Galion Values Process

Business-oriented values

Values are an essential part of corporate culture, the set of operating rules, codes and formal and informal rites that make up the unique identity of a company. By “values” in the professional sphere, we mean the principle that prevails and guides action in the company : a reference therefore, or an ideal to be achieved in the case of aspirational values. It is therefore not a question of moral values, which are personal, but of “business-oriented” values that reflect the drivers of the company.

Initially defined to meet internal objectives, they also indicate how the company intends to distinguish itself from its ecosystem in the way it operates and achieves its mission. In this way, they forge a coherent identity, which works both internally with its employees and externally with its customers, partners or competitors.
The challenge is to forge a unique, and therefore powerful and attractive corporate culture, especially in terms of an employer brand.. As such, they contribute to the creation of value for the company, analyses Geoffroy Guigou (Younited): “I am convinced that there can be no huge business success without enormous human success.”

Giving the mindset

In addition to condensing the corporate identity, values play an essential role: to ensure the alignment of decisions and actions, whether in terms of recruitment, management, decision-making and behavior. Jonathan Azoulay (Talent.io) summarizes it this way: “values allow us to know if what we are doing is good or not, to define a way of operating, to set the rules in the company. It gives people a base of reference.” This is not about making the rules of procedure more glamorous: we are not talking about restrictive and formal rules, but about working better together. Values give substance, when the rules only dealt with form...
Frédéric Mazzella, (BlaBlaCar and Captain Cause) a pioneer in this field, compares values to a tutor who helps the company grow: in a fast-growing company, whose managers are less and less accessible, they empower employees by giving them the “mindset”, the reading grid. A must-have when remote work becomes the norm... In a sense, values replace processes, which no longer need to exist since each employee, regardless of their function or geographical location, can deduce the decision to be made from the values of the company.

Recruiting based on values

During recruitment, they are a filter and make it possible to ensure that the candidate is compatible with the company culture.. Hélène Mérillon (Youboox) has made her 3 values (commitment, creativity, fun) the common thread of her recruitment interviews. She can thus judge, in 10 minutes on the phone, whether the candidate has a “cultural fit” with the company. The method is profitable: Geoffroy explains that, since applying it, the number of recruitment errors at Younited has decreased significantly.

Conversely, values can make a difference for a highly coveted candidate. Or how to convince and seduce by your values... Simon Sinek recalls it, in “Start with why: how great leaders inspire everyone to take action”: “people don't buy your “what”, they buy your “why”. We are attracted to leaders who know how to communicate what they believe in. (...) That's what's inspiring.”

Values are also an interesting way to build loyalty. : if you choose a company for a job, you often stay there for its culture... “People are attached to the strategy, to the vision, to the values, they want to understand and participate in the company's decision-making process,” underlines Sébastien Bequart (Gymlib). In a professional world that is often criticized for its loss of meaning, values, by promoting the empowerment and impact of work, are real differentiating factors.
Collateral effect: values can reveal the incompatibility of employees with the company. Once the process of defining values was completed at Younited, Geoffroy realized that the departure of some employees was in fact explained by the “misfit” with values. If these had been formalized earlier, they would probably not have been recruited... Conversely, a person who has a skills problem, but also a real cultural fit with the company, will remain someone in whom it is useful to invest in training and coaching (see the article Firing on the subject). In the end, The compatibility of an employee with company values is a highly effective test: there is no room for doubt or for half-measures.

A powerful management lever

Even beyond recruitment, values are used throughout the HR process.

They are at the heart of on-boarding, whether through an interview between the founders and the new collaborator, or through an email about the values that the new employee finds when opening his mailbox...

They are effective management tools : by formalizing what is expected of them, they serve as a reference to reframe employees, whether on formal points (punctuality, etc.), on behavior, but also during evaluation interviews.

They make it possible to streamline information in a growing organization. To realize the value of “team spirit”, Alix de Sagazan (AB Tasty) has set up weekly “hi-fives” where each team says in 2 minutes what they did the previous week. A moment of sharing which means that “no one can say that they did not know” comments Alix.
It is also a powerful motivator and a source of commitment.. For Jonathan, empowerment, translated into a value called “ownership” at Talent.io, has revolutionized the company by giving employees a compass to guide and encourage risk taking and initiative.

Embodying values

All businesses have values. All of them show their desire to be “innovative” or “caring”, to encourage “team spirit” and “creativity”. So what makes it “take” or not? That values become a reality or that they become... bullshit?!

The key word: the embodiment. The aim is to demonstrate that value is a reality on the ground and not a marketing tool.. “True differentiation is how it is activated” believes Jean-Charles Samuelian (Alan), “you have to be precise.” Value must therefore come down from its theoretical pedestal to become a reality on the ground. Otherwise, it will be perceived ironically by employees as an empty speech, which highlights the misalignment of management between words and actions... A big boomerang effect in the end!

Frédéric Mazzella has associated the 10 values defined with his BlaBlaCar teams with precise processes, which respond to many of the company's problems. Each thus finds its field of application and its own way of existing. “Think it/build it/use it” is about the user experience; “Never assume, always check” reminds us that decisions must be based on verified facts; “Vanity/Sanity/Reality” questions the choice of relevant data...

Geoffroy Guigou did the same thing at Younited: each of his 5 values corresponds to a tool, and must be embodied every year in a company project, quotations from customers and employees, in the booklet that formalizes the values. “Because if you can't find that every year, it means that the value is not embodied.”

At AB Tasty, says Alix de Sagazan, employees use virtual currency to send thank-you or congratulatory messages to each other. With this currency, they can afford products in line with the values of the company: a team breakfast for the value “team spirit”, a donation for an association for the value “benevolence”...

All this is not just “nice”: it leads to greater involvement, a better atmosphere, increased productivity, decision support... with real consequences for the business.

Values for all?

Are all the values of a company made for each of its employees? In teams that are often very diverse in terms of their jobs and profiles, how do you define values that are general enough to address everyone and specific enough for everyone to find their way around?

The main thing is that everyone can find a resonance in it, a subject that he or she can appropriate. “In fact, values are experienced differently according to profiles and professions, but they are consistent with everyone,” summarizes Geoffroy.

Business size and location, the two triggers

Opinions differ on when is the right time to define values. For Jérémy Clédat, from Welcome to the Jungle, his entrepreneurial project was simply built on the values he wanted to implement.

For others, the company must have reached a certain degree of maturity in order to see the values that correspond to its DNA emerge. The psychological threshold actually depends on the feeling. Gregory Pascal (Extrême Sensio and SensioLabs), estimates that there are 10-15 people, or “as soon as there are intermediate management layers and there are too many of us for information to flow naturally.”
The second criterion is that of location: a few years ago, the move abroad often served as a trigger; today teleworking has made it indispensable. The definition of values becomes an absolute imperative as soon as teams are scattered and when recruitment is done locally., so as soon as the company becomes multi-site and multi-cultural, to guarantee the alignment of decisions and actions with the company's vision.

The starting point: the conviction of the founders

Values only reflect the company's DNA if the founders believe in their importance. It is therefore up to them to initiate the project.. “You have to believe in the virtues of soft skills, internal communication, and management” testifies Geoffroy.

The founders' conviction is all the more important as the process, long and demanding, takes at least 3 to 6 months, and requires significant involvement on their part. It is a strategic project in its own right, in the same way as a new international establishment.

Although the founder (s) are at the origin of the project, it is not necessarily a solitary job. On this complex subject, which must combine people and business, “dialogue and sharing with other entrepreneurs are fundamental” insists Jonathan.

A collaborative process

The process of defining values is done in several steps, which mix top-down and bottom-up approaches. :

1. Definition of values by the founders
2. Explanation to the project teams to get them on board and make them understand their strategic importance
3. Work with teams to challenge this first choice, in the form of a questionnaire or seminar depending on the size of the company.
4. Analysis of the feedback and amendment of the initial project, formalization
5. Creation of associated tools and processes
6. Communicating values internally and externally

The top-down approach, at the beginning of the process, shows the teams the strategic importance of the project and allows them to offer values faithful to the vision of the founders. The involvement of employees, in a second step, leads them to appropriate values by adapting them. Finally, dissemination by the founders finalizes the process by making the values visible. A hyper-collaborative work therefore, which proceeds by iterations.
It is also a very internal process: values defined by an external consultant would not have credibility in the field. Unless the latter remains within the limits of a “midwife” role. Because raw material is the heart of the company, and it is necessary to have experienced it in order to achieve coherent values that can be appropriated by all.

Formalization and dissemination, the culmination of the process

The formalization of values — wording, design — is essential to promote their appropriation by teams.. Thus, the 10 values of BlaBlaCar are formulas whose highly studied musicality records them very easily in memory. As for their design, it uses the company's color codes. It is through this extremely effective mixture of content and form that these 10 values have become the signature of BlaBlaCar.

Especially since they are widely distributed: displayed in offices, available in stickers, recalled at company events... An omnipresence that fulfills an essential function: not to remain implicit! “You have to express things so that there is no risk of them disintegrating.” summarizes Gregory Pascal.

In this logic, Geoffroy Guigou had Younited's values translated into the language of each country of establishment. Not only because not all new employees spoke English, but also to encourage ownership. And avoid misunderstandings...

A living matter

Resulting from a heavy process and translating the identity of the company, the values are long-lasting. However, they must be questioned regularly. in order to verify that they maintain meaning and consistency in relation to the evolution of the company, especially in a phase of strong growth. New value can provide an answer to a new problem or an emerging need. It is a living material, which changes with the company and the employees to remain faithful to their identity.

Although values are the core identity of a company, they are often overlooked by the founders of start-ups. : at first glance, they do not offer immediate profitability. However, while their ROI remains difficult to quantify, they have tangible repercussions in terms of recruitment, integration and retention and make a difference in terms of involvement, organization, understanding and ownership of company rules and vision... Productivity, in short!

As such, they are essential for a company that claims to play a leading role.. This is already obvious today, when the shortage of talent is reversing the balance of power between employers and employees. It will be even more so tomorrow: while in 2025, Gen Z will constitute 27% of the workforce, 40% of Gen Z and Millenials refused a job that was not in line with their values according to the “Gen Z and Millenial Survey” carried out by Deloitte in 2022 on more than 23,000 young people from 46 countries...

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