Axians – Bringing core values to life together

Hear it, believe it, live it

In an earlier process, the organisation formulated five core values with each other. These did not come out of the blue, but are characteristics that make the company stand out to their customers. Elements that are recognisable and felt by everyone, from management to shop floor. Axians operates in a way that is responsible, empowered, entrepreneurial, trusting & transparent and inclusive.

Of course, you can formulate such beautiful core values and put them on your website, but it is more valuable to actually pay regular attention to them. Share them with each other, talk about them and actively apply them in your daily work. Keep it alive together in a convincing way, so that the entire organisation is convinced to act according to it. Flatland believes in co-creation: not sending, but developing together and thus creating ownership and commitment.

The solution: the journey in several steps with appropriate work formats

We developed an employee journey for Axians employees, taking everyone step by step into the core values. As a leadership team, it is important to provide clear frameworks, because that gives direction and security. But within those frameworks, people need to feel autonomy and ownership to make the theme their own and apply it in their own way.

Because you cannot change others, you can only change yourself. So before a change, you want to engage with people so that they themselves start thinking about what the change means for them. Knowing employees’ expectations gives a manager the chance to respond to them. Good expectation management leads to better (team) results, more customer value, more job satisfaction. In short: more work energy!

Clear frameworks and room for individual input

We developed a programme for Axians with different moments and forms of work:

1. Introduction: Animation with examples
2. Deepening: Workbook that employees can use to think about it themselves at home
3. Triggering action: Workshop with serious game for interactive mutual reflection

After the core values are introduced in an animation, people can read further in a personal workbook. You can write down initial ideas for yourself, in preparation for the game. After the game, you translate these into your own points of interest, which you can discuss in the PMI interview. The PMI reveals how the employee values the organisation.

And because we visually bring together and make visible all the perspectives of the team members, it generates a lot of energy (and fun!). All resources convey the core values in an inspiring way that provides frameworks and is consistent, but at the same time leaves room for a personal signature.

Animation: what why and how

In the video, we see a multidisciplinary Axians team on a journey through a futuristic landscape. With the aim of bringing ‘the human touch’ back into ICT. Sounds perhaps pompous and serious, but the characters in the clip rightly ask:
“So much fun, but what does this mean for me?”

They face five challenges, needing the core values as a secret weapon. It places Axians and its employees in a rapidly developing, connected world and light-heartedly makes clear why core values are so important. Where is our focus as a team? What do we hold each other accountable for? What do customers notice about us? What is the value we deliver?

Game and workshop with the team: getting practical

To translate how an employee himself makes a difference to customers, we created a serious game. In connection with the personal workbook, we developed a card set for a role-play and an intervision game. Intended to playfully familiarise all employees with the topics, and their own role and actions in them. The situation cards feature questions such as: ‘You have miscommunication with a customer. How do you solve it?” or “You notice that agreements are not being kept.

Using the game, the team makes a choice together – per core value – what we are going to focus on in the coming period and what we can call each other to account for. Team members reflect on themselves and their cooperation and start working on joint and individual actions in their personal development plans. Flatland’s Janita is proud of the project: “This reflects all the values of the Flatland way of working: change through co-creation and visualisation, which has been proven to create energy and vigour!”