Leaders often fail to walk the talk – and employees are noticing
When Canadian employers talk about company values, employees are listening—and watching for evidence that those values are more than just words.
But there's a significant disconnect between what organizations say they stand for and what employees actually experience on the job. According to a recent survey, 70 per cent of workers have seen leaders bend rules or play favourites, and 43 per cent have witnessed favouritism in promotions, raises, or recognition.
Experts say this gap can have lasting consequences for trust, morale and retention; Anirban Kar, assistant professor at York University’s School of Administrative Studies, explains that values are “deeply held” by employees, and employer contradictions of their own stated values can cause serious rifts.
Values more than mission statements
The Resume Now survey found that while 86 per cent of employees say company values are clearly communicated, only 44 per cent believe those values are consistently demonstrated by leadership.
It also showed that only 47 per cent of employees believe leaders frequently model the company’s stated values, and 24 per cent say toxic top performers are protected by leadership.
For HR leaders wondering how to spot a values disconnect, Resume Now career expert Keith Spencer recommends a direct approach.
“Conducting internal audits on how values are applied in promotions, conflict resolution, and disciplinary action,” he explains.
“As well as directly asking employees where they see gaps between values and behaviour is a good first step.”
Cost of ignoring values gap
The survey found that only 41 per cent of employees feel comfortable raising ethical concerns at their workplaces, and 11 per cent fear retaliation if they do.
Over half of respondents feel pressure to “perform” a version of themselves that fits the company image. The risks of letting a values disconnect fester are significant, Spencer warns.
“Allowing unethical behaviour to go unaddressed or quietly dismissed sends a clear message that employee concerns don’t matter,” he explains.
“It creates an environment where people feel unsupported, hesitant to speak up, and disconnected from the organization’s stated values. To retain trust and talent, companies must respond to issues consistently and demonstrate that their values guide real-world decisions, not just policies on paper.”
Kar points out that the consequences of ignoring values disconnects can be both immediate and long term.
“Perhaps in the short term, there might be some windfall gains. In the long run, it is very difficult to be a highly successful organization,” he says.
“Nowadays, business leaders have become very serious about contemplating the purpose of business … align the values so that the business is actually moving towards the purpose for which it has been set up. What I'm underlining is the critical function of alignment of values.”
Building alignment for long-term success
The report concluded that a lack of consistent values and psychological safety leads to disengagement, burnout, and turnover. Employees are less likely to trust or remain with organizations where values are not lived, the report states.
Spencer recommends HR teams conduct regular assessments of leaders to determine where they stand in adherence to values.
“HR teams need to regularly evaluate leaders around both what goals are being achieved and how they’re achieved,” he says.
“Show employees that values aren’t only used when easy and convenient, and create an environment of psychological safety that encourages employees to speak up through established, anonymous reporting systems with comprehensive follow-up procedures.”
Employees are less likely to trust or remain with organizations where values are not lived, Kar says. But even though consequences might be clear to HR, they might not easily communicated to other sections of the business – especially if there is a culture of tolerance of poor behaviour by top performers.
Dealing with toxic top performers
According to the Resume Now report, 24 per cent of employees say toxic top performers are protected by leadership, and 18 per cent say ethics concerns are swept under the rug.
Spencer advises consistent policies and transparency.
“HR professionals dealing with protected ‘toxic top performers’ must balance recognition of their results with accountability for harmful behavior,” he says.
“Document incidents objectively … protecting these employees risks morale, retention, and legal exposure, making it crucial to act decisively when behavior fails to improve.”
Tolerating toxic behaviour from top performers may deliver short-term results, but it undermines team cohesion, damages morale, and increases turnover risk, Kar explains. He recommends HR professionals remind business leaders that toxic behaviours by a top performer is still toxic behaviour, with all of the long term impacts.
“You may have extraordinary performances, but something that one needs to reflect on is how sustainable is that?” Kar says.
“If you have a star who is disruptive, and probably having a poor influence on the rest of the team, it is likely that there will be turnover. It is likely that such performance will not be sustainable over a long period of time.”
