The USE* Code for Working
For me USE* has always been about demonstrating that, even in the harshest of competitive environments, the best qualities: honesty, care for our community, and compassion will win the day.
Jonathan Quaife, USE* Managing Director
From its foundation as UK Service Evolution, the key objective of USE* has been to deliver a distinctive corporate culture, and a distinctive approach to business. The basis of this is the USE* Code for Working.
The Code for Working defines how we, as a team, recognise and address the commercial and non-commercial challenges that compose our lives and our business. At USE*, it helps us stay true to our vision of delivering a distinctive corporate culture, and a distinctive approach to business, that leaves our competitors behind.
Simply put, the Code of Working is one aspect of our business that ensures our customers get a better quality of service, and a better team of people to work with when they choose USE*. And it means that as a business, at USE* we can wear our intentions on our sleeves. The Code for Working demonstrates the success of, and the USE* commitment to, a win-win-win approach to business: good for our team, means good for our customers, means good for our business. And good for our business means good for our team.
You Are Valued
- No one of us is any more or less important than any other
- We are a team because each of us has a critical part to play
- Everybody’s efforts are valid: everybody’s efforts contribute to the end result
Our Promise to Our Employees
- Wherever we can, we will honour and respect your needs
- At all times we will consider the best interests of the team as a whole, not just the concerns of any individual
- There will be no reward for shareholders without reward for our team: because each part of the team is a vessel for our success our success will always be shared with the team
- You recognise that everything you do is not for your own benefit, but for the benefit of the USE* team as a whole, and by extension for the benefit of those who depend on each of us for food, a home and education
- You recognise that at USE* our customers are your customers, and that your customers are our customers
- You recognise as USE* recognises, that it is the generosity of our customers that pays our bills and allows us to house and feed our families. For this you and our team at USE* owe them a debt of loyalty, respect and gratitude
- You understand that in USE* we are our customers’ helpers and not their masters. Even in disagreement you recognise that we will always show our customers deference and respect
- You recognise that in the USE* team we will treat our customers’ suppliers with the same respect that we would our customers. You recognise that working with our customers’ suppliers is just another way of working with our customers’ representatives
- You understand that you will build trust and respect in our team at USE* and with our customers by keeping your agreements
- You understand that communication in our team at USE* is the key to our success and professionalism. You agree to keep our leadership and support team at USE* informed of your actions, and to USE* them for support on all important decisions
- You recognise that there is nothing that you cannot communicate to our leadership and support team at USE*. You recognise that you have a direct line of communication to our leadership and support team at USE* whenever you need it
A Code for Working
- Pay Attention - stay in the present. It is the only place anything is actually happening
- Take Responsibility - this is your life, take it back. Either you get to own it, or you blame someone or something else for it
- No Kvetching - no whining, no snivelling: it takes you out of the present and lets you abdicate responsibility
- Don’t Accept Abuse - it’s very bad for one’s self-esteem to take abuse, in any form. Stand up to your tyrants, both internal and external. The cost is too great not to
- Do it Anyway and Do it Now - hard choices temper our strength and our integrity; they make the difference between a life of mediocrity and a life of excellence
- Don’t Give Up - look at what stops you, at where you give the effort up. That is the edge between becoming a victim or a spiritual warrior
- Keep Your Agreements - you are only as good as your word. The way we build self-trust and trust in others is by making and keeping our agreements
- Keep Your Sense of Humour - otherwise what’s the point? Humour helps to stretch beyond ourselves and our own limits
- Love One Another - otherwise where’s the meaning? It’s the way we remember we’re not alone in the universe
Case Studies
Case Studies
Code for Working
Honesty, care, and compassion—in business
USE* Calls the Samaritans
Team support for Active Listening
A Voyage into Branding
How UKSE became USE*