After analyzing the data, we designed tailored co-creation sessions that combined the experiences and perceptions of both leadership and employees.
About blackbear
Blackbear is a one-stop-shop solution for flexible work. The company enables managers and global businesses to easily find and work with flexible resources to support their teams with work they lack time or skills for.
To enhance the new company’s momentum and growth, the leadership team at blackbear decided to collaborate with us to create a shared sense of purpose, reconnect the brand with the company’s mission, and establish a culture that aligns with the new organizational goals.
Along with leadership team, we had the challenge to develop a blueprint for blackbear’s brand and culture from the inside out, in sync with the company’s new phase.
1- Employee survey
The first step is the employee survey, which is crucial to effectively map the company’s current and desired culture and brand essence.
It provided a comprehensive understanding of
What motivates team members
What are the energy drainers and gainers for employees
The connection to blackbear's purpose
2- Deep dive session
During the deep-dive session, the goal was to understand the drivers of blackbear’s brand and culture and the context in which they emerged.
Based on the company’s future vision, we created new cultural drivers.
We also discussed the differences and similarities in perspectives between employees and the leadership team. We identified challenges to implementing the ideal drivers in reality.
3- Brand-Culture Blueprint design sessions
The Blueprint design sessions were held to shape the new vision, mission, and core values based on cultural shifts the leadership team wanted.
The team designed the transformation they want to see in the company from the inside out.
This journey unlocked the unique aspects of why the company exists and how leadership and employees can make it part of their everyday work.
4- Results
The positive impact started within the journey and was the lead line through the process, both individually and collectively, and this is the result of the integrated and dedicated effort of the leadership team who were focused on achieving alignment and coherence on the culture that would inspire the team’s work way.
“The fluff is gone, and in the discussion, we can get directly to the core of the issue at hand”.
Blackbear leadership member
Authentic Brand positioning
Inspired by this journey, the company updated its positioning, which is now deeply connected to leadership beliefs, making it authentic, meaningful, and actionable.
Culture-driven company
Through the process, the founders and the leadership team became aware of the importance and the impact of brand-culture integration and are actively working on activating and shaping the culture that we designed from the inside out, resulting in a bold and authentic brand positioning and also increasing the talent attraction.
Organisational Processes Updates
The project had a systemic approach, resulting in changes in organisational processes to align them with the company’s culture blueprint, such as performance reviews and vacancies and selection of new employees.
Team engagement
After this project, the employees had sessions to design how to implement the new vision together. The company now has a culture team working on ways to nurture it continuously.
Leadership team alignment
Since the project, the leadership team has developed a deeper connection with one another, which allows them to tackle challenging issues more effectively. That awareness has drastically improved their effectiveness as a leadership team. As one of them put it: “The fluff is gone, and in the discussion, we can get directly to the core of the issue at hand”. Moreover, the mission, vision, and cultural values provide clear direction in the decision-making process.
Authentic Employer Branding
By connecting culture and brand, the company increased its brand awareness for potential new employees. A visible example of this is the initiative by the founders to make posts on LinkedIn about the importance of Culture and showing the world their core values.
Project developed in partnership with:
