Our Director of People & Organisational Development Mo Quadri shares what the new Values mean to her

Our values are how we do things at Oakland Care, the code by which we live if you like. Having a set of values that I believe in is really important to me and it’s a huge privilege to work for a company that is not only values driven but one whose values mean something to me personally.

Having a set of values, we have all signed up to also provides a road map so we know we are all working towards the same goal. I am a firm believer that nobody wakes up in the morning wanting to do a bad job! Values are the standards we set for ourselves and for others, they are about what is acceptable behaviour and how we expect to be treated.

One of my favourite sayings is you can teach skills and experience but you can’t teach a good attitude!

So how will I demonstrate our values of FIRE?

Well bearing in mind I hold the “people” agenda, I would want to be sure that everyone understands what it means to work or be part of our FAMILY.

What it means to deliver care or a service with INTEGRITY

What it means to work in an environment where you give and expect to receive RESPECT

And what we mean when we say we give EXCEPTIONAL care or service.

So, for me, the obvious starting point is to make sure that our processes, policies, communications, benefits etc demonstrate all of our values. For instance, my approach is to support, challenge and offer constructive criticism where necessary just like I would in my own family.

When I get it wrong, I will demonstrate INTEGRITY, by holding my hands up and admitting my mistake and try to learn from my mistake (or at least not repeat the same mistake twice!). Anyone who knows me, knows I absolutely hate saying I was wrong or I’m sorry, so I will work hard to avoid being wrong!

We are Family

Like in a family, we may not all like each other all of the time or may not like the decisions we have to make but we recognise that without each other we have no family. Likewise, within Oakland Care everyone is important because everyone has a part to play and as such, we all deserve to be treated with integrity and respect.

Everyone’s opinion is valid and so everyone deserves a voice and I will work to uphold that right for every team member within the organisation by not knowingly ignoring if something is wrong.

My role means that on occasion I have to make tough or difficult decisions or support others to make those difficult decisions. Where this is necessary, it will be done sensitively.

Leading by Example

Finally, having a set of values is meaningless if no one understands them or knows what they are so for me it’s about leading by example and making sure everyone knows what our values are so we can all hold each other accountable, especially if our behaviour doesn’t line up with our values.

So in summary what this long winded write up is about –  (never ask an HR person to do a talk or a write up! – they go on forever!) – is that for me, our values mean we respect each other, want each other to succeed, challenge each other appropriately but ultimately support each other because the success of the organisation relies on us all being successful individually.

Take a look at our new organisation Mission, Vision and Values below: