ESSAY

Speaking the Language of Value in Organizational Change

The word “value” is common in organizational change and is often confused with “values”. For change management practitioners, the distinction matters because it shapes how people in organizations connect with changes. This essay explores key moments and a VALUE framework that help unpack how value can be understood and experienced. By engaging with value, practitioners can guide individuals, advocate for employees, and connect more closely with organizational intent.

Why “Value” Matters Now

“Value” is one of those words that seems to be everywhere in organizational life. Leaders talk about creating value through transformation, consultants speak of value propositions, and employees are reminded of organizational values as a compass for behavior. Yet for all its familiarity, “value” is often poorly understood and too easily confused with “values”. That confusion muddies conversations and can limit the effectiveness of organizational change work.

For change management practitioners, this distinction is not a matter of semantics. It is central to how we engage with people in organizational change contexts.

Values and value both influence how change happens, yet they operate in different ways. Values are guiding principles that express what an organisation or individual believes should be important. They are anchors that shape identity and behavior, such as integrity, fairness, or respect. Value, by contrast, is about what is experienced as important in a specific situation. It is what a person or group perceives to be worthwhile, useful, or meaningful in the moment. Value is dynamic, contextual, and open to change.

Understanding this distinction matters because it shapes how people connect with changes. When individuals can recognize what is valuable for them in a changing situation, they are more likely to engage with it. Likewise, when organisations are clear about the value they seek to create, their intentions become easier to communicate and act on.

This essay explores why conversations about value are essential for change management practitioners. Not just in the abstract, but in practice: for helping individuals find meaning, for equipping people with value literacy, for expanding the practitioner’s professional toolkit, and for navigating our own evolving workscapes. Along the way, I will also introduce a framework for thinking about value, using the letters of VALUE itself, as a lens we can use to deepen and expand these conversations.

Refining the Distinction between Value and Values

It is easy to slip between talking about value and values as if they are interchangeable. They are not. And when change management practitioners confuse the two, we risk undermining our ability to support meaningful changes.

Values are the principles and beliefs that guide our behavior and choices. They are usually stable, enduring, and not tied to a single situation. Organizations often publish a set of values, such as integrity, fairness, or respect, to signal the culture they aspire to. Individuals also carry their own values, shaped by upbringing, experiences, and identity. Values may evolve slowly over time, but they are not usually negotiable in the moment.

Value is different. It is contextual, dynamic, and judged in relation to specific circumstances. Value is what someone perceives to be worthwhile, useful, or meaningful in a particular situation. It may be connections, insights, products, opportunities, or reputation. What has value in one moment or context may not in another. Unlike values which anchor us, value can shift depending on circumstances.

Talking about value in the plural can be awkward. The word does not pluralize easily without creating confusion with values. It can be clearer to think in terms of value elements, which are the different aspects or expressions of what people find worthwhile or meaningful in a given context.

Both concepts are important in organizational change, however, they serve different purposes. Values may be the reason an organization (or an individual) chooses to make changes. Value is what they hope to experience as a result of those changes. When these two are blurred, the language of change can become confused.

Organizational changes driven by a values-based imperative, for example, a commitment to fairness, can be made to create value for the organization, like employer-of-choice status. Such changes can also connect to what individuals perceive as personally valuable, perhaps inclusion, opportunity, or belonging.

Clarity between the two terms allows richer conversations. As practitioners, we can then discern when the talk is really about values, and when it is about value, and how the two interact in shaping the experience of organizational changing.

Why Practitioners Should Care

Why does this distinction between value and values matter for change management practitioners? Because it shapes how we work at every level: with individuals, with collectives, and with ourselves.

For the individual experiencing changing, value is the key to meaning. People are not automatically opposed to organizational changes, but they may be reluctant to embrace them if they cannot see — or have not been afforded the chance to see — what is valuable for them. If we want to support individuals, we need to understand what they perceive as valuable in their particular context and help them make sense of how the changes might connect to that.

For the practitioner themselves, clarity about value is a compass for navigating the professional workscape. Change management practice is often messy, political, and emotionally demanding. When practitioners are clear about the value they are contributing, creating and claiming for themselves, they are better able to sustain their energy, make discerning choices, and remain grounded in the purpose of their work.

For the organization, value is usually the underlying reason organizational changes are pursued. An organization might seek efficiency, resilience, growth, or reputation. These are forms of value at the collective level. While practitioners may not always have the remit to shape these strategic agendas, understanding them helps translate organizational intent into conversations that resonate with people.

Value created for an individual can also contribute to value for the organisation. When people experience genuine value in their work, they tend to apply their skills and energy in ways that advance collective goals. For example, when an employee develops new insights or skills, and these are shared and applied across the organisation, the organisation gains capability. This connection, however, is not automatic. It depends on whether the organisation allows value to flow freely rather than becoming trapped within teams or roles. Practitioners can help make this connection visible by fostering open value exchange. They can create conditions where individual value is recognized, shared, and built upon. In this way, value creation becomes mutual and supports both the individual and the organisation.

Taken together, these perspectives remind us that value is not an abstract concept. It is the lived experience of meaning and usefulness that connects individual agency with organizational intentions. For change management practitioners, learning to navigate value from multiple angles is a valuable part of their craft.

Key Scenarios for Value Work using Fishing as a Metaphor

To make these ideas more tangible, let’s explore four scenarios through the metaphor of fishing. [Born from the maxim, that if you give a person a fish you feed them for a day, if you teach them how to fish you feed them for a lifetime.] These are practical, human-centered opportunities to connect people with meaning, to build resilience, and to strengthen the craft of change management practice.

1. Helping someone find value in the moment (Provide the fish)

Sometimes the most immediate support is to help an individual locate meaning in the midst of organizational changes. Like providing a fish to someone who is hungry, this is about helping them see what value is available to them. Perhaps it is a new connection they can make, an insight they can gain, or a new skill that will ease their work. The emphasis here is on relevancy. It is about enabling them to recognize value in their current context so they can engage with less friction in organizational changing.

When Andre’s team adopted a new digital platform. He felt frustrated and unsure why it mattered to him. In conversation, Robyn, the practitioner, asked questions that helped him name what was valuable in the change, such as having more control over his schedule and easier contact with colleagues in other locations. Through this guided reflection, Andre began to see how the change could work for him and started engaging with greater confidence.

2. Building value literacy (Teach someone how to fish)

Practitioners can also help individuals build the skill of discerning value for themselves. This is about cultivating a perspective that asks: “What here is valuable to me, and why?” In practice, this might involve introducing tools that expand a person’s vocabulary and grammar of value. When people learn how to identify, claim, and create value, they gain agency to navigate not only current organizational changes but future ones too. And when they can’t find an exchange of value that works for them in the current organization, this can be motivating insight for personal changes to make and enact.

Back to Andre for a moment. After making sense for the situation of adopting the new digital platform, Robyn invited him to reflect more generally value on his work situation. They explored with a simple tool [1] for identifying and defining value, helping Andre build his own language for what mattered. As his ability grew, he began to take greater ownership of how he contributed and created value in his role. There was a moment when he considered leaving his job, however for now, he has found good reasons to stay.

3. Extending the practitioner toolkit (Be an evolving teacher of fishing)

For change management practitioners, value conversations are another way to support agency and sense-making. Just as a teacher adapts to different learners, practitioners can help individuals discover value in their varying contexts. This becomes an additional method in the professional toolkit, an evolving practice that complements communication, facilitation, and design. By fostering value literacy in others, practitioners enrich the repertoire of ways to help individuals embrace change.

For Robyn, the idea of value conversations opened up a new area of practice and empowerment. She saw how the Value Exchange Ledger method could bring structure to these discussions. It offered a practical means to help a person identify what they contribute, claim, and create as value. In adding this approach to her toolkit, she strengthened her ability to cultivate agency in others, while helping the organization achieve its aims.

4. Contributing and creating value in your own workscape (Be a skilled fisher yourself)

Finally, practitioners are not outside the organizational system. We too need to discern, contribute and create value in our professional lives. This is the equivalent of being a skilled fisher ourselves. By reflecting on what is valuable in our work, whether that is contributing mastery and insights, gaining recognition or learning, or creating capability, we ensure our practice is worthwhile and impactful. This self-awareness is not indulgent. It strengthens our ability to serve others.

As Robyn prepared for an upcoming performance review, she realised it was an opportunity to clarify her own value proposition. She recognized the insights, expertise, and deep experience she contributed to her change work. She had claimed her salary and a few development opportunities. She also wanted to create something more enduring to enrich her portfolio. This was stories that captured moments of meaningful impact to share with others as examples of what was possible.

These four scenarios show that conversations about value are not abstract theory. Each highlights a way change management practitioners can work with the notion of value, both for others and for themselves.

A VALUE Framework

To appreciate the notion of value more deeply, it can be useful to play with the word itself. Using VALUE as an acronym is one way to unpack its different facets and to distinguish it more clearly from values. This is not a method for exploring value in practice, but a conceptual lens to help practitioners think more carefully about what value is and how it operates in different contexts.

V = Valuable

Something is valuable when a person or a collective determines it has worth or meaning. This determination is subjective. What is valuable to me is, is not decided by anyone else but me. And the particular value I accord to one thing, can be different than the value you accord to that same thing. ‘Family’ may not be valuable to me. ‘Friends’ might be of high emotional value to me, and of high instrumental value to you. An element of value has the potential to be valuable but will only be deemed actually valuable by the one receiving it or being served by it.

A = Action

Value is connected to action. It can be contributed (as an input), claimed, or created. People find meaning when they feel they have agency to use in relation to value. For example, an employee may contribute value through their expertise, claim value by accessing development opportunities, or create value by innovating in their role.

L = Landscape

Context influences value. What is valuable depends on the (metaphorical) landscape in which it is considered, such as an individual’s life stage, employment situation, or an organization’s stage of development. What is not valuable in one landscape may be highly valuable in another, even for the same person.

U = Utility

Potential value becomes real when it is used. Value is found in execution and application, not in theory. A tool, a process, or an idea may have potential to be valuable, but it only becomes so when someone applies it in practice and experiences its usefulness.

E = Evolving
Value does not remain static. One form of value can evolve into or be an input into another form of value. What is valuable today may grow into something else tomorrow, or it may be linked in a chain of value creation over time. For example, learning may evolve into insight, which may evolve into innovation. Practitioners should be alert to this evolving nature, recognizing that value often has layers and trajectories rather than a single fixed point.

The VALUE lens is offered to help practitioners expand their understanding of value with nuance and flexibility. It provides a foundation for conversations about value with individuals and with organizational representatives.

Value in the Broader Organizational Context

So far, we have looked at value mainly from the perspective of individuals and practitioners. Yet organizations also frame their intentions in terms of value, and this broader context matters.

One way that organizations believe they are addressing value for employees is through the Employee Value Proposition (EVP). In theory, the EVP is meant to describe what employees can expect from the organization in return for their contributions. In practice, EVP is often shaped from the employer’s perspective of what they offer that is of value and may not reflect what employees themselves consider valuable to receive. This can leave gaps between what is wanted and what is offered or enabled.

Change management practitioners may not have the remit to redesign EVP, but they can still act as advocates for individuals. Practitioners can listen to what employees seek to claim and create as value. By bringing those perspectives into the conversation, they can gently nudge EVP thinking in a more employee-centered direction. They can also play a practical role in shaping and advising on a localized personal expression of EVP to help specific individuals navigate a change more effectively.

At the same time, organizations pursue changes in order to realize value for themselves. Business and enterprise architects often describe this in terms of strategy, capabilities, and value streams. An organization may frame its change agenda around growth, efficiency, innovation, or resilience. For practitioners, having literacy in this language of organizational value is important. It allows us to understand what the organization is aiming for, and to translate that intent into conversations that connect with people’s personal aspirations for value.

One of the most important roles a practitioner can have is to act as an interpreter between these two perspectives: the organizational drive for value creation at a strategic level, and the individual’s search for value in their own work and life. Holding, demonstrating and communicating both views opens up and supports alignment and dialogue, rather than disconnection.

Implications for Change Management Practitioners

What does all this mean for change management practitioners in practice? At least four implications stand out. These implications remind us that practitioners are not passive carriers of frameworks or methodologies.

First, be a guide. Practitioners can hold the space for individuals to explore and articulate what they find valuable. This might involve asking simple but powerful questions or using structured tools that help people frame their own sense of value in a changing context.

Second, be an advocate. Practitioners can bring the individual voice into organizational planning and design conversations. By understanding both what employees value and what the organization is aiming to achieve, they are well placed to surface potential alignments or highlight where gaps might cause friction and potential resistance.

Third, be a learner. Value is not static, and neither is the practice of change management. Developing literacy in different perspectives of value, including strategic organizational language, enhances a practitioner’s ability to work across disciplinary and functional boundaries.

Fourth, be human. Practitioners themselves need to locate value in their own professional workscapes. This is not egotistical. It is about sustaining energy, clarity, and purpose so that they can continue to support others effectively.

Practitioners are active contributors to meaning-making, translation, and advocacy. By working with value in this way, practitioners expand their toolkit and strengthen their ability to support both individuals and organizations through changing.

Value as a Compass for Organizational Change

Value is often spoken of but rarely explored in depth, yet it is central to why individuals and organizations engage in making changes. For change management practitioners, value can serve as a compass, guiding how we support others and how we sustain ourselves.

When we bring value into the conversation, we do more than help organizations achieve strategic goals. We help people make sense of changes in ways that matter to them. We translate between individual experience and organizational intention, and in doing so, we create opportunities for alignment rather than disconnection.

The challenge, and the opportunity, is to keep asking: what is valuable here, to whom, and in what context? It is a simple question that opens space for richer dialogue, for agency, and for organizational changes that endure because they have meaning.

[1] Value Exchange Ledger Activity using Employee Value Exchange Cards. Learn more at Value Exchange Concept.

To cite this essay:

Palmer, Helen. M. (2025). Speaking the Language of Value in Organizational Change. Change Management Review.