Our Values

Professionalism in Finance means working with the University’s academic departments, to make it easier for them to focus on their core purpose of research and teaching.

This can be summarised as:

• Keeping customers satisfied
• Considering your customers’ needs
• Maintaining good relationships
• Being polite and helpful
• Providing timely responses
• Owning the problem
• Taking pride in your work

What can you do?

If you would like to implement this value yourself, the following points may help. Be helpful, polite, listen to the request made and try and follow it through rather than hand it off, even if it is not a task that normally would fall within your remit. Take ownership. If you cannot deal with the request immediately or have to pass it on, keep the requestor informed at all stages.

Integrity is about being sincere, open and honest whilst maintaining high moral principles. It means having trust in your colleagues and supporting them where you can.

This can be summarised as:

• Considering your staff and colleagues’ needs
• Maintaining good relationships
• Being honest and sincere
• Delivering what you promised
• Coaching and training others where possible

What can you do?

If you would like to implement this value yourself, the following points may help. Support your colleagues and staff and be sensitive to their needs. Be polite, helpful and considerate and attempt to understand what your colleague is looking to achieve, even when it may be easy to perceive it as criticism. Try to put yourself in their shoes, avoid being judgemental and do not be afraid to ask more questions if anything is unclear.

Striving for excellence means that you are not satisfied with achieving just enough, but want to aim for more than what is expected of you. You take ownership of your own development and strive to improve through training and learning and, where possible, help others to improve and develop too.

This can be summarised as:

• Using your initiative to achieve higher
• Taking responsibility to make positive changes
• Saying ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’
• Showing enthusiasm in your work
• Contributing to the Oxford brand
• Raising the bar
• Striving for continuous improvement

What can you do?

If you would like to implement this value yourself, the following points may help. Discuss your training and learning requirements with your manager. Observe your colleagues’ behaviour: Who is successful? What could you do differently to get better results? Is there anyone else you could help, mentor or coach?

Respecting each other means approaching colleagues in a positive manner, regardless of their different use of language, mannerisms, ability, experience or ways of working.

This can be summarised as:

Respecting your colleagues’:

• Strengths and weaknesses
• Culture, religion and sexual orientations
• Learning styles
• Trusting people to do their jobs
• Earning respect through your own attitude

What can you do?

If you would like to implement this value yourself, the following points may help. Listen to colleagues’ opinions and feedback, acknowledging that every person may have an individual view and experience a situation differently. Give feedback to others and remember to say thank you. The Finance Division is committed to fostering an inclusive culture which promotes equality, values diversity and maintains a working, learning and social environment in which the rights and dignity of all its staff are respected.

Fostering a culture which empowers and enables individuals to be themselves, to achieve their full potential and to work effectively with others.

We are committed to:
 Proactively developing a culture in which everyone feels welcomed, accepted, valued and able to participate.
 Treating others with dignity and respect.
 Listening to each other - to develop our understanding of how barriers to inclusion can be removed and individuals can thrive at work.
 Challenging behaviours which don’t align to our values.
 Eliminating discrimination, bias and harassment, and ensuring that staff can raise issues without fear of reprisal.
 Facilitating continuous learning for all staff.

The Finance Division encourages everyone to be themselves at work and values staff as individuals.

Inclusion is important because we deliver our best work when we listen to and take account of the broad range of experiences and viewpoints our staff bring to the division.
However, we understand that colleagues may be at different stages in their understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion. We therefore seek to support each other in learning how to embed inclusion in our working lives.