplified KPIs and Decision-Focused Reporting
A pharmaceutical company redesigned its reports by focusing only on the KPIs that truly mattered to its business. This reduced non-value-adding report quantities by 40%, freeing up management time and resources to focus on what is important for business decisions.
This approach aligns with Integris’ commitment to Honesty and Action, ensuring our clients receive reporting systems that are streamlined, precise, and aligned with their strategic goals.
Strategic Governance Sessions for Business Impact
At a major utility company, governance sessions were transformed from outcome reviews to action-oriented discussions by embedding structured performance management into their operational planning and reporting sessions.
This shift, supported by Integris’ values of Integrity and Conviction, ensured that discussions were focused on future strategies rather than simply reviewing past outcomes. As a result, measurable business impact was achieved through clearer accountability and more focused reporting.
Data-Driven Reporting to Counter Bias
A tech company struggling with overly optimistic revenue forecasts used advanced data analytics to introduce regular feedback loops to adjust their forecasts. Refining the forecasting process and embedding continual improvements, they saw a reduced forecasting bias by their functions, which helped to improve decision-making by executive management.
These examples reflect Integris’ focus on Honesty and Integrity, where we help clients implement robust data systems that deliver accurate, bias-free reports.
Conclusion: Values as the Foundation for Effective Reporting and Governance
Organisations can create systems that inform and drive performance by embedding their organisational values, such as Honesty, Integrity, Conviction Action, and Sensitivity into their reporting and governance frameworks.
In alignment with the work by BCG [ii], we believe reporting that is aligned with organisational values, helps enable improved decision-making in areas that matters most.
This article is Part 1 in a series on Using Organisational Values to Drive Business Performance.
The next instalment will explore how values-based leadership can influence operations and team management.
Ready to align your reporting systems with your core values and enhance decision-making for sustainable growth?
Reference
[i] – https://www.integrisgroupservices.com.au/about-us/
[ii] https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/art-of-reporting-how-to-take-a-quantum-leap
[iii] https://www.integrisgroupservices.com.au/governance-corporate-sustainability-and-social-responsibility/