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Salsa stands by our value system. Every Salsa interaction — our DNA if you will — is governed by the principles of rigour, accountability, transparency, innovation, authenticity and diversity.
Salsa values
Salsa’s values are foundational behaviours on which the Salsa culture is built. Salsa culture — our ethos — is entrenched internally, an expectation of our partners and shared with our customers.
Salsa staff live by, and are recognised for, their continual alignment to Salsa values. Salsa culture champions are celebrated at monthly all-staff meetings, while any deviation from Salsa’s values, at any level of the company, can be expected to be met with respectful challenge.
Salsa chooses partners that exude similar values and ethics. Alignment of value systems with partners allows Salsa to offer consistent service to our customers.
Salsa also expects a level of values alignment from our customers. We find the most solid, lasting relationships are underpinned by similar value systems. Such alignment allows win-win scenarios to be negotiated more often than not and more robust negotiations to be respectfully navigated to conclusion.
The specific values we use in our business day-to-day are:
Rigour — What we do, we do well
From the work we produce to how we run the business, we strive to meet the highest standards of quality and we're dedicated to continual improvement.
From the effort and quality Salsa invests in an RFQ response, to our success in planning and executing complex programs of work (see Delivering the Single Digital Presence with agile and Delivering the second generation GovCMS using agile) we’re always aspiring for great.
Accountability — We take ownership and are highly responsive to requests
We take responsibility and ownership for the quality of the work we do. We stick to the commitments we make, follow through by setting realistic expectations, keep customers informed of changes and deliver on promises.
Not all projects/programs are without issue. Salsa will always be accountable to make good and strive to negotiate positive outcomes for our customers in the interest of a long-term relationship. Salsa never views any project as a transaction but rather a strategic journey.
Transparency — We communicate openly and honestly
We communicate if we have praise or problems to share, in all aspects of our work.
Transparency is the key to trusting relationships both with partners and customers.
Salsa is not shy in raising issues or concerns and equally not shy in being open about our own mistakes. While we value transparency we couple transparency with logic/facts/data and importantly, clear and practical paths/recommendations to solutions.
Mutual respect — We respect people and celebrate diversity
We show respect in the way we treat everyone — our colleagues, managers, partners and customers. Everyone around us should be made to feel empowered!
Salsa values different perspectives from the diversity of our workforce across nationalities (10 different countries of origin presently represented on staff), gender and background. The best solution really does come from the collective ideas from our staff and our customers; folk only feel comfortable truly sharing their ideas if they feel valued and respected.
Fresh thinking — We seek innovation and evolution in the small and the big things
Salsarians are encouraged to not feel constrained in approach and to think of new approaches, designs or processes. We strive to create an environment for fresh ideas to be shared and discussed, for calculated risks be taken and initiative to be used.
From better, smarter ways of consolidating government sites on GovCMS, to more effective presentation of Victorian State Budget data, Salsa is always looking to innovation to deliver quantum results.
Personal growth — We foster a learning and nurturing environment, equipping people to thrive
It’s everyone’s responsibility to provide opportunities for peer learning, experimentation and professional development wherever possible. We thrive by being challenged to step out of our comfort zone to learn something new in a supportive environment.
Providing an environment of continual learning and growth attracts and retains Salsa talent. The collective Salsa gene/idea pool runs deeper. Incremental personal growth of our staff materially transfers to customer benefit.
Commercial outcomes — We deliver value for all stakeholders
Delivering value for all stakeholders is often a complex set of judgement calls. There is typically different stakeholders and always different perspectives. Salsa’s go-to position to navigate the nexus is to think like you would if you owned the business when assessing time and money for a task or a project. Significantly, this is in no way a directive to drive profit, but rather a directive to help build a lasting relationship with our customers via the application of the values such as rigour, accountability, transparency and fresh thinking in the commercial context.
Authenticity — We strive to be authentic in everything we do
We do not hide behind technical jargon, marketing spin or false pretenses. We are honest about who we are, what we do and why we do it. Being authentic also means we are not going to dance around problems and tell you what you want to hear. We will always represent the truth — whether that’s good, bad or ugly.
Our commitment to authenticity is not only about being genuine ourselves, it's also about allowing others to be authentic — creating safe environments for people to be themselves, and to express ideas and emotions freely, without judgment. We endeavour to build trust and credibility through authentic relationships and interactions — with each other, our partners and our clients.
The drive to thrive
The Salsa values result in an environment for Salsa employees, projects, partners and customers who thrive. Or per our thrive mantra:
We THRIVE when...
What we do, we do well…
We respect people and are sensitive to diversity…
We communicate openly and honestly…
We foster a learning and nurturing environment, equipping people to thrive…
We take ownership and are highly responsive to requests…
We deliver value for all stakeholders...
We seek innovation and evolution in the small and the big things