From family guidelines to behavioural guidelines of schools and sports clubs to the constitution of states - rules for good coexistence can be found almost everywhere
Especially in today's times of constant change, orientation is necessary for every employee, but also for our customers. Because in the end it is not only the products, but also the way we work together and our corporate philosophy that distinguishes us from the competition.
Our guiding principles document stood unchanged for MACD's values for almost 10 years. The merger of MACD and Oaris in 2017, different ways of working, new products and corporate changes were reasons to look at the previous guidelines and update them.
It was important to us that the guidelines were not only defined by the management team, but that all MACD'ers were given the opportunity to give their personal input. Therefore, all employees were invited to give their feedback via an anonymous employee survey at the end of 2020.
The extraordinarily high participation rate of almost 90 percent speaks for the great commitment on the part of the team and for authentic results.
A great outcome was that MACD could already show very good results in the area of working atmosphere and cooperation, because:
The "good relationship with colleagues" was rated as the most important factor in cooperation. The most important values mentioned were:
For most of the participants, MACD was unique in a positive sense because of:
After evaluating the results and developing some measures based on the employees' suggestions for improvement, the management discussed the topic of "Corporate Guidelines and Philosophy" in two workshops in the summer of 2021.
The management first dealt iwith the question of what makes us special and what strengths we have as a company. The following key points were listed as strengths:
George Macdonald, CEO MACD:"MACD has these strengths because each and every one of us does our best every day. At this point, a big compliment to the entire team for their continuous efforts to move MACD forward."
Further, the management discussed the most important standards and working principles - these were merged with the results of the survey and the most important values for the areas 'Team', 'Customers & Partners', and 'Environment & Society' were written down.
Before George Macdonald presented the final MACD Philosophy to all employees at the company meeting in October, feedback from the team leaders was taken on board and considered.
Our Corporate Philosophy tells how we are and what we strive for, or as George said in a workshop: "Our guiding principle shows our DNA."
Even if we already achieve these points most of the time, there is of course room for improvement - as in every family, every state, or every company. Each of us should reflect on his or her behaviour from time to time and use the guiding principles as an orientation.
To ensure that this does not get lost in the day-to-day business, we plan to regularly put various aspects on our internal communication agenda.
Especially in times of remote work, the behaviour of management and executives is particularly important in order to exemplify the values and to communicate them to their team on a daily basis.
