As a company it’s important to set in stone who you are and what you stand for. You may have a good sense of these things but as the business grows and adapts to new challenges, it’s important to define what doesn’t change; your consistent guiding principles from the start to the end.
The thing is it’s no good just making up stuff that sounds good but doesn’t really reflect the truth. There are some ads around at the moment for a big bank that say their priority is to help the local community. If it is, good on them. But if it’s just something that was thought up by an ad agency and it’s not truly at the core of what they stand for, then soon enough their team and their customers will figure that out and they’ll be just another big bank.
When we decided to get our values down on paper, the first thing we did was to talk about what was important to each of us as individuals. After all, the values of Peppersmith have to be the values of the people that make up our team. If they don’t, there’s a disconnect and the whole thing becomes meaningless.
Some consistent themes shone through which made whittling it down to a clear and concise list remarkably easy. We quickly managed to filter down everyone’s comments to something that we all felt summed up the values of our team and our little company. And here they are…
Be challenging
Don’t accept the status quo. It doesn’t matter how existing products are made, how other companies behave or even how we’re used to doing things. Keep thinking of new and better ways.
Be passionate
Put your heart and soul into what you do and share that passion with other people. If you’re not passionate about what you do, you’re doing the wrong thing.
Be commercial
We have limited resources but big ambitions so we’re going to have to act smart to succeed. Think about the return on every pound we invest. Be tough but fair.
Have integrity
Do the right thing. For the business, for your colleagues, for our customers and for the wider world. We’re not perfect but we must always strive to be the best we can be.
Enjoy the ride
It’s hard work so let’s make sure we celebrate our successes and enjoy the journey. And let’s share this with our customers and suppliers and be a pleasure to work with.
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