The Ways of Working at Crosscard

Oktober 22, 2020

By Kevin Murphy – CEO of Crosscard S.A.

During my time in Crosscard, I have been impressed by the resilience and fortitude of my colleagues. If there was ever a time that the acronym “VUCA” (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) describes perfectly the challenges we face, I think we can all agree that 2020 is that time! Like all companies, the uncertainties and volatility that our customers face confront us too. Colleagues were forced to cope, not only with an unexpected change to the cadence and rhythm of how we did our work but also how they juggled the competing demands of keeping their loved ones safe and getting the job done for our customers.

Despite the upheaval and uncertainty, everyone at Crosscard resolved to look to the future. It was clear to me that colleagues were looking for a compass, something to guide us towards our collective ambition of being (1) a truly customer-centric company (2) achieving ambitious growth targets and (3) being a great place to work. I found my colleagues were keen not to be distracted, in fact, were eager to grapple with this unfamiliar and emerging “new normal”. As I reflected on what I was hearing and seeing from colleagues, I realised that they were not asking me to tell them what to do, but rather asking how they could help Crosscard navigate this VUCA world.

Obviously, I was very encouraged by this and sought some external help to see how we might turn the enthusiasm of colleagues into a consistent framework and narrative that would help us all get on the same page. After a relatively short period of consultation with several colleagues, we settled on describing six behaviours that would act as a compass, helping us navigate our way to fulfilling our ambitions.

What makes me most excited about this work is that the six simple behaviours were shaped by colleagues. The objective of the six behaviours is that they will guide how we work with each other and inform how we intend to support people in their role. Perhaps an even better feature was that they were taken from views shared across our diverse workforce; providing confidence that our preferred way of working is truly shared amongst us all. Now we don’t only have a compass, but a map to chart our way to succeed on our collective ambition.

Our six behaviours are…

CURIOUS LEARNER – Be a proactive learner, be curious about gaining new knowledge that can help me perform and develop to be the best possible version of myself.

COLLABORATION – Accept that success has many participants, and everyone should try to be involved in that success! This means getting involved to solve issues and being creative! And most importantly, sharing knowledge, tools and information to help our team succeed.

ACCOUNTABILITY – Always behave consistently and with integrity. This means committing to completing work on time, to high standards and holding oneself accountable when things go inevitably wrong at times.

AGILITY AT PACE – We work hard to connect the dots to find the answer, most importantly we act quickly to find the right route to solving a problem. Together we are obsessed at solving any pain points and the key question we ask is… “What can I do to help this move on quickly?”

BELONGING – All colleagues should feel valued, welcome, and heard. You belong in Crosscard when you offer and receive acceptance and inclusion, without exception. ‘Belonging’ is about showing each other understanding, compassion and support.

EXPERT – We work hard to constantly improve in our role and also work to understand the roles of colleagues and our customer’s needs. Being an expert means sharing ideas with colleagues so that we help each other get better all the time.

What do the six behaviours say about us in Crosscard? I think they demonstrate that we want our company to strive to get better and better every day, and set ambitious goals that are hard to reach. Through innovation and enthusiasm, we aim to improve our company, not just by standardising our products and having more product propositions, but by working better as a team and focus on becoming an even better place to work!

If you are also a big football fan like me, then you will also understand how teams function. They need three main things from each player (1) Technical competence – they need the skills (2) Tactical competence – they need to understand where they fit into the team’s strategy and play their part (3) A good Attitude – Have the passion and heart to want to succeed. Through their journey, teams need to keep on encouraging each other, communicating regularly and holding each other to account for maintaining high standards. I am so proud that our team formed these behaviours and would encourage any team to discover what behaviours work in their company. In Crosscard, we are striving to be the best we can be every day and know that we can only achieve that if we work together and live our six behaviours as a team.

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