The employees of the Northlands Job Corps Center in Vergennes, Vermont recently undertook an exercise designed to strengthen the organization’s core values. The goal was to design a set of vibrant shared values and beliefs which form the organizational culture.

“This was the perfect opportunity to collaborate with the Center Director, senior management and all employees to roll out this positive process,” Human Resource Manager Nicole Gilbert said. “It involved getting employees to define and commit to Northlands’ organizational values, vision and mission.”

The staff worked together in a series of workshops to identify those core values. “The exercise is a process – not a one-time event,” Ms. Gilbert said. “The staff has been really excited, involved and committed to the exercise.”

The organizational values develop by the staff include:

Customer Focus

Respect

Honesty

Integrity

Education

Safety (physical and emotional) and compassion

A team approach to problem-solving

To demonstrate their commitment to these values, staff posed for a group photo. Banners with the values and photo were created and placed around the center campus. “We are in the early part of this initiative,” Ms. Gilbert said, “but anticipate a real positive impact on staff morale, engagement and overall team effectiveness.”