What Do Our Core Values Say About Us?
Taylor Miller | October 26th, 2020
When you work for, or with, a company with strong core values, you’ll know it. Core values define and guide every single business decision, the company’s culture, and even the customer or client experience. Whether it is short-term decision making or long-term strategic thinking, the core values should be at the forefront of every discussion. Here at AWH we have eight core values we live and work by. Everything we do, from recruiting to how we treat our clients, is driven by our core values.
- Awesome Comes Standard
- Results Focused
- Transparent
- Stay Curious
- Deliver, with Value
- Own Selflessly
- Situational Awareness
- Integrity
- Teamwork
Awesome Comes Standard
This is our first core value because it encapsulates the essence of the rest of our core values and who we are as a company. We don’t call ourselves an elite team just because it sounds good, we mean it and we stand by it. I couldn’t have said it better than our Operations Manager, Angie, “Consistently expecting excellence of yourself and your work drives us forward and helps deliver awesome results.” It starts by hiring the right people. We hire team members who work in the best interest of the product and the client. At AWH, we expect awesomeness from each individual team member and in turn, our clients expect awesomeness from us. We set the bar high, and then make decisions and implement processes to achieve excellence, or in our words, awesomeness.
Results Focused
As a technology firm, it shouldn’t surprise you that we are all about results. While “Awesome Comes Standard” is an overarching theme to everything we do, being results focused is how we put that into action. We’ve already established that we have high expectations for our team members, but how and why do we measure those results? Put it this way, every business decision is designed to be measurable and accomplish a goal. Knowing the business impact of our decisions for both our clients and us. We have put processes into place to hold team members accountable, provide support or training when requested or needed, and report on those results. Understanding how to measure results is paramount to growth and improvement, whether we are talking about the personal and professional growth of a team member or the growth of the company. An example of how we implement this core value is by utilizing a scrum agile project framework to provide consistent, open and honest communication that leads to better products, and more cohesive teams. This is a great segue into our next core value.
Transparent
Being transparent really translates into having open and honest communication. Our team members aren’t surprised by performance reviews and neither are our clients surprised by the quality or expense of a project. We are open about our capabilities, costs, and timelines, and we aren’t afraid to tell a potential client that we aren’t the right team for them. We operate and communicate with candor, directness and authenticity. We emphasize transparency internally and externally which allows us to build better, more informed, digital products and to offer our clients a better client experience.
Stay Curious
Staying curious is integral to who we are as a technology company. We can’t offer our clients the best in technology if we aren’t up to date on what’s new or trending. We are always learning and improving our skills and our craft. As our recruiter, Robin, put it, “It speaks to the heart of who we try to hire. Staying curious means you stay engaged. Staying curious means you're always learning.” We not only encourage curiosity among our team members, but we also look for this trait in new hires. When we make curiosity a priority, we have happier, more engaged, and motivated team members which allows us to offer our clients better, more innovative digital products.
Deliver, with Value
We want to make sure we are adding value as we deliver brilliant, standout ideas and solutions that are on strategy, by leveraging the power of creative thinking and collaboration. We set our expectations high and then strive to surpass them. We will work tirelessly to deliver something that both our clients and AWH can be proud of. Things can change, whether that’s a new technology or a global pandemic, and there are often situations where we have to pivot into an entirely new direction, but we don’t quit. Many of our clients and many of the projects we work on have a social value, so we are not only delivering for our clients but for our community and the bettering of society as a whole.
Own Selflessly
Own Selflessly is pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll give you some more context on what it means for AWH. 25 years ago, AWH was founded and went through the same trials and tribulations that most founders go through. Through that process we have learned the importance of setting aside ego for the good of the company, team, product, and client. Take ownership and collaborate as a team. The work and the team come first. Katie, Sales and Marketing Coordinator, said it best, “I love owning my area while also feeling like it's ok to bounce ideas off team members and get different perspectives when I'm stuck. I have yet to encounter someone on this team who is not willing to jump in and help when needed.”
This sentiment is reiterated by Tommy Elliot, Software Development Team Lead, when he says, “Own Selflessly is important for me, and for all of the team. When we all take ownership of our work, there aren't gaps in features, or gaps in communication, or people trying to shovel difficult tasks off their plate to someone else. Each of us is responsible for completing our work, and we do what it takes to see our tasks to completion.” When we put an emphasis on accountability and take out human egos, we build better teams and in turn better digital products.
Situational Awareness
UX/UI designer, Jess Esplin points out the importance of Situational Awareness as a core value when she says, “I think Situational Awareness is really important, especially working as a consultancy - knowing what to say and when in client meetings is a valuable skill!” We build software as a service, and we only have a business if we have clients, so understanding how to work with clients is a necessary skill for every AWH team member. This core value emphasizes the client experience. Being able to understand the context of the situation you are in. Respond to clients and co-workers in a way that shows you empathetically understand what is important to them.
Integrity
Having integrity is probably the single most important core value on this list. Integrity is about doing the right thing when no one is watching and having a strong moral compass. We need to be trustworthy and dependable in an honest, fair, and responsible way. As a company and as individuals we always put integrity first. Whether that’s in the way that we treat each other, clients, or even the integrity of the product we are building.
Teamwork
Although last, it’s definitely not the least. Individually we can go pretty far, but as part of a team, the possibilities are endless. We value the ideas and contributions of others, and collaborate as a team to achieve the best result. Teamwork is what makes AWH the best place to work.
All of these core values combined make us who we are and defines our every decision. At AWH our core values are integral to our company culture, ethics, and performance. We are an elite team of digital product creators and data problem solvers. This isn’t just a catchy slogan; this is what and who we are. By following our core values, we continue to achieve greatness for our clients and for our team members. If you are looking for a great place to work or a digital product consultancy that you can trust, contact us. When you partner with AWH you get Integrity, Situational Awareness, Selfless Ownership, Curiosity, Transparency, Results, and of course, the high standard of Awesomeness.
