Living your values: strategies for embedding core principles in your EVP

ProfitAbility Business Simulations is an organisation dedicated to creating memorable learning experiences that make people better at their jobs. Their games empower organisations to make a positive impact on people, the planet, and profits. With an impressive score of 96%, it's clear ProfitAbility is serious about giving employees the freedom and autonomy to work how they want.

But it's not just about how they work—it's about how they feel.

Passionate about making a difference, ProfitAbility wants employees to share in this enthusiasm for creating real change. They do this by embedding their core values into their Employee Value Proposition, putting them in a better position to attract and retain top talent.

To find out more about how ProfitAbility has created a fulfilling environment where people feel valued, we spoke with ProfitAbility's Chief of Staff, Yasmin Biggs.

1. Can you share some insights into how your company defines its core values and principles?

At ProfitAbility, we believe in people being themselves, putting well-being before work, and acting with the utmost integrity at all times to exceed client expectations. We live by our 5 core values:

• Be different
  e.g. embracing alternative approaches and inclusive decision making
• Well-being first
  e.g. we show empathy to our colleagues and take breaks when we feel like we are unable to give our best
• Open communication
  e.g. we share our work and outcomes freely, and regularly, and are highly responsive to one another 
• Act with integrity
  e.g. we support each other, try our best, and take responsibility 
• Passion for impact
  e.g. we all love game based learning, however, we all have our hobbies and interests outside of work

2. How do you make sure that your company's values are reflected in your EVP (Employee Value Proposition)?

We regularly review our employee offering and whether what we have is aligned with our company values, how our employees feel about them, and whether any changes need to be made. Collecting regular feedback from our current and past employees (via exit interviews) is critical to being able to implement those changes. Once we have identified and defined the key points to include in our EVP, these are clearly laid out and communicated to existing and new team members, and shared with our wider network. 

3. What strategies do you use to communicate your company's values to both current employees and potential candidates?

We lead with our EVP on any job adverts that we put out to ensure that we are reaching those that are aligned with our values and resonate with our message. It is really important to us that any potential candidates show us during the recruitment process that they are culturally the right fit for us. Equally, any current employees that exhibit behaviours that are not aligned with these are given feedback and asked to make improvements. 

4. How do individual and team wellbeing goals contribute to the success of your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)?

Well-being is one of the most important values to our business. Without healthy and positive employees, our team suffers which ultimately leads to business performance suffering too. Post Covid-19, we gave a huge amount of focus to the wellbeing of our people as a critical to our business, and as a result of this, we have seen 40% YOY business growth.  

5. Can you share any specific initiatives or programs that your company has implemented to reinforce your core principles in the workplace? 

• Regularly review our values and our mission in 6 monthly staff away days 
• Feedback via 1:1s and personal development plans 
• Team ‘All Hands’ session every Monday 
• Quarterly anonymous surveys 

6. What are some of the benefits and policies you offer that contribute to you becoming a more inclusive employer?

• Unlimited holiday 
• Pet friendly office 
• Flexible working hours 
• Enhanced maternity and paternity packages 
• Health/medical cover 
• Electric car scheme 

7. How do you measure the impact of your EVP in aligning with your company's values?

We do this by looking at people performance metrics and tracking if business performance KPIs are being met. People performance metrics include indicators such as employee engagement, retention rates, and satisfaction surveys, while business performance KPIs focus on revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and productivity levels. However, it's not just about the numbers; we integrating our company's values into everyday operations and make sure we challenge  each other when they’re not being upheld

8. What role does leadership play in embodying and promoting the company's values within the organisation?

Leaders set the tone for the workplace environment through their values, behaviours, and decisions. A strong and positive culture fosters employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. All of these can be and are measured regularly. It is also critical that leaders are comfortable enough to give each other feedback, both 1:1 and in group settings, to be an example to the rest of the team. 

To learn more about the benefits ProfitAbility Business Simulations offer as part of their EVP, you can visit their Flexa profile here.