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Zetetick Core Values and behaviours:
What do you know about our core values and behaviours? Does your organisation or charity have them, does it use them as a foundation for its work as we do for supported housing?
Zetetick has core values as a bedrock to maintain stability, to help staff and clients know clearly what we stand for.
If you asked someone at the lower end of the hierarchy what your organisation was, or, what it stood for would they all have a slightly different answer or no answer at all? Even worse would they say words such as: we stand for caring, transparency without fully understanding what that meant as a value or in fact a behaviour?
Values you say, of course, we have values…’ work hard play hard’, ‘take responsibility’, ‘just get on with it’. But these aren’t values, they are ‘vibes’ they are a kind of feel for the place but they don’t truly influence behaviour.
Values and Behaviour (V&B) are the actions and ideals that support our vision and mission, shape our culture and reflect to the outside world as well as everyone that works for us who we are and what our vision and mission are.
Core Values and behaviours are your principles or beliefs
They are your principles your beliefs or philosophy of values, and come what may they last, sometimes forever. A fantastic example of this is the Judo moral code, enshrined by Jigaro Kano in 1882 for the new sport of Judo.
Courtesy To be polite to others
Courage To face difficulties with bravery
Honesty To be sincere with your thoughts and actions
Honour To do what is right and stand by your principles
Modesty To be without ego in your actions and thoughts
Respect To appreciate others
Self Control To be in control of your emotions
Friendship To be a good companion and friend
Each value does not stand alone but has a behaviour that goes with it.
Zetetick Core Values and Behaviours help us in the process of decisions.
For example, if one of our core values and behaviours is to stand behind the quality of our services, any service or part of a service not reaching the satisfactory standard must be automatically reviewed.
Zetetick Core Values and Behaviours enable service users, clients, customers and the public
To what your organisation is all about is about and clarify your identity. Having a set of specific Values and Behaviours that speak to the public is a priority. Sometimes one of these values can become a byeline in your work. One of Zetetick core values is inclusion and right now we are working on a pilot project in Lambeth for digital inclusion with our tenants.
Zetetick Core Values and Behaviours are here for the long term
Remember core values and behaviours are timeless and do not change; they are sustainable in the longer term, that Judo code is over 100 years old.
So how Zetetick decide what the behaviours and values are for us and set them up. Well, lets start by what we didn’t do, that is pluck them out of thin air because we thought they sounded cool. There is not a one size fits all here, this is not a process or best practice. We wanted to get this right, because our supported housing is first and foremost about people.
So we asked the people that work for us and work with us what they thought our values were and had a survey for people to rank the values.
Questioning your values
So after we had the list we began to ask important questions to see how our values would stand up
- Is each value, the value and behaviour of the organisation, whether or not it gets written down or put on a list or not?
- You won the lottery, you leave the organisation, are these values and behaviours that matter outside of work too? (look at that Judo Code to get an idea here)
- 100 years from now everything has changed, tech, actions, hair cuts, but do you imagine the list would still matter?
- How important are these values, what would you give up for them If they because of economics put your company at a disadvantage would you still want them to be the companies behaviour and values (Think miracle on 34th street here)
- Your individual success allows you to leave and set up on your own, which of these values would you take with you for your new charity?
The last thing we want here is a ‘WORN‘ document (Written Once, Read Never) Our Values and Behaviours are not just to put up on the wall, but must actively and openly be part of every aspect of Zetetick
Think of this on the 80:20 or iceberg principle, whether it’s your company, customer, candidate, a member of staff or your values if you are only displaying 20% and 80% is submerged and unused or unacknowledged you are providing your customers, your staff and your organisation a disservice. Our core Zetetick values in supported housing, are demonstrated by everyone from our Trustee Board to the volunteer that gives us a few hours a week of their time.
