Why We’re Doubling Down on Values (and you should too)
Tags: Tech Start Ups, Corporate Culture, Values

By Charles Rath

I got shredded.

For weeks I’d been planning the rollout of our strategy. I’m a big fan of Kaplan and Norton’s classic, The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action, and we needed a Strategic Management System to drive performance.

I’d worked these issues extensively with key members of our C-Suite, and I was certain we’d nailed it — vision, mission, goals, and measures. They were comprehensive, yet ambitious. Dialed in. On point.

But when the time came to present to the rest of the group, the reaction wasn’t what I’d anticipated. I got shredded.

Jessica DuVerneay, RS21's Director of UX/UI

Jess DuVerneay, our Director of User Experience + User Interface, took one look at what I’d so proudly presented, and stated firmly: “We can’t work on goals until we know what we stand for.”

My gut reaction was frustration, but I checked myself and asked to hear more, seeking to understand what might drive her thinking, striving as always to follow the views of Colin Powell on debating an issue:

When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I’ll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.

I thought the debate was over and the decision to proceed was imminent.

It wasn’t.

Long story short, Jess was right and everyone on the Leadership Team agreed — we needed to work on our values before we moved forward with our strategy.

Why?

First and foremost, it makes business sense.

In a recent report from Oxford Economics and Grant Thornton, the authors found that public companies with healthy cultures and values are 2.5x more likely to report average revenue growth over 15% for the past three years.

Second, employees want to work for a company with healthy cultures and well-defined values.

According to the report, when employees believe they work at a company with a healthy culture, they are 1.7x more likely to say their team collaborates effectively, 1.3x more likely to say their company effectively wins repeat business, and are 2.4x more likely to say they are unlikely to leave their job in the next year.

This has a huge impact on the bottom line.

In fact, the same report estimates that the average S&P 500 company would see a savings of $156M in turnover costs annually if employees were to describe its culture as healthy.

Ann Rhoades visits RS21

Ann Rhoades, the global thought leader in values and former executive of Southwest and JetBlue Airlines, describes how values drive performance in her incredible book, Built on Values: Creating an Enviable Culture that Outperforms the Competition.

Leaders drive values, values drive behaviors, behaviors drive culture, and culture drives performance.

At RS21, we’ve embraced this thinking and doubled down on values.

They guide everything we do — from hiring to employee growth plans to incentive programs. Our values also play a key role in choosing which organizations we partner with and deciding on the work we execute.

We personify these values every day.

Living the Values: (L-R) Mason Banning, Monica Alvarez, and Matt Dark

Here are RS21’s values:

DO GOOD WITH DATA

There are positive and negative applications of all technology. Data is a good thing and we need to be careful about how we use it.

EVOKE CHILDLIKE WONDER

People get excited to work with us because of the cool work we do. There is emotion in our work. We embrace the theatrics of our process and create magical products that inspire our clients to dream.

DISRUPT

We know we can do a better job, as humans, of solving complex problems. We need to challenge the status quo.

EVOLVE & LEARN

We are adaptable and flexible — we respond to changing technologies, market forces, and client needs.

BE HUMBLE

We are driven by ethos, not ego. We are self-aware and embrace opportunities to improve, both as individuals and as a company.

BE REAL

We speak our truth and listen to the truth of others, even when it’s uncomfortable. We are direct and respectful. We “carefront” each other.

SUSTAIN THE MOVEMENT

We sustain the financial health of the business and the physical and emotional well being of our employees.

CULTIVATE OUR COMMUNITIES

We love the communities we call home and actively engage with them to improve them for all.

LOVE HUMANITY

We trust that humans can achieve their fullest potential. We love people. We seek diversity and accept different perspectives. We care for and support each other. We bring out the best in each other. We will leave a legacy for the future generations.

Here at RS21, early results are very positive.

Our employees have embraced the values and are eager to find meaningful ways to integrate them into everything we do.

RS21 Values presented by Ann Rhoades

Validation from others has been positive as well. We were completely blown away to learn that Ann Rhoades has been promoting our values in presentations.

We’re just getting started and I can’t wait to share our continued progress.

What are your values? How do they guide your organization?