Total Media Values Relaunch Day 2023

Back in 2018, our employees shaped our four company values: adventurous, team, integrity, and independence & individuality. Ever since, we have embedded these core values into everything we do at Total Media. However, 5 years on, we wanted to go one step further, and integrate these values into the very framework of our business. So once again, we turned to our employees and asked for their help in relaunching our values so that they become more tangible and useful in our day to day tasks.

How do we refresh our values without reinventing the wheel?

We are a behavioural agency who specialise in understanding human behaviour, so it’s only fitting that we created focus groups, made up of employees across all levels and departments, to work out what behavioural indicators we are looking for under each value. These workshops were also combined with anonymous surveys, and 1:1 visionary interviews with our leaders to understand their ideas of the future of the agency.

We used all this invaluable qualitative data to create guard rails for each behaviour. Each value manifests itself differently at each level as the business expectation evolves alongside individuals growing in their development. Within our ‘adventurous’ value for example, we identified that we were looking for ‘curiosity’ in employees at all levels of their career. At entry level this would be shown through a desire to grow and explore, whether that be through inquisitiveness or putting ideas forward. At manager level, we’re looking for curiosity to present itself as a desire to break new ground. This could be through sharing insights with new members of the team, thinking one step ahead, or providing incisive critique. Finally, in our leaders we are looking for curiosity to be fed into the wider business vision, not only through innovation, but by actively nurturing curiosity at every level and allowing it to flourish.

How do we bring all of this off the page?

We took the whole agency out of the office for a ‘Values Relaunch Day’. It was a fun and engaging way to embed our values with some lived experiences, whilst making some precious memories along the way!

There were four different rooms that each had an activity that made us truly live and breathe our values:

• Team: Azeem Amir, an England and GB Blind Footballer and disability rights advocate, hosted an amazing team skills workshop. By covering our eyes and ears, he encouraged us to truly listen, tune in and stay focused whilst completing various team exercises. This was not only a great team building activity, but an opportunity to understand the adaptations needed for a sensory impairment.
• Adventurous: Split into teams there was only one aim – protect the egg! This fun, creative task encouraged us all to think outside the box, whilst also spurring a little healthy competition!
• Independence & Individuality: We had the pleasure of completing skills exercises from the Crystal Maze Experience. It tested our brain power through puzzle solving and individual decision-making, whilst also helping to build the confidence to share your ideas with the wider group.
• Integrity: If you found £250 and no one was around, what would you do? That was one of the tough scenarios we were faced with in the integrity room. It was an opportunity to share your opinions, in a safe space, which sparked a lively debate that was still ongoing in the office the following days!

So what’s next?

The work has only just begun! Now that we have outlined our behavioural indicators, it’s time to weave them into every aspect of Total Media life. From our policy, procedures, systems, recruitment, appraisals, progression and succession planning, these behaviours will be the common thread that ensures we are always keeping our values at the heart of everything we do!

For more information contact us today.