Purpose within the workplace is a key driver of employee engagement. The workforce today increasingly seeks out value-led organisations to dedicate their working lives to. By making your business value-led, you can find and keep talent who align with your purpose. This also increases employee engagement and customer loyalty. In this blog, we will cover the steps we are taking at Jump to inject our values into everything we do. We will also discuss how your organisation can do the same.
Define your values
The first step in becoming a value-led business is identifying the core values that are important to you and your organisation. These values should reflect what you stand for and your organisation’s mission and purpose. Get your employees involved in the process of defining these values. This ensures they feel a sense of ownership over them and are proud to champion them.
How we became a value led business
As we ushered in 2023, we thought it was a great time to evaluate and define our values to align with being a value-led business. In order to do this, we organised a companywide facilitated workshop. Here, we could put our heads together and discuss what we value at Jump. This involved a lot of sticky notes, a fair amount of coffee, and the input of every single Jumper.
To introduce the session, we started by selecting an image card that we felt represented us and went around the group explaining why. To paint you a picture, our Director of Business Development and recent father Rob, chose a picture of a baby. While our zen-master-in-chief and Director of Programmes Katie, chose a calming picture of a seascape. This was just a warm-up exercise to get everyone present and ready to share their thoughts. Following this, our facilitator went through a series of company values. We then had to guess the organisation they belonged to. This gave everyone some insight into values that other organisations promote and got us thinking about what values we related to.
At this point in the session, the group progressed on to writing a maximum of three words or phrases each that we felt represented what we value at Jump. We then shared our values and grouped our sticky notes together by similarity. From this, we formed a value cloud. Once we had done this, our facilitator helped us form these into groups of recurring themes. With some fleshing out over the weeks that followed, we derived our six core values, which you can see here!
Next steps:
Communicate your values
After defining your values, it’s time to clearly communicate them to your employees, customers, and stakeholders. Make sure all parties understand the significance of these values. Show how they influence your decision-making and business practices. At Jump, we have showcased our values in board meetings, newsletters, and on our website. This emphasises our stance as a value-led business!
Incorporate your values into business decisions
Let your values guide your decision-making and your personal behaviour in the workplace. By championing your values in all you do, you reinforce their importance. This allows everyone to see that you truly are a value-led organisation.
Reward value-driven behaviour
Encourage and recognise employees who embody your values in their actions and decisions. By recognising those most dedicated to your values, you encourage others to act in this way too!
By making your organisation value-driven, you can create a culture that is grounded in principles. These principles help to drive your business towards success. This approach also increases employee engagement, customer loyalty, and decreases staff turnover. This is important for a value-led business.
Join the movement of value led organisations
At Jump, we help busy organisations exceed their sustainability targets and create a culture of sustainability. Our behaviour change platforms are used as a hub where your people can learn about your mission, purpose, values, and sustainability strategy. This gives them the tools and knowledge to get involved, take action, and be a part of a movement of green champions. To learn more, join our mailing list.
