Do you know of a company that has a hairstylist on their office on their Fabulous Friday meeting? That has no maximum number of vacation days? And that has a role that is called a Brand Amazon (not your regular sales role, that is is for sure!)
And this is not just some PR stunt, or about giving nice perks to their employees. This is a company that has looked deep inside to their own core identity, what they stand for and what is important for them, and they have translated that to their workplace culture and employee experience, and employer brand.
And this will help them to attract the right people, the people that are going to love working for them. And that will be helping them to become successful.
Read on to find out how I helped this company in this process.
Over the last months, I had the pleasure of working with this company on developing their workplace culture, employee experience, and employer branding, all based on their core identity.
Good Beauty, a beauty brand, expects to grow quickly over the next 12 months. In anticipation of this upscaling, the founder wants to lay the foundation of a thriving organization. They want to attract people that go really well with their philosophy and values, and so they hired me to help them to realize this.
We had a great session on site; working on uncovering the higher purpose and the core values. These sessions I usually do either with the whole team (up to 30 ppl) or with the core team. I help with asking the right questions and making sure we work on the right level (we do not talk about strategy or market, for example). I ask questions but also use my intuition; when I start to feel the purpose resonates we dive a bit deeper.
The outcomes
The outcomes are a set of very authentic purpose and core values.
Purpose:
we make people shine and bring their inner beauty out.
And the core values:
- Let people’s light shine – well being is important
- Do it yourself – we have a lot of freedom to work how we want
- Run the extra mile – we make sure we do everything we do, really well
- No Waste policy – we do not waste time, money or resources
- We make magic happen – we create an awesome experience
- Shine like a model, do not act like a diva. – we act with integrity and honesty
I love how authentic there values are, and I can see that they are really what the company is about. And do you see how value 1 is connected to the purpose?
As far as the process: it went really well. The 16-year-old intern was participating greatly, she loved it and had an immediate understanding of what we were doing during the session. She only started a few days before but it was amazing to see how much she also could see “this is what this company is all about”. I think that is your proof in the pudding on how the next generation has a different understanding of building an organization.
How does it reflect in the culture?
Also I love to see how the purpose and values are being reflected in the culture (that way you also know you did the job right: working from the inside out).
“Working with us is based on trust and freedom, in which you determine your work to a high degree, and also your own working hours. We expect you to ensure that you get your results.
We see “good beauty in everyone; we look at you as a person first, skills and experience second.
You are important as a person – we want to see you shine! If you feel good, you also beam into your work and within the team. Self-care is therefore important for us, we eat healthily and take time for ourselves.
We want to use your talent as well as possible and develop as much as possible. You, therefore, get the space and the opportunity to do so.
The office is very nice and comfortable, there are clean desks, the team works with tools to make everything efficient.”
How does it reflect on the benefits:
- Daily fresh fruit and protein bars and the team has monthly healthy dinners.
- Employees get a discount on the products and the salon
- A hairstylist at our Fabulous Friday meeting.
- Employees can adjust their working hours to their work-life balance.
- A minimum, and no maximum number of holidays.
- A budget for personal development,
If the team achieves targets there is a wellness day at a beauty institute.
As you can see, the benefits are aligned with the companies’ values. If you value health and well being, and personal development, and want people to shine, you lose credibility if you tell them to come to work between 9-5 or not allow them to take their time off when they need it.
I think the Fabulous Friday meeting with the hairstylist is a great idea. It so fits the “let your light shine” value. And of course, if you sell shampoo, it is super smart to make the people look fab in the weekend!
Reviewing the people processes
All of the above is been translated to a culture book. Next, to that, We also reviewed the labor contract, job descriptions and benefits packages.
For example, the labor contract was a very long (21 pages) legal document that stated working times and all kind of rules. We created a new one, with just a few pages. We have created some additional policies, such as the unlimited holiday policy and flexible working times.
Insights on core values
Your companies’ value set is a work in progress. Over the next years, as the company grows and evolves, we will be working on both reinforcing and revising the values.
If you can create this, you will have a great culture with motivated employees and an employer brand that will help you to attract the right people.
Just one more thing: don’t just go around introducing a Fabulous Friday with a hairstylist now. First of all, you are probably not a beauty company. Second of all, you are your true and authentic self and I am sure we can do a great job translating your core identity to your culture.
Please contact us for a chat, I am sure we can have a quick brainstorm to get you started in the right direction!
