Tevera: from ‘great’ culture, to valued culture

Katie Sandquist was no stranger to The Culture Fix®, having been introduced to our first book prior to joining the team at Tevera as Chief Operating Officer in October 2020. An avid believer in the capabilities of fostering Culture Czars® and creating a valued culture, Katie approached Tevera’s existing Core Values with curiosity. Inspired to take their idea of CoreVals™ to the next level, she asked around to see if their original set of pillars was something that held value in the organization. While there did exist a set of ideals, they simply lived as words on a piece of paper. Katie knew that there was potential to take Tevera to the next level, and set her mind to working directly with our team to implement Culture Fulfillment.    

Katie remembers telling her leadership team that ‘[Working with Culture Czars] could make a big difference, and we could be so much more, so much quicker by implementing this.’ In early November, we started working together to take their ‘great culture’ and elevate it to a valued culture. 

Tevera exists to serve those who serve others, providing ‘the people and organizations who transform lives with solutions that elevate their academic, pre-licensure, and employment experiences.’ With Helping Professionals in higher demand than ever before, and a dedicated team passionate about serving others so they can serve better, Tevera was in a perfect position to dive into their CoreVals™, CorePurpose™ and overall corporate culture. 
It's not that Tevera was starting from scratch, in fact they already had what could be considered a ‘great’ culture. Just look at the WordCloud when the employees were asked 'If the company was a person, what kind of person would they be?’: 

Words like ‘caring’, ‘kind’ and ‘honest’ are amazing things to see come through directly from the stakeholders. If the team at Tevera already respected and valued the organization, imagine what could be accomplished by perfecting a valued culture! As we continued to build on these initial employee surveys, it was clear that there were many future Culture Czars amongst the team, and they were eager to participate in each step along the way. 

CoreValues & CorePurpose

As always, one of the biggest factors in establishing a valued culture in any organization is establishing a CorePurpose, which highlights the overarching company goal and reason for being. We knew that Tevera provides a software platform to college programs serving the helping professions (their what) but why? 

Establishing the why is an integral way to motivate and empower your employees to pursue the good that the company does. When employees feel like they are doing something meaningful for the world, they approach their work in a way that benefits both the company and their own sense of self.  

We determined that Tevera exists to ‘Serve those, who serve others, so they can serve better’. Note the use of connecting words ‘so that’. A good CorePurpose statement includes actions and of course the answer to their why. 

Before we get to the stunning visual representation of the CoreVals that resulted from many brainstorming sessions and filled whiteboards, it is important to note the significant participation from dozens of stakeholders across departments. When asked what core values ‘should’ be, the responses exuded terms like ‘fostering growth’, ‘respect’, ‘inspire’, ‘teamwork’, and so many more. From our initial sessions, four specific values stood out as main themes: Integrity // Collaboration // Drive // Care 

But these values did not just come from the top stakeholders, down. Employee feedback vastly drove the results of this discovery process. Check out some of the responses we received: 

Integrity

‘A measure of our character as a company’

‘Ensuring that our customers can count on us to provide solutions and make improvements’

Collaboration 

‘...part of what makes our company great is the willingness to work together both internally and with customers’ 

‘Collaborating with the industry thought leaders to continue to provide excellent solutions’

‘Small teams working together towards a common goal’ 

Drive

‘...so many parts of our company exist because someone took the initiative’

‘We want someone to take the initiative if they see a problem and do it in a way that maybe no one has thought of before’ 

Care

‘We care about each other and those we serve to help meet their needs’ 

While this stage was received with positivity and excitement, it certainly had a couple of minor stalls. Katie reflected on one afternoon, late in the process of finalizing the CoreVals, when she received feedback from stakeholders about a change. ‘I remember calling Will feeling so defeated, because it felt like we were so close, yet so far, from finalizing our CoreVals. I will never forget that Will’s response was simply a reminder that this was actually a great gift to have employees who cared so much about making them perfect.’ In the end, the result was something extraordinary, in no small part due to the participation of the entire Tevera organization. 

The result is nothing less than stunning, accomplishing far more than just words on paper. From the four values lining up with the four cardinal directions, to the physical actions of the characters, to the CorePurpose chiseled into the granite on which they stand, the final result is my favorite Core Chart™ of all time . Take a good look at this graphic, noting each detail that was included. This, alone, emanates the entire story and spirit of the Tevera team.  

A Creative Recognition Program

Once the CoreVals and CorePurpose were perfected, Katie and her team worked to create an employee recognition program reflective of their new pillars. In this innovative approach, employees recognize their peers for exemplifying the different CoreValues throughout the month. At the end of the month, Culture Czars will choose a winning story under each CoreValue, and share them at the new monthly All Hands on Deck meeting. Winners then receive a badge, lunch with a coworker AND a choice of reward that corresponds to the CoreVal. Rewards include things like books and educational courses for Driven, a self-care item like a massage or manicure for Caring, and so much more! Plus, employees who receive all four badges over the course of a year will be recognized with a special prize and tickets to an experience in their community. 

Tevera is demonstrating thoughtfulness when it comes to integration of the CoreVals to the different aspects of their organization by offering meaningful rewards. There is also choice involved, which gives the stakeholders even more opportunities to receive something of meaning to them. 

Measuring Culture 

Over our months-long project, there were several visible signs that Tevera was making a smooth and successful transition to having a valued culture. However, it is always important to measure that Return on Culture™ both upon completion and continuously over time. Take a look at the NPS Score results from before and after our work together: 

These surveys show a 37.4 % improvement in approximately 5 months, with the biggest difference being the movement of stakeholders from passives to promoters. With even more time under their belt, I am eager to see the results of their ongoing surveys as their culture becomes even stronger and increasingly storied. 

Working with a Culture Czar

In a growing business, time and money are some of the most important resources. That’s why Katie knew that it was going to be a valuable investment to engage our team in implementing The Culture Fix. A self implementer of EOS®, she knew it wasn’t a matter of time or ability, rather one of bringing in an expert to execute. “We learned so much from implementing EOS, but imagine how much faster and more impactful it could have been if we brought in a consultant like Will.” Katie was so passionate about this program that she shared with leadership two options: either they fund this program or she will ask for a raise and pay for it herself. 

After 5 months of discovery, design, determination and beyond, the results of our work with Tevera have grown from internal to customer facing. If you look around their web presence, you will see CoreVal influences everywhere from their website to Facebook page and many places in between. Working with Tevera was an excellent experience all around, and we look forward to tracking their growth as Culture Czars in the coming years, decades and beyond. 

If you would like to speak with Will about implementing The Culture Fix for your organization, contact us.