Business Purpose Values Vision Employee Experience | Onit Case Study

Onit Logistics

Values, Vision, Purpose, Employee Experience: Making work great

Onit Logistics was founded by Justin Moore, Sam Bossino and Stuart Coutts in 2019 to set a higher standard in Transport Services for the benefit of its customers, couriers and team members. Having experienced extremely rapid growth, today Onit is an ever-increasing team powered by the organisation’s Purpose, driven by its Vision and guided by its Values.

The challenge

Before founding Onit, Justin, Sam and Stuart had spent many years fighting for better quality conditions for customers and couriers at some of the largest transport businesses in the UK. They were therefore only too aware of how important it was to define what Onit stood for early on in its journey, so it would continue to operate in the right way as it grew, powered by engaged team members as a result of a stand-out employee experience.

What we did

Workplace Culture, Employee Experience and Enagagement Review

Completing a Workplace culture, employee experience and engagement review resulted in us producing a comprehensive report that identified key areas for the organisation to focus on to continue to grow in the right way. Being informed by feedback from us and the Onit team meant that the leadership team were addressing the right things, as opposed to making assumptions around what to work on.

Values

Engaging the full team at various points throughout the Values discovery and launch processes, we worked closely with Justin, Sam and Stuart, asking them to share examples of Onit at its best, to enable us to understand how it operates as a business.

During the discovery process, the ‘box’ concept naturally stood out.

(Graphics: Nicola Kevin, White)

Purpose & Vision

Through a combination of prework completed by the leaders and online workshops, we supported the leadership team to reach their final Purpose and Vision statements:

Purpose:

We exist to do the right thing.

Vision:

To quietly deliver a better world.

Values, Vision and Purpose Launch

As the organisation is spread across various locations, we then designed a Values, Purpose and Vision roadshow, with Justin and Stuart visiting all Onit locations. By sharing examples of the Values in action, and stories of how we’d arrived at the Purpose and Vision, we created the emotional connection necessary for the team to be open to playing out the Values, Vision and Purpose in their daily work.

Employee Experience

Working on a retained basis, we’ve:

Created Values, Vision and Purpose-based recruitment materials to attract the right team members
Rolled out an easy-to-use selection process that focuses on a great candidate experience, whilst assessing potential team members for Values-fit and Culture-add
Created a job charter template, replacing the traditional job description with a charter that outlines how Onit’s Values, Purpose and Vision apply to each role alongside key activities, skills and markers of success
Designed an Onboarding process and associated documents to excite new starters, all underpinned by the company’s Values, Purpose and Vision
Created a Values, Purpose and Vision-based continuous performance management process focused on enabling each team member’s full potential
Produced a collaborative goal process centred around driving the organisation forward to achieve its Vision
Provided our Connection Injection framework and toolkit to strengthen team connection and support a high-performing, highly engaged, agile team.

Power Hours

Holding monthly Power Hours with the Onit leadership team leans into their THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX Value – We believe continuous improvement is an ever-present call to action. It offers the opportunity for each leader to offload, discuss solutions to culture-related issues that they may be facing and bounce ideas in a safe and confidential space.

The feedback

“When we founded our business it was just us – 3 blokes and a dream. Our passion, strongly held beliefs and personal values were evident in everything we did, from our approach to customers & suppliers, to the building of logistics solutions. We were the founders and we were Onit.

As it transpires, and this will be no mystery to fellow founders, it is very difficult to articulate such deep felt values to others as they joined the business. This was evident in some of the early hires where skill was unquestionable but attitude and approach was just not the “Onit way”. It was clear that we needed a way of demonstrating what being “Onit” actually meant. It seemed impossible until we were introduced to the team at Culture Chameleon.

The journey we have been on to define our Values, Vision and Purpose has truly enabled us to extract the DNA of our founder mentality and articulate it in such a way that it can be layered into every business process. From recruitment and onboarding of contractors to customer engagement and accounting, our Vision, Values and Purpose guide the way…the Onit way.”

~ Justin Moore, CEO, Onit Logistics