The Icehouse

Challenge

We had existing values however they no longer represented the essence of our organisation. They weren’t being used daily, were not understood, and had little impact on behaviour. As a leadership team we knew that culture was important and realised that values were a foundation of that, hence the project originated.

Why Mel?

We chose Mel because of her previous experience in businesses like ours and because we knew she understood the world we live in. Mel’s credibility was important when getting buy in from the wider leadership team. 

Process and Solution

Mel led a thorough process:

  • Forming a deep understanding of our strategy

  • Interviewing the team and other stakeholders to determine existing core values

  • Synthesising information into a draft values set for discussion and approval

  • Creating striking visual icons

  • Aligning people processes and documentation including hiring documentation, the culture code for new starters, and aligning reviews with the values

  • Launching the values in a way just right for our team. 

Our new values “Stronger Together”, “It’s Personal” and “Expect the best” have had a positive impact on our business results, our resilience when dealing with change and our culture. Because Mel’s process was so thorough we are constantly reminded of the values and they have formed part of everyday life at The Icehouse. 

Tell me about working with Mel

Mel led a very collaborative process. She got close to the business to understand us. It felt like she was working in the business with us, but with the objectivity of an external provider. Due to Mel’s experience, we knew we were in safe hands and could trust the process. We appreciated that she took such a broad reach, beyond just our immediate team. 

Result

The values now inform a lot of our work - from strategic thinking and planning to how we approach sales conversations - you know that a process has been well designed and well executed when you hear the words regularly. Also, it’s great they are so easy to remember! As well as hearing the values in everyday conversation around the office, the board have also picked them up and use them to explore our strategic focus. Because of Mel’s behind the scenes work aligning systems and processes, they still remain as powerful today as when we first announced them three years ago. 

Because of Mel’s behind the scenes work aligning systems and processes, they still remain as powerful today as when we first announced them three years ago. 
— Liz Wotherspoon, Director of Growth