James Kirk, Managing Director outlines our values here at Kaleidoscope and why they are important to our business:
“When I joined Kaleidoscope in 2015, we had a small team of just four people with a shared understanding of what was important to us – a progressive mindset, a commitment to keep things simple and acting with integrity. We didn’t write any of it down or call them ‘values’ – we just used them as an informal guide for everything we did.
Seven years later and we’ve now grown into a more complex company of 10 people, delivering work at a bigger scale across a range of disciplines. It is at this point of expansion, and a desire to build a strong creative community within the company, that we’ve recognised how a defined set of values will play a crucial role in our shape and growth in the future; and it is vital to clearly articulate them for ourselves, our clients and everyone that we work with.
Of course, Kaleidoscope draws on a rich heritage of business since the 1980s and with that comes a great wealth of how to do business ‘the right way’ – an inherent set of guiding principles and fundamental beliefs that enabled the agency to become one of the most respected in the Liverpool city region.
So we set out to combine the best of those unwritten values that had delivered a highly successful 30+ years of commercial performance, along with our ambitions for the business of the future. Through a series of interactive workshops across the team we defined a range of authentic, simple and easy to understand values that build on the past, but have an eye on the next phase of our growth”.
The result? We have five values. Each represents what we expect from one another, our principles for decision making and our framework for performance. Take a look below.
Honest and open
With ourselves, our team and our clients.
We know our strengths and what we’re good at, but we are comfortable talking about things that are challenging or out of our comfort zone. We approach every task in an objective and rational way, providing the right advice regardless of whether it is in our interests or not, keeping others up to date for good or bad.
Committed to quality
In the way we work and the things we make.
We drive ourselves to work to the highest standards and quality in everything we do – whether it is our creative ideas, the systems we use or how we communicate with each other. We invest in our space and tools to provide the very best environment for our team to work and thrive.
Working together
Strengthening the team and collaborating with others.
We recognise and respect our colleagues and the value they bring to the team regardless of which department they work within. We support one another, we share and engage at the right times and never leave a teammate on their own. We work together with our clients, listening and learning. We are open to ideas and suggestions from all and recognise the vital role that we all play in developing creative solutions.
Pushing boundaries
Growing as individuals and elevating others.
We are never satisfied and always see room to grow and improve – ourselves, our colleagues, our work and the business. From actively looking at new ways of working and personal development through to new tech and communication channels…it cuts across every part of our day-to-day lives within the business.
Agile and responsive
Embracing change and being fast on our feet.
We embrace change and roll with it. We operate in an environment that is always evolving and nothing is set in stone. We learn fast from our mistakes and consider change as an opportunity to improve and move forward.
So what next? We are conscious that its all too easy to define your company values, put the words on a wall and just sit back and think ‘job done’. So we have begun the process of embedding the values across our business – from everyday systems and processes, personal development and team meetings through to team events, employee awards and more. Oh, and we do have the words printed on our walls too!