Core values take root
One of the reasons why Holmen’s core values have so firmly taken root is that much of the business was involved in the journey towards creating them, which began in 2012. A key aspect of the groundwork was discussing topics such as ‘What does Holmen stand for today?’ and ‘What will Holmen stand for tomorrow?’. Workshops were carried out with representatives from all the occupational groups and markets, and it was from these that the values – Courage, Commitment and Responsibility – emerged and took shape. The senior management team was highly involved along the whole journey.
But the journey didn’t end there. It’s still going on now. Every day in fact. The values feel like a natural part of Holmen, but of course we need to work to keep them alive. They are therefore deeply integrated into our processes and tools – into our appraisal talks, as a supplement to our management by objectives model, as a basis for our leadership programmes, in our employee surveys, in our talent review process. The list goes on.
We are proud that we have employees who live by our values, and we see evidence of this all the time. The courage to suggest changes that can lead to improvements large and small. The commitment to current work and to moving forward. The responsibility to build sustainable relations with customers, stakeholders, colleagues and wider society.