Reviewing and renewing a company’s mission and purpose is an opportunity for reviving enterprise and revitalising staff. Twist’s expertise is in creating the context for this to happen - an environment that delegates will find irresistibly interesting and a debate on which people can bring their own intellect and personal values to bear.

 

 

Take for example the ongoing project developed by Twist for the Bank of America in London. Twist was challenged to provide a forum for a discussion about leadership, teamwork and corporate values. The Bank is strongly committed to anchoring its activities and relationships to a sound set of core values. But ethical considerations can seem a long way off from daily business driven by financial targets and the need to enhance the company’s market position in a highly competitive environment. Could Twist help to join-up this loop? Rather than revive a rather stale theoretical debate, we directed our attention outwards. We designed a collaboration between the Bank and the Holloway Prison, one of our public sector clients, who have commissioned us to help them build relationships with organisations from the private sector.

 

Were corporate values, we asked bank delegates, more real and vital for prison officers who daily face potentially life-threatening situations? And wasn’t it easier to believe in them while working at the “coal face”, where you could see the effects of successful intervention, on the individuals and on society at large?

 

Whatever their preconceptions, the delegates found a day in the prison talking to governor, officers and prisoners, surprising and thought-provoking. While being inspired by the dedication of prison officers, the Bank of America staff also came to recognise a number of shared concerns and beliefs. Good teamwork and leadership were as much key products of an effective values system in the prison service as in the financial sector. And although prison officers worked directly with the most disadvantaged sections of society, the financial sector could have as much to contribute to the building of social capital.

 

Immediately after the day, the prison governor wrote to us.

 

“The officers are buzzing at the moment - uplifted by the fact that the outside world finds their work so interesting and more importantly valued."

 

 

For the Bank, it was exactly the type of kick-start to discussion that they had wanted. Delegates had concluded on the day that an organisation’s values were best understood in its style of leadership and work culture and that these values really did matter in practical terms. This provided an excellent foundation for future professional development strategy. 

 

But the collaboration with the prison is to be ongoing, with the Bank hosting a professional development awayday for the Prison Service at its London offices. In this relationship, if this is CR, it’s hard to tell who is the contributor and who the beneficiary.