"Our value is the sum of our values" - J. Batten
A couple of months ago, all of us at Vega IT gathered in order to choose the values that, in our opinion, represent both the company itself and all of us.
The idea itself originated from Maja Nedučić, Human Value Manager, after she got her inspiration from the book "Managing by Values" whose authors are Ken Blanchard and Michael O'Connor.
- Managing by values actually identifies the gaps between what you say you believe and what you are actually doing. One of the best quotes from the book is "In the company that manages by its values, there is only one boss - its values". This means that, when everybody is in alignment when it comes to common values and united in a common mission, quite average people achieve above average results -Maja N. explained.
The process involved all employees, from bosses, team leaders, team members, management, office assistants… All of us got a paper with a list of values and a task to choose the three values for which we believe they should be in accordance with Vega IT's business and stances. It was also indicated that the list is not exhaustive and everyone could add the values which our company should advocate.
Once we selected the three values and ranked them in order of importance, each of us connected with one colleague, then two more, then four more and so on until all of us joined the discussion together. Every time we connected, we had to discuss and agree which are the three common values and then rank them according to their importance.
Men and women of values
Five values that bond us all
Eventually we voted and chose the following five values: fulfillment, responsibility, trust, team work (spirit) and quality as those values by which the company shall commence its journey towards management by values.
The idea is for all of us to turn (unknowingly) towards these values in those moments when we are in doubt or have an important decision to make.
Such manner of operation has brought us together and identification of people with the company, desire to participate in the development of organizational culture and commitment are noticeable.
The best piece of advice we can give to everyone else is: "Try not to become a man of success, but a man of value" - Albert E.
