“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” – Roy Disney (1893 – 1971), Walt Disney’s Elder Brother and the Financier of his Efforts
In a world defined by geopolitical instability, economic slowdowns and a tech sector facing turbulent waters, businesses are constantly adjusting their sails. In this environment, adaptability is no longer a competitive edge but a necessity for survival. According to various studies and research, in 2023 and 2024 most tech companies reported significant disruption to their operations due to external instability, while all of them cited the need to redefine internal processes to stay resilient.
At SoftServe, we’ve felt these crosswinds just like everyone else. As markets shift and unpredictable challenges arise, it has become increasingly clear that traditional strategies are no longer enough. We needed something timeless—a foundation that would guide us through the ambiguity.
Internal shifts and the challenge of connection
While the external environment kept us on our toes, internal shifts added another layer of complexity. With COVID-19 driving remote work, employees missed out on the subtle yet powerful experiences that come from being physically present in the office. Nearly 50 percent of our workforce joined post-pandemic, meaning many of them never had the chance to absorb our culture organically. Our engagement surveys in the period of last few years, which are conducted through a third-party vendor to provide anonymous and trustworthy feedback, revealed a 40 percent drop in employees’ sense of belonging to SoftServe—an important degree of alignment between SoftServe and its associates in terms of culture, values, goals and overall work environment. The sense of belonging driver was the only driver at SoftServe that scored below the tech industry mark.
At the same time, the dispersion of talent across over 30 locations—ranging from Poland to Chile, the USA to Singapore—introduced new layers of complexity; suddenly, the need to ensure consistency across global operations and management became a critical focus.
Our leadership team faced a pivotal question: In this ambiguous and constantly evolving world, what could serve as our north star? How do we ensure leaders and employees stay aligned, grounded and equipped to navigate these times confidently?
Reactivating our compass—core company values
The answer became clear: our core values. As we navigated the realities of the VUCA world—marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity—we found strength in the very foundation that made SoftServe what it is today. Our culture and values are not just guiding principles; they are the legacy instilled by our founders who envisioned a company built on innovation, trust and collaboration. We were privileged to still have our founders actively engaged in the business, ensuring this legacy continues to inspire and guide us.
As our CEO Harry Propper said, “Recalling who we are, our strengths and what we can achieve together is a powerful energy that will drive us forward in this complex environment.”
Culture has always been SoftServe´s secret sauce, our differentiator in a crowded and competitive market. Whilst others may rely mainly on technology, processes or cost advantages, we know that it is our people and our shared sense of purpose that drives our success. In an industry where products and services evolve rapidly and where AI is making IQ a commodity in favor of emotional intelligence, the strongest, most enduring advantage any company can have is a culture that unites and inspires. This is why our cultural re-energization is not just a response to challenges—it is a deliberate strategy to ensure that SoftServe continues to lead, innovate and stand out.
Research from our internal Employee Journey Study highlighted culture and values as one of three top priority topics for our associates, and the SoftServe’s Managers Experience Research indicated 78 percent of managers believed company values were critical for guiding teams through ambiguity—but only 41 percent felt they had the tools to operationalize those values effectively.
This insight supported the need for a companywide initiative to reactivate and breathe new life into our core values, transforming them into the guiding compass for leadership and decision-making across all levels and regions.
Making values practical: From theory to action
Values are only as effective as the actions they inspire. We didn’t stop at posters or inspirational messages—we embedded them into the very fabric of how we operate. Here are some of the steps we took that helped us achieve positive outcomes of this initiative:
- Strategic sponsorship: The initiative was championed by our new CEO, who announced it as one of his strategic priorities for 2024, demonstrating top-level commitment and alignment with our organizational goals.
- Practical tools for associates: We developed practical tools such as behavior guides and reactivation kits, which serve as practical frameworks to help our employees translate abstract values into everyday actions. While our values define what SoftServe stands for, the behavior guide provides clear expectations and examples of how those values should be demonstrated in decision-making, collaboration and customer interactions.
- Inclusive engagement levels: To ensure comprehensive engagement, we introduced three proficiency levels—Learn, Live and Lead—allowing associates to interact with our values according to their familiarity and readiness. For each organizational value, we clearly outlined behaviors of what it means to be learning, living and leading that value. This breakdown helped to engage employees who felt unfamiliar with certain values or unclear about how to uphold values.
- Employee-driven activities: We actively solicited feedback from our associates on preferred activities and promptly integrated these into our project plan. This approach led to the creation of our six-panel discussions, where senior leaders shared impactful stories related to our values. Additionally, we established a group of “values ambassadors” connecting and empowering leaders to advocate for these changes within their teams and business units.
- Operational integration: We have operationalized and embedded values in all talent processes. This included integrating values into recognition practices (thank you notes, personalized badges, CEO awards), promotion processes via values-based feedback and recruitment efforts using values-based hiring practices and behavioral analysis.
We recognized that a thriving culture doesn’t happen by chance—it happens by choice. By embedding values into the core of how we work, lead and grow, we are shaping an environment where SoftServe Associates feel connected, empowered and aligned with our mission. In a world where talent is increasingly mobile and competition for the best minds is fierce, a strong, value-driven culture is our greatest asset.
These weren’t just initiatives on paper. Over the past year, 74 percent of associates stated they were ready to embrace the reactivated SoftServe values, 87 percent of associates attended one or more values-related events (e.g., panel discussion, workshop, values ambassadors meeting). Further, training for embedding values in the hiring process had a 100 percent participation rate from SoftServe global recruiters, who later reported a 22 percent increase in their confidence to apply a values-based selection process.
The impact: A stronger, more resilient SoftServe
So, how do we know this approach is working? The numbers tell part of the story: Since launching the Values Reactivation initiative, our eNPS grew by four points and the sense of belonging driver increased by five points. Employee satisfaction scores linked to leadership and strategy alignment have significantly increased and 85 percent of associates reported feeling more support from their managers during a time of uncertainty.
But beyond the metrics, the feedback we’ve received reflects a deeper cultural shift. Leaders are leaning into ambiguity with greater confidence, and employees across different regions report feeling more connected to SoftServe’s identity and mission.
In this VUCA world, reactivating our values didn’t just reconnect us with our roots; it provided the grounding we needed to innovate and thrive. By serving as a guiding framework for decision-making, fostering trust and reinforcing a culture, where collaboration and adaptability drive success.
We learned that in times of uncertainty, values act as more than aspirational statements; they become practical tools that shape behaviors, align teams and empower leaders to make confident choices even amid ambiguity. As we continue to navigate the complexities of constant change and build our resilience muscle, our experience reinforces a simple truth: Values aren’t just the heart of our SoftServe culture, they are the anchors that hold us steady, ensuring we remain true to who we are while continuously evolving for the future, no matter what it holds.
