The Core RELEX Values

I’m proud of how quickly RELEX has been growing in recent years, and also of the many colleagues we’ve added to our different country teams. In 2018, we welcomed 182 new RELEXians into the fold, which can only be seen as great news. But it brings with it a challenge: how do we maintain the core spirit and feel of working at RELEX as we take on large numbers of new people? Thankfully, the approach we’ve taken so far seems to be working. I think we’ve kept our sense of fun – something I’m determined we should retain, even as growth forces us to implement the new processes and structures that will keep us effective and aligned to our mission.

We’ve put a lot of effort into maintaining our work culture at RELEX. A big part of our success comes from consistently spelling out our values, which have remained the same since 2009, when there were just 18 of us. When the time comes for me to address RELEXians each quarter, I always start by setting out our core values and what they mean.

I do this for two reasons: 1) there are always new hires hearing me lay them out for the first time, and 2) so that everyone, even our oldest team members, keep them constantly in mind. I also believe that when each RELEXian is aware that their colleagues know our core values, it reinforces the sense that we’re all expected to behave according to them, which is our ultimate goal. So here goes! The core values of RELEX are:

1) The customer is a friend.

We have a genuine interest in our customers, their challenges and their opportunities. We meet and communicate with them on equal footing, and we always keep our promises. If we can foresee potential challenges in the future, we discuss them early and transparently with our customers. We do not wait for a miracle. We also expect fair treatment and communication from our customers – just as we do from our friends.

2) The colleague is a friend.

We want to maintain a low hierarchy where colleagues are treated as equals and there are no boundaries in how we interact with each other. Our guiding principle is to “respect expertise but question all authority.” All issues should be judged on their value and the quality of the argument, not on the source. After all, if the core meaning or intent of a request is unclear, you can’t deliver on it. That’s why we believe that if something’s meaning or a piece of reasoning is questionable, it should always be questioned.

3) We provide measurable value.

If the customer doesn’t derive real value from our work, we haven’t earned our pay. In everything we do, we should always be driven to understand where we’re creating value. We operate best when we can grasp, on a profound level, the meaning of any customer request – why is it important and how will it provide value? Only then can we truly deliver that value. We want to bind our own and our customers’ futures together through clear measured value and great service, not through contracts.

4) Stop stupid things!

We work in a complex and fast-changing world and organization. Many corporations develop multi-faceted processes and procedures to give a greater sense of control — for example, pointless internal reporting. Furthermore, we and our environment keep changing all the time. Practices that were very fit for purpose two years ago may well have grown stupid for where we are now. We need to consider everything we do carefully and put a stop to things that no longer add value or never added value to begin with. Every action we take should achieve one of three things: 1) increase customer value, 2) increase our efficiency or scalability or 3) just be plain fun.

5) Life is supposed to be fun.

We are deadly serious about what we do, and the scope of our ambition in terms of quality is mind-bendingly high. But we don’t want to take ourselves too seriously! We are blessed to work with great colleagues and customers, and we continuously face interesting new questions and challenges where we can test our processes and skills. If we don’t enjoy this process and take the opportunity to laugh when appropriate, then frankly, what’s the point in all of this? I love what I’m doing, and that is such a great feeling. It gives me so much energy that I’m adamant that RELEXians should have the opportunity to craft their work role and days to match their ambition and desire.

The five values above summarize how I see RELEX as a company and RELEXians as a team operating, whether amongst ourselves or with our customers. These principles should guide our behavior every day. RELEX is growing fast and we’re always adding new faces, but the success of our mission rests on maintaining this core culture no matter how big we get.