Introducing Our values

Over the past few months, we have been busy working on a project which will help define the future of Event Genius – how we work, how we communicate, how we interact with one another, and the culture that we want to create based on the values that matter most to us.

Now is the time to share our values, exploring why and how we embarked on this project, and what it means for the future of our company culture.

‍The Reason – Why have we done this?‍

‍Plenty of organisations don’t set-out their values. We think we need to, and here are some of the reasons why.

• Values create a shared expectation of how we should behave
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• Values and behaviours together help us to make decisions
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• Seeing our values in action can motivate and inspire
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• Values are a part of creating a culture that nurtures and supports talent

• Values create a sense of belonging

Event Genius is growing and evolving. The last two years have brought a lot of change; from the work that we do, to the ways in which we do it. Crucial to that growth and evolution is identifying the best parts of who we are, platforming what we want to take forward, and discussing how we can all contribute to a culture that we are proud to be a part of.

“Whilst we all had a strong sense of what’s important to us at Event Genius and what makes us who we are, a lot of us felt we were missing having that properly defined. 

We’ve been through a lot of change in recent years and we’ve had a lot of new faces join us (me included!). We knew that in order to strengthen and grow our culture, and to attract the right talent to join our team, it was time to create and launch our company values for the first time. 

It’s been a really fascinating and rewarding process hearing what’s important to everyone and coming up with our five company values as one united team. I am already excited to see the impact they are having and the focus they are giving us in how we behave and what we expect of ourselves and one another. It’s a very exciting time to be at Event Genius!” 

Katherine Sweetnam, Chief of Staff & General Counsel

‍The Challenges – What did we want to avoid?

From the outset, we wanted to establish values that could be at the heart of, and relevant to, daily life – our daily life at Event Genius but also beyond the working environment. 

They needed to be practical and guide all our daily interactions and decision-making; a value that is only relevant in exceptional cases is not compelling.

Over-complicating things, trying to define too much at once, or establishing values that aren’t sufficiently self-explanatory or properly explained could lead to inconsistent interpretations or even serve as excuses for negative behaviour.

For example – “I’m just being open”. Openness and transparency can be really positive and something we want at Event Genius, but they shouldn’t come at any cost. While we define our most important values and associated traits and behaviours, we are not denying that there are some basic human things like honesty and kindness that are non-negotiables too!

‍The Process – How did we decide on our values?

One thing was clear from the outset: this had to be a collaborative process which we all embarked on together, to come up with values that felt true to us.

More than 50 members of the Event Genius family came together over five workshops – led by our fourteen-strong ‘Culture Crack Squad’ and spread across London, Leeds, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Porto and beyond – to discuss what ‘values’ meant to them, and which specific values they wanted to be part of the company’s culture. We all picked out two or three which we believed to be the most important to us, and thought about examples of behaviours that we felt these values would drive and encourage.

These values were then shared with the group, with each member in turn ranking them and discussing them together; what they mean and how they might look in practice.

The end result after many workshops and a lot of brainstorming and discussion between members of our amazing Culture Crack Squad was the five values that we hope will now shape the future of our company culture.

The Result – What values did we decide?

• We are Curious

• We take Ownership

• We have Empathy

• We are Open

• We are One Team

Over the coming weeks we’ll be delving into more detail about each value; what it means, what it doesn’t mean, how it guides our behaviour, and talking to a member of the Event Genius family about why that value is important to them.

Beyond that, these values will continue to guide us as a business and shape the future of our company culture, hopefully for many years to come.

Watch this space.