Jane Collings and Pete Watton Understanding the Organisation Session 3

Module Aims to support the learner in identifying and reviewing how organisations are structured and managed to facilitate exploration of the learners’ immediate and wider work context in order to promote professional developmentObjectives B By the end of this session you will be able to: Identify the need for organisations to have a clear purpose/vision and values Reflect on the visions and values of your own organisation

Organisations need a clear idea of why they exist and what is their core purpose. This is expressed in an organisations vision, mission or statement of purpose. These statements express the desired outcome and achievements for an organisation Organisations often involve their key stakeholders (including staff and customers) to help develop then review their vision, mission and statements of purpose. Vision

The statements should: define what the organisation is define what the organisation aspires to be be broad enough to allow for creative growth distinguish the organisation from all others serve as framework to review and evaluate current activities Stated clearly so that it is understood by all Vision

OrganisationStatement Devon Air Ambulance Trust Our vision for Devon is an outstanding, independent and efficient Air Ambulance service, available to all, 24 hours a day Our mission is to relieve sickness and injury in the county of Devon by assisting in the provision of an Air Ambulance Service Example –vision

OrganisationStatement Action Aid UK Our vision A world without poverty and injustice in which every person enjoys the right to a life with dignity. Our mission To work with poor and excluded people to eradicate poverty and injustice Example –vision

As individuals we each have our own set of values guiding us in how we live and act. These values develop over time as a result of experience. Organisations need values to underpin and guide their practice. People coming together as an organisation with a shared purpose to need to agree the values which will underpin their organisation and its practice. Some organisations include issues of sustainability and corporate social responsibility in their values Values

Example values statement OrganisationValues Devon Air Ambulance Trust All our activities are informed by our values, which include community, voluntary service, professionalism, independence and availability to all Community - the Trust’s roots are firmly planted within the needs and wishes of the community we serve Volunteers - the Trust recognises that its volunteers are essential to the charity through their contribution to fundraising, community involvement, public relations, administration, practical support and campaigning and will invest in training and developing our volunteer force Professionalism -the Trust is committed to professionalism in all aspects of its work in order to ensure it delivers the best possible service within the resources available Independence - the Trust is completely independent of central or local government Availability to all - the Devon Air Ambulance service is free of charge and available to everyone

Example values statement OrganisationValues Sainsbury’s 1.Best for food and health 2.Committed to sourcing with integrity 3.Show we respect our environment 4.Make a positive difference to our community 5.Make Sainsbury's a great place to work

 What are the vision and values in your workplace and where and how are they communicated across the organisation?  If they are not explicit find a similar organisation whose vision and values are explicit  Record you thoughts in your learning journal  Use your Learning Journal

References Devon Air Ambulance Trust Action Aid UK Sainsbury

This resource was created by the University of Plymouth, Learning from WOeRk project. This project is funded by HEFCE as part of the HEA/JISC OER release programme.Learning from WOeRk This resource is licensed under the terms of the Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales license ( The resource, where specified below, contains other 3 rd party materials under their own licenses. The licenses and attributions are outlined below: 1.The name of the University of Plymouth and its logos are unregistered trade marks of the University. The University reserves all rights to these items beyond their inclusion in these CC resources. 2.The JISC logo, the and the logo of the Higher Education Academy are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution -non-commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK England & Wales license. All reproductions must comply with the terms of that license. Author Jane Collings, Pete Watton InstituteUniversity of Plymouth Title Vision and Values Description PowerPoint Presentation Date Created 31 st March 2011 Educational Level Level 4 Keywords UKOER LFWOERK UOPCPDWBL Learning from Woerk WBL Work Based Learning CPD Continuous Professional Development Creative Commons License CC-BY-NC-SA Back page originally developed by the OER phase 1 C-Change project ©University of Plymouth, 2010, some rights reserved