The Vivify Values

This month we are delighted to officially launch The Vivify Values. To find out why our values are so important, we sat down with our Director of People and Culture, Lauren Bennett to hear more.  

We wanted to dig a little deeper into our values of Growth, Passion & Pride, Find a Way, and Partnership, to understand how they underpin everything we do throughout our company. 

Tell us about the Vivify Values. How did they come about? 

Despite being a young company, we’ve always known what motivates our people to perform effectively, while enjoying what they do. Our success in providing for our schools is fuelled by our culture, which is reflected in everyone on our team—from head office to the community hosts.  

Initially, the Director team established our company’s strategy and long-term goals. The next step was to clarify the nature of its culture via our shared goals and values. Although I have experience establishing, developing, and integrating values into previous businesses, this project has been my favourite so far. This is because everybody at Vivify – from host through to director to the newest and longest-serving team members – helped establish these values, giving honest feedback about where we are now, what success looks like to us, and how our values should demonstrate that.  

Why do you think it’s so important for companies to have values to live by? 

Values emphasise a strong culture that aligns with our purpose as a company. They help our employees reach their performance goals, guide our decisions, and strive towards the same thing. Values also show people from outside of our company what it’s like to work here and what we stand for. They enable us to develop school partnerships and form connections with partners who appreciate our company’s purpose and ways of working.  

In your words, could you tell us about the meaning of each value? 

This is an easy one and it’s part of what’s made these values so impactful already! We developed some behavioural statements with our senior management team to communicate how we work, particularly in times of pressure, challenges, or how we deal with a crisis. This is when our people can turn to our values as a guide. 

Growth 

Our first value is Growth – “Growth is exciting, but with it comes challenges. We are open to change and challenge - we celebrate it! We grow with the business." 

Find a Way 

Our second value is Find a Way: "Through the chaos, find solutions - then simplify them! Automate as much as you can. No problem is too tough for us." This is my personal favourite because no matter how tough a problem may be, there is always a solution. 

Passion & Pride 

Next is Passion & Pride: "What we do is inspiring. So do it with energy, vigour - whatever it takes. Feel proud of the work you do!"  

When we were creating our Values with the team, we found our people have a huge array of hobbies and interests outside of work. Many of them are really involved with their local communities - coaching rugby teams, making their own clothes, even setting up a charity. It’s no wonder this passion and pride shines through in the work we do. 

Partnership 

Last but not least is Partnership: "There will be times when we don't get it right. But we are one team. Be there for each other. We win together and we learn together. That goes for hirers and schools.”  

Support is one of the most essential things to hold a team together and we definitely embody that at Vivify. Vivify is a company that is built on partnerships. For example, we share the same values as our schools and local community groups, and we partner with them to help them thrive.  

How will Vivify live by these values going forward? 

You get a sense of what life is like at Vivify through our values. We're ambitious and we strive for growth, but we support each other and together we deliver something we’re proud of. We want to recruit people who feel aligned to our values and we use them to support team performance and recognise and reward people who showcase them through their work. The Director team hold each other to account in our weekly meetings, sharing a positive focus from that week and where we are seeing the values in action, using them to inform our decisions.  

How do I know that we have created a set of company values that are unique, representative, and aspirational? I hear it. I see it. When faced with a problem I hear people say, "Let's find a way". When we need another department to help us out, we say, "this is going to take Partnership" and we set up a cross-functional meeting to work things through. We have set up sprint teams and blitzes and other agile ways of working to come together to tackle problems that are standing in the way of our Growth. And we quite regularly receive spontaneous feedback from our schools and hirers to tell us how much they love working with our community hosts and the team out in the field for their professionalism, passion and pride in what they do.  

Our values might change in the future, but right now they form the foundation for Vivify to build on.  

At Vivify we understand the challenges our school stakeholders face daily. That’s why our flexible and comprehensive service is specifically designed to take out the time and effort of school lettings, meaning you and your team can focus on what is important while reaping some of, if not all the above benefits.  

Download our brochure here to find out more about how working with us can help you and your school. 

If you’re looking for a facility near you for your next sport, event, or game find your perfect space here.