The core values set out by any company are the very foundation for what the company prioritises and cares most about. Company values are designed to act as a compass both during prosperous and successful times as well as during turbulent and uncertain periods. They set out the blueprint for expectations with regards to behaviour, whilst also laying out a clear and comprehensive vision of where the company aspires to be and how, as a team, they will arrive there. Company culture, values and behaviours are all inextricably linked.
At A1, we recently hosted an “all hands workshop” to determine the business’ core values. All our team participated. We believe that company values resonate most with a team when they are given the opportunity to participate in the development of them. It was important to us as a leadership team to share the task of creating the company values with the team because we wanted them to have a level of ownership with regards to what they were, and more importantly, what they mean to us all.
The workshop was divided into three tasks and we were divided into different teams. The first task focused on rankings of potential values. Teams were given sixteen different example values and were tasked with ranking these in the order they resonated most with them in their roles at Alternit One, and to give an explanation as to why this is the case. Each team shared these rankings and we discussed the collective rankings and meaning of them.
Next, teams were asked to shortlist the top three values and explain why these values were most important to the culture of our business and the impact adopting these values might have on how we behave, both for our team and our clients. We encouraged everyone to share their ideas and from this shortlist we were able to move onto the third task which was to create a core value statement that resonated with the words in the top three list.
At Alternit One, it is crucial for us to know that every member of the team feels they can live out the core values we stand by as a business. After the third task, we invited everyone to think about how we could ‘live our values’ and in turn ‘live our culture’ by striving to connect our core values with our purpose. According to research conducted by Google: ‘the best teams are when people feel comfortable that they can express their opinion’. This is a culture we are proud to strive to embrace at Alternit One.
The following values are the result of the exercises we all took part in:
SUCCESS THROUGH SERVICE
We care about our client success and value their trust in our team to support that success. By consistently delivering excellent service with a “can do, will do” attitude, we build respectful, productive, long-term partnerships together.
CONSISTENTLY EXCELLENT
Whatever is worth doing is worth doing right. Our colleagues, clients, suppliers, and partners value and trust in our dedication to approaching all our work with excellence.
DOING THE RIGHT THING
Our integrity is the value that translates to always doing what is best for our clients. Working in an honest and transparent way - even when no-one is watching. And if we make mistakes, we take responsibility and commit to correcting our errors.
RESPECTFUL COMMUNICATION
Each of us bring unique skills and perspectives to the table. We take pride in our diversity, and we respect one another’s different opinions, viewpoints, thoughts, and ideas. Our commitment to open and respectful communication with one another, and with our clients, will help ensure we always achieve the best possible outcomes.
The workshop was really enjoyable and it was great to see the entire team come together and express their opinions that will be used by the business as we move into 2023 and beyond. We will be measuring ourselves against these core values to guide us through our delivery of customer service, how we interact with one another and our decision making for the business.
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