Vision, Mission, Values Archives

The Next Battlefront for Talent Retention: Purpose and Meaning

Let’s be real: free fruit in the office kitchen and the occasional pizza Friday are not enough to keep people engaged anymore. Employees today want more than perks, they want purpose.

And honestly, can you blame them? Work takes up a massive chunk of our lives. If we’re going to pour energy, creativity, and our sanity into it, it had better mean something.

Recent Massey University wellbeing@work research reveals levels of exhaustion have hit a record high – even higher than at the peak of the pandemic, with one in two workers now saying they are experiencing severe burnout. We’re all running on empty. And while there’s no magic cure, doing work that connects to your values, impact, and a bigger purpose can make a real difference.

Purpose Is the New Pay Rise

Don’t get me wrong, salary still matters (try paying your power bill with “good vibes” and see how that goes!). But increasingly, employees are saying: If my job doesn’t align with my values, or give me something to believe in, I’m out.

Gen Z and Millennials, in particular, are leading the charge. They’re not satisfied with simply clocking in and out. They want to know that their work matters, that their organisation is contributing to something bigger, whether it’s sustainability, social good, or community impact.

So yes, competitive pay gets people in the door. But purpose? That’s what makes them stay.

HR’s Role: From Payroll to Purpose Builders

This is where HR leaders step into superhero mode. Creating a culture of purpose isn’t just about putting “values” on the office wall; it’s about embedding them into the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and, more importantly, making sure employees actually feel them in their day-to-day experience.

Here’s how HR can lead the way:

1. Redefine the EVP

Move past the basics. Yes, benefits, flexibility, and salary are important, but your EVP also needs to highlight your organisation’s impact, values, and growth opportunities. Make it clear: working here isn’t just a job, it’s a chance to make a difference.

2. Invest in Growth and Development

Meaning isn’t only about global causes, it’s also about personal growth. Employees want to see a future for themselves in your organisation. Offer learning, mentorship, and career pathways that help them feel they’re moving forward, not standing still.

3. Show (Don’t Tell) Your Social Impact

Sustainability, diversity, inclusion, community, and engagement aren’t just buzzwords. They’re deal-breakers. Gen Z, in particular, will call you out if you’re only “purpose-washing”. Back up your statements with real initiatives and results, and make sure it’s authentic.

4. Lead with Authenticity

Leaders set the tone. Employees can smell insincerity from a mile away (and they’ll post about it, too!). Purpose only resonates if it’s lived, not just preached. HR can coach leaders to walk the talk and connect meaning to everyday work.

The Bottom Line

The next big battle for talent retention won’t be won with salaries or snack cupboards; it’ll be won with purpose, meaning, and authenticity. Employees want to believe in the work they’re doing, and organisations that deliver on that promise will see higher engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction.

The spicy truth? If you’re not building a culture of purpose now, your competitors will, and your best people might already be eyeing the exit.

Ready to Add Purpose to Your People Strategy?

At Spice, we know that retaining talent isn’t about gimmicks, it’s about creating meaningful employee experiences that inspire commitment and connection. From crafting EVPs that go beyond remuneration, to helping leaders embed purpose into their workplace culture, we’re here to help.

Add Spice to shape a workplace where people don’t just work for you, they believe in what you do!

Is Performance Measurement Shifting from “Me” to “We”?

Once upon a time (okay, like ten minutes ago in corporate terms), performance at work was all about you. Your KPIs. Your quarterly review. Your lone battle to impress your manager and maybe, just maybe, score a slightly bigger slice of the bonus pie.

But times are changing. Work is no longer a solo sport. It’s more like a relay race, with lots of passing the baton, and hopefully not dropping it.

So, here’s the question on everyone’s lips (or at least in every HR workshop):
Is it time to stop measuring performance as a solo act and start giving the whole team some credit?

Why “We” Might Just Work Better

Let’s be honest: the old-school annual review is about as exciting and useful as dial-up internet. According to research from CEB, a whopping 95% of managers aren’t satisfied with performance reviews. That’s not a typo, it’s almost everyone!

Why? Because these reviews are built for a world where people worked in silos. Newsflash: silos are for grain, not high-performing teams.

These days, work is wildly collaborative. It’s brainstorms, Slack threads, Zoom calls, and collaborations. They’re co-created and pressure-tested by teams. No one’s working alone anymore..

And yet, we’re still measuring success like it’s 1989.

From Star Performers to Winning Teams

Forward-thinking companies are turning the spotlight away from individuals and shining it on the entire team.

Instead of just asking:

“What did you achieve?”
They’re asking:

“How did your team do?”
“Did you help others succeed?”
“Are you a team player?”

Now, don’t worry. You’re still accountable. It’s just that accountability will be reframed within the context of collaboration, contribution, and culture.

Culture: The New KPI

Yes, culture. That fuzzy, feel-good word that’s suddenly muscling its way into performance reviews. And for good reason. Culture isn’t a poster on the wall. It’s how people actually treat each other when deadlines loom and coffee runs dry.

Ask yourself:

Are people lifting each other up, or elbowing for the spotlight?
Are teams working together or hoarding information like it’s the last piece of cake in the break room?
Are we living our values—or just listing them on the intranet?

When culture becomes measurable, it becomes meaningful. And that’s when the real magic happens.

Turning Ideas Into Action, with a Little Help from Spice HR

At Spice, we help organisations turn good intentions into great cultures. Because collaboration doesn’t just happen, it takes tools, trust, and a tiny bit of magic (okay, a lot of strategic planning).

🧭 Want everyone paddling in the same direction?
✔️ Try our Vision, Mission, and Values Workshops.
We’ll help your team lay the foundation for aligned, purpose driven teams.

💬 Sick of crossed wires and silent Zoom calls?
✔️ Our Team Charter sessions and DISC profiling tools decode the mystery of how people work and help people understand themselves, and each other, better

🚀 Ready to level up your culture?
✔️ Our Acentia-accredited Culture Workshops tackle the big stuff, like cross-team drama, leadership gaps, and turning nice teams into unstoppable ones.

Because let’s face it, high-performing teams don’t happen by accident. They’re built on clarity, connection, and a shared sense of “we’ve got this.”

The Bottom Line: Me + We = Success

The future of performance isn’t about the lone genius or the spreadsheet warrior. It’s about what we achieved, together.

The future of performance is collective, connected, and culture-powered.

So if you’re ready to stop measuring who ticked the most boxes and start rewarding the people who made real progress possible?

You’re ready for the “We” era.

And if you need help along the way? Spice is here to help you lead the charge, with purpose, with strategy, and yep, with a little extra heat..

Stamping Out the Potential for Workplace Bullying

Each May, Pink Shirt Day shines a light on the dangers of bullying. And having just celebrated Pink Shirt Day, we figured now is the perfect time to explore this topic.

As much as we’d like to think we left the bullies behind when we graduated from school, we really didn’t. While no one is pulling your pigtails or stealing your lunch money anymore (we hope!), bullying is still occurring in many different settings.

Unfortunately, one of the most common settings can be the workplace.

Bullying is not just about name-calling or aggressive behaviour. It can take on many forms in an organisation.

It’s important to be aware of the danger signs of workplace bullying so that you can maintain a safe and inclusive space for your entire team.

Let’s explore the ways you can make that happen.

What Is Workplace Bullying?

The truth is that workplace bullying takes many forms – it can look really different from one example to the next. Some forms of bullying are overt, while others are more subtle. So, you need to stay aware of what is going on in your business.

In a nutshell, workplace bullying is repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed towards a single employee or a group of employees. Bullying behaviour will generally create a risk to the health, safety and wellbeing of the person being bullied- either physically or psychologically.

We should remember that bullying is not just having someone in a grump or raging around on a one-off bad day. It is persistent behaviour that makes another person in the workplace feel intimidated, humiliated or threatened.

Workplace bullying can include:

Repeatedly yelling at someone or verbally abusing them
Regularly excluding people from certain meetings or social gatherings
Spreading rumours or gossip about people
Not passing on key information so that someone purposefully fails
Constant criticism or harassment
Threatening the safety of someone’s job without cause

Workplace bullying is really dangerous. It can negatively impact your workplace culture, along with the wellbeing, productivity and mental health of your team members. That’s why it is vital to manage any risks to your team by stamping out any hints of bullying in your work environment.

How To Create a Psychologically Safe Space

A safe workplace environment is one where people feel safe to speak up and share ideas, a place where they can make mistakes without persecution, and also a space to be themselves without feeling embarrassed or excluded.

Achieving an environment like this will do amazing things for your business. Your team will want to come to work and give their all. Safe workspaces encourage a healthy culture and a productive place for great team performance.

Here’s how you can infuse psychological safety into everything you do:

Start with your Company Values

Your Values are the foundation of your workplace culture and help to shape the safety of your people within that culture. Think of it like this:

Your Vision sets the long-term goal for your business
The Mission outlines the plan for how you are going to get there
Your Values shape how everyone in your team behaves to achieve your goals

When these three things are aligned, you have the ingredients for a collective focus, along with respectful and inclusive behaviour. With your values clearly articulated, everyone understands what good looks like – no excuses!

Tip: Values that encourage behaviours like kindness, respect and integrity ensure that everyone, from leaders to junior employees, will consistently strive for these qualities on the daily.

Create a Team Charter

Team Charters are a powerful way to unite your team. A charter includes the expectations for behaviour so that everyone can work better together.

It does that by providing your team with a shared understanding of how things are done in your workplace. If people step outside those expectations, then your Charter can help you address any behaviour not in line with your culture.

Tip: Develop your Team Charter together. If your people can be part of setting the rules and expectations for your business, they are more likely to follow them.

Craft a Code of Conduct

While your Team Charter contains the overarching principles of your business, a Code of Conduct is more of a formal guide for workplace behaviour. Right there in the name, a Code of Conduct sets the expectations for how people should conduct themselves while at work.

It outlines things like:

How you would like people to behave – punctuality, respect, safety and all those other good things should be covered in your Code of Conduct.
Conflict resolution – if a conflict should arise, your Code of Conduct can detail how to handle those moments or what to do if people have a difference of opinion.
Rule breaking – When boundaries are crossed, your Code of Conduct should detail what the response and repercussions will be.

When you have a formalised Code of Conduct, people know what is acceptable, what isn’t, how they can speak up if they feel something isn’t right, and how things will be dealt with.

Tip: Make sure your Code of Conduct is well communicated and easy to find. Include it in every team member’s onboarding pack, in your Handbook if you have one, and store it in an accessible drive or folder.

Encourage Open Communication

You want to make it easy and safe for your team to openly communicate about everything, especially the hard things. If people are able to raise their concerns early, it can stop things from escalating.

There are plenty of ways you can create open communication channels. Regular one-to-one meetings, fostering inclusive discussions in team meetings, and providing clear (and confidential) ways for people to raise any issues.

It is also important to normalise the process of asking for help without fear. Let’s face it, we are all human, and at times, there will be mistakes or errors made. Your workplace should be an environment where people can admit mistakes, receive feedback, learn and move on from the situation.

To do that, management and team members need to be real with each other. Your leaders should model behaviour that shows they are human. You should create feedback loops that work from the top down, but also the bottom up, and it’s great to praise curiosity, questions and suggestions.

Tip: Encourage communication by making the environment safe for people to speak up about the things that are bothering them. If you are receptive to the small things now, it lays the foundation for communication about the big things later!

Let Your People Thrive at Work

When your people feel safe at work, they are more likely to be productive, innovative and loyal. Obviously, that all means great things for your business!

If your workplace culture is good and free from bullying, then your people can truly thrive. So, it is important to level up your workplace safety in the psychological sense.

Here at Spice, we are all about supporting businesses to support their people! Together, we can craft policies and practices that help your people feel safe and respected whenever they are at work.

Chat to us now about how we can make that happen.

Vision, Mission, Values: The Recipe for A Purpose-Driven Workplace

What truly sets a thriving business apart in a world of shifting priorities and endless to-do lists? Spoiler: it’s not just snazzy logos or ping-pong tables! The real game-changers are purpose, clarity, and culture; all wrapped up in three powerful words: Vision, Mission, and Values.

These aren’t just corporate buzzwords. They’re the beating heart of every organisation that knows where it’s going, why it’s going there, and how it’s going to show up along the way.

Vision: Our Dream Destination

Think of your Vision as your business’s dream holiday destination. It’s that amazing place you’re all trying to get to – big, bold, and maybe a little scary (in a good way!). Your Vision answers the question: “Where do we want to go?” It should be inspiring enough to light a fire under your team and clear enough to steer your long-term strategy. Bonus points if it makes people say, “Yes! I want to be part of that!”

Mission: Why We Get Out of Bed

Your Mission is the reason you show up every day (well, that and coffee!). It’s your “why,” your impact, your purpose. A solid Mission keeps everyone rowing in the same direction, even on the days when the waters get choppy. It tells your customers, your team, and even your dog (if you’re into that kind of thing!) what you’re here to do and why it matters. It answers the question: “Why do we do what we do?”

Values: How We Roll

Your Values are the vibe, the glue, the unspoken rules of the road trip. They guide how you treat people, make decisions, and handle success (and setbacks). But let’s be real: Values don’t mean much unless they come off the wall and into real life. That’s where the fun (and the work) begins:

Run Values Workshops to get everyone involved in shaping your culture. Bring your people on the journey with you.
Create a Team Charter to provide clear direction and alignment around expected behaviours. These become your Guiding Principles.
Put it all in a friendly Handbook, along with your policies. A good Handbook should clearly set your expectations around ‘what good likes like’, as well as guidance on ‘how you do things around here’, and (and here’s the tricky part!) it shouldn’t put people to sleep!
Use tools like Extended DISC to help your people understand the different personalities within the team, how to adapt to improve communication and boost collaboration.
Design a warm Welcome and Onboarding experience that helps newbies feel the love right away!

When Vision, Mission, and Values Click

When these three are singing in harmony, magic happens. Your team is engaged. Your customers feel it. Your culture gets stronger, not just shinier. Alignment here means fewer mixed messages and more moments of, “Yes, this feels right!”

Build Your Foundation with Intention (and a Bit of Fun!)

Whether you’re starting fresh or doing a brand refresh, keep it human. Get curious. Involve your people. Laugh a little. Ask the real questions:

Vision: What do we want the future to look like (and what would make it awesome)?
Mission: Why do we get up and do this every day?
Values: What do we believe in enough to never compromise on?

Because, in the end, businesses that live their Vision, walk their Mission, and breathe their Values aren’t just doing business. They’re building something meaningful and having a great time doing it.

At Spice, we’re all about bringing your culture to life in a way that actually works. Whether it’s shaping your Vision, giving your Values a refresh, rolling out a Team Charter (that people will actually use!), or helping your team understand each other better with Extended DISC, we’re here to help. We also make sure your onboarding hits the right notes from day one.

Whatever you need, we tailor practical, people-focused solutions that match your vibe and support your goals. Culture done right. Just add Spice!

So, if you’re ready to build a workplace culture with both heart and direction, get in touch. Anything great could happen!