Why Workplace Values Matter
Written by Sarah Schadek-Keane
As a leading recruiter for the actuarial and financial services sector, Emerald Group is a vibrant and busy place to work. And it’s not just what we do that matters. The way we work affects a lot of people – our own employees as well as the candidates and the clients we support. We want to provide an environment where people can succeed and live their best lives, professionally and personally, whether we’re interacting with colleagues, helping clients meet operational goals or changing the lives of candidates as they find new roles and move forward with their careers.
Values to Work By
As a team, we have agreed key principles that we want to guide our work: inclusivity, professionalism, integrity, relationships and community.
We celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion, treating people the way we want to be treated ourselves. In practice, this means respecting each other’s priorities and working practices, supporting different backgrounds, skills and views.
We trust each other, and we want our clients and candidates to trust us. That’s where our professionalism comes in: we bring integrity to all our actions, valuing quality and transparency as essential to everything we do.
We also support each other and place great importance on the relationships we have in the Emerald Group workplace and in our wider professional communities. As recruiters, we’re genuinely interested in people, and this is a great foundation for how we interact.
Values in Action
Increasingly, we talk to clients about the values that guide their company, so we can bring discussion and understanding of these values into the recruitment process. They are key to finding the right person for each role, helping to ensure candidates will be a great fit for the hiring company.
Similarly, many candidates have strong professional and personal values that they want to see mirrored in the workplace. Actuarial professionals take their careers and employment choices very seriously and values such as social responsibility and diversity are fast becoming essential considerations in their choice of employer. For example, in Emerald Group’s recent survey of young actuaries (2023), 47% of respondents thought it was important to work for a socially responsible company.
As a candidate, sharing your values with your recruiter early will help make a career match that encourages successful employment and career progression.
Values Every Day
As it becomes increasingly important that we live our whole lives in a way we are proud of, workplace values matter. Whether you’re hiring, job hunting or looking for a better shared experience at work, both you and your colleagues will create a sense of unity if you define these values, talk about them and keep them in mind as you go about your working day.