Our Values
| We call ourselves ‘RedBallooners’ but what does that mean? We say that we are different, special, not like other businesses, a sea change for our team members who have left large corporations. But what makes it so? It comes back to who we are as an organisation and the values that we live by. It was from the feedback and stories that we shared about the people who worked at RedBalloon that ultimately began to give substance to the notion of our values. |
Naomi on our values... | |
| "We will do what we say we are going to do" |
During my corporate life, I remember asking many bosses to support me or assist with a particular project, only to find myself in a waiting game, wondering if and when they were going to do what they had promised. I thought about the level of trust I could create as a leader if everyone knew that if they made a request of me, they could count on me to deliver (or at least keep them informed if things don’t go according to plan). What level of trust would there be in an organisation where you knew that you could count on anyone? This is pervasive through every aspect of the business. The words and images on the website which describe our services, experiences and approach are also driven by our values, ensuring that our suppliers also fulfill on this value of integrity and do what they say they will do. | |
 | |
 | "Be generous" |
One of the things that I often marvel at is how generous people at RedBalloon are. Not just with customers and suppliers, but also with each other. When a new employee arrives, they are so welcoming and supportive. They are there for others, generous with their time, listen and provide information. We may well be a gift giving business so you would think that generosity is a given at RedBalloon. But you can never take any of the values for granted. | |
| |
| "Leadership" |
Having worked in organisations where the only thing that people were allowed to say was NO, we really want RedBalloon to be a YES organisation. I had seen companies were the manager or CEO becomes a total bottleneck for all decisions or where you needed to get approval to do something remarkable for a customer. This is why no matter which job function someone performs at RedBalloon, we want people to think outside the box, to innovate and be a leader with a sense of responsibility, ownership, accountability and entrepreneurial spirit. | |
| |
| "Have fun" |
A number of years ago Ike Bain, right-hand man to Dick Smith and author of 'The Dick Smith Way', said in a presentation ‘It's ok to have fun in business'. I absolutely agree, and so not surprisingly our fourth value is ‘Have Fun’. This does not necessarily mean that it’s party time all the time, but we do love to celebrate, laugh at ourselves and share a joke. | |
| |
| "A little dog with a big dog personality" |
Our final value stems from our commitment not to become bogged down in bureaucracy as we continue growing. Keeping the culture of innovation, flexibility, courage and `let’s give it a try’ to us is summed up simply with ‘Be a little dog with a BIG dog personality!’ In the early days we would enhance our size thinking that large organisations only wanted to deal with big businesses, which is not always the case. Large organisations often like dealing with nimble, focused, organisations. | |
