Our Values and Behaviours

WE ARE BRAVE –We act with integrity, honesty and fairness; challenging unfairness and speaking up for older people and supporting their voices being heard.

People in our staff teams, volunteers, trustees and users, act with courage every day. It might be saying what you think even if others do not agree or maintaining a positive attitude when we encounter challenges and set back. It can also be about being open about decision making, building trust and delegating decisions appropriately. It takes courage to step outside our comfort zone and invite new information and be willing to learn, to change our minds and invite challenge and adapt in the face of new facts or information.

When we are courageous when we:

• Own our mistakes with humility, admitting when we have got things wrong and showing how we are learning from mistakes
• Speak up early, even when others don’t, when something is not right
• Challenge inappropriate behaviour and unworkable decisions appropriately
• Have courageous conversations, including giving feedback, asking for feedback and acting on this.
• Listen to each other and be willing to be changed by what we hear
• Take risks appropriately.
• Ask for help
• Operate with transparency and be unafraid to choose to show vulnerability.

When we are not acting with courage we:

• Avoid difficult conversations
• Don’t listen to feedback and fail to act on it
• Ignore conflict or difference and give in under pressure
• Blame others for mistakes
• Criticise and talk about other members of staff, volunteers or users when they are not there.
• Keep quiet when we need help
• Join in negative conversations and focus only on problems

WE CREATE TRUST –through listening to people, treating everyone with respect, being patience and being reliable.

Age UK Hull and East Riding has built trust with its users, communities, partners and in our staff teams. We build that trust through being reliable, conscientious and always honouring and respecting people’s confidentiality. Acting with honesty and integrity people know they can reach out to us and that we are supportive and have the right help or know where to get it.

When we are trustworthy and trusting when we:

• Do what we say we will do
• Are reliable and consistent
• Work with partners and stakeholders who have trust us that we will deliver
• We are recognised that we know our communities and service users
• Trust our partners
• Trust our staff and delegate responsibilities so they can act
• Trust our users knowledge and listen to them

When we are not acting in a trustworthy way we:

• Are not reliable and let people down
• Assume the worst about people we are working with
• Ignore our users knowledge and experience
• Micro manage our staff and volunteers
• Share confidential information about our organisation, our delivery partners or the older people we work with

WE ARE DETERMINED – We are proactive, positive and determined, always looking for solutions that make life better for older people.

Sometimes we get disappointed and discouraged when things do not go well, particularly when it means older people are not getting what they need and deserve. We recognise this and then move on looking for ways forward and other avenues we can go down. We try to balance the enthusiasm and energy we have for getting things done and supporting our people with looking after ourselves and each other.

When we have a determined approach we:

• Take action to make things happen
• Prioritise and plan and sometimes say no
• Step up and support others when they need help
• Look for and find solutions when there are problems
• Ask for help, advice and ideas from those around us
• Listen to others and add their ideas
• See things through
• Work creatively and collaboratively with partners and stakeholders
• Look after ourselves and others

When we are not acting in a determined way we:

• Complain about the problems
• Give up and or do not ask for help
• Be unwilling to change ways of doing things or try new things
• Be unable to hear others opinions or let them contribute
• Do not plan or prioritise and look after ourselves and others
• Over promise to partners and stakeholders
• Do everything and then get overwhelmed by the work loads

WE ARE COMPASSIONATE –We act with kindness, empathy and understanding.

Our staff team, volunteers and Trustees always seek to understand the reality of older people’s lives in Hull and East Yorkshire. We listen with kindness and understanding; we challenge practices and approaches that do not show understanding and compassion. We treat everyone with respect.

When we are acting compassionately when we:

• Show care and attention in the way we treat people and each other
• Understand and take account of the challenges older people face
• Recognise the different needs of older people with different disabilities or ill health and accommodate those needs where ever possible
• Understand and respond to the pressures on family members, carers and front line staff
• We forgive ourselves and others when we don’t always get everything right
• We acknowledge our own feelings and get support when we need it

When we are not acting in a compassionate way we:

• Have an attitude of blame, calling people difficult
• Fail to recognise the impact of ill health and / or disability on people’s behaviour or abilities and adapt what we do accordingly
• Hurry people and do not listen to them
• Make assumptions because of someone’s difference (for example ethnic background, neurodiversity, gender)
• Make unreasonable demands on ourselves and others