The explicit communication of ‘values’ in intra-organisational discourse is widely assumed to generate positive outcomes within organisations. However, values-based management is poorly conceptualized and understood, and evidence for many of its alleged benefits is lacking. When value semantics are used in an abstract way without reference to specific actions (as in many corporate values statements), negative outcomes such as misunderstandings, employee disenchantment and allegations of leader hypocrisy may ensue. In this paper, we demonstrate a novel, effective and efficient way of grounding abstract values language in concrete actions and perceptions, which can catalyse significant organisational transformation with observable positive outcomes. The method uses VALUETOOL, a performance management toolkit consisting of 166 localisable ‘soft’ values-based indicators previously peer-elicited from similar organisations. When staff rate and discuss these indicators, they are quickly led to conceptualise, identify and articulate their shared values. Through a multi-case study across eight organisations, we examine the outcomes arising from the use of VALUETOOL, noting five distinct themes: (i) values conceptualization; (ii) assessment capacity-building; (iii) esteem-related outcomes; (iv) values mainstreaming / internal transformation; and (v) external communications. Our findings both corroborate and extend the existing literature on the benefits of values communication within organisations, as well as providing important insights into how negative consequences might be avoided. We discuss our results in relation to the literature on emergent strategy, noting that the use of values-based indicators in performance assessment can help organisations to clarify their intangible objectives.