What Makes a Company?
When Rowe IT started, we had a clear vision of the values we wanted to encapsulate. They underpinned everything we did from recruiting to customer relations. They defined us and the culture that grew from them, but they were not set in stone. Our Values developed as we did. They started to reflect every new hire and every lesson learnt. They evolved as every good company should but up until March 2020, we had worked mainly face to face. We also worked from home but were still able to spend time together in the office. Then Covid-19 struck and we moved to working fully remote. This presented new challenges . It also raised a new question:
Do company values still matter when you are working from home?
Or more fundamentally:
What makes Rowe IT?
Is it an office? A logo and a name? Or a collection of individuals working towards the same goal? Or is it just a legal term?
Every Company will have a different answer dependent upon their goals. It is the ‘Why’ the company exists that can define it. Rowe IT came into being from a drive to work alongside clients to provide software solutions which exceeded their needs. To share knowledge and create value by understanding their challenges. This ‘Why’ became our Values which were easy to share and recruit within when we were able to collaborate and meet face to face. It was easier to define who we were as it was tangible. You would see it in the workspace. You could hear it in the office conversations. It was a collective experience. Then came the pandemic. Would this translate to working remotely?
The company is still exceeding expectations because we have great people who continue to share their knowledge and work brilliantly online. Each project is a strong unit, sharing their experiences with the wider company through catch-ups and chats. The growth mindset is visible as we work hard to provide a ‘Skills Academy’ for new recruits with learning and development opportunities. We continue to work ‘alongside’ our customers by ensuring we understand their pain points and working as a joint team. So, in many respects, our Values remain unchanged and have been strengthened by a need to remain connected. But does that still make us ‘Rowe IT’?
It has become apparent that a Company is actually a sum of all its parts; name, branding, office, people, customers and marketing just to name a few. It is important to value and develop every part no matter how small or risk losing what defined you in the first place.
So as we look at the Values we have now, they feel more relevant than ever. This is who we are. This is Rowe IT:
- Relish the challenges. They help you develop.
- No one knows everything. It is good to share.
- There is no them and us. Just one team.
- We are all human. Be kind and respectful.
- Change is good. It brings opportunities.
- Keep learning. Tomorrow’s skills are not today’s.
