BC Public Service corporate values
Last updated on November 8, 2023Corporate values guide recruitment, orientation, training, performance coaching and recognition.
The BC Public Service has one overarching corporate value, Integrity, and 6 core corporate values:
These principles describe the qualities we value in our colleagues and in our organization. They were chosen after consultation and discussion across government.
Integrity is placed above all the other values as a quality that affirms the Standards of Conduct for the BC Public Service.
Where Ideas Work 2023 Corporate Plan for the BC Public Service (PDF, 1.3MB) sets the strategic vision and guiding direction for the BC Public Service as it continues to evolve.
The corporate plan is about continuing our commitment to reassess how we can adapt and improve so we remain the trusted, talented and modern public service British Columbians need and depend on.
This plan is built around 3 goals:
- Recruitment: We are a competitive employer that successfully competes for the skilled, diverse talent we need
- Retention: We offer a positive, inclusive and rewarding employee experience that meets the needs and aspirations of our employees
- Results: We show results that demonstrate our progress as an employer and inform future actions
Since the last corporate plan, we have made significant advancements in how we do our work. We’ve learned many valuable lessons about ourselves, individually and collectively, about what we can achieve.
At the same time, there are many aspects of our work that endure and need not change. This includes the BC Public Service Values defined by our employees: courage, passion, teamwork, service, accountability, curiosity and the overarching value of integrity.
Integrity, curiosity, service, passion, teamwork, accountability and courage shape our culture and help:
- Foster practices that build a positive work culture
- Establish a single employer identity
- Define shared expectations
- Maintain consistency of management practices
- Improve organizational performance
Corporate values must be considered when rating an employee's performance.
Integrity was the single word most often put forward by employees as a value that defines the BC Public Service.
Recognizing the clear importance of integrity to employees and to the organization, it now stands as a single overarching characteristic of the public service.
There is no sliding scale of integrity. You have it or you do not.
To perform with integrity is to uphold both the Standards of Conduct for the BC Public Service and to make the individual choice to do what is right as a professional public servant.
True public service cannot exist without an individual and shared commitment to integrity. We will demonstrate the values and we will do so always with integrity above all else.
If we need the courage to innovate, we also just as surely need the curiosity to find alternatives to the status quo.
That’s why the BC Public Service values employees who approach their work with the curiosity to:
- Seek better ways to achieve goals
- Pursue opportunities to learn and develop
- Welcome ideas from others
- Be willing to learn from failure as well as success
Serving the needs, interests and expectations of the people of British Columbia and their communities efficiently is the first priority of all of us in the BC Public Service.
That’s why we value employees who show a commitment to service in their work that includes:
- Maintaining a clear focus on creating positive outcomes for people in British Columbia
- Working collaboratively across government to enable success
- Valuing different viewpoints
- Placing organizational objectives ahead of personal goals
People choose to work with the BC Public Service and tackle the challenges of building a stronger, healthier, more prosperous British Columbia because they are passionate about our province and its people.
Being passionate does not mean you have to be an extrovert. It means you care enough about what you do that you are motivated to apply the best of yourself to achieve your goals.
That’s why the BC Public Service values employees who approach their work with a passion for:
- Taking pride in their work in service to the public
- Seeing ideas and people succeed
- Being a model of motivation and a positive influence for others
The vast and complex range of responsibilities to be met by the BC Public Service has always required a commitment to collaboration.
That’s why we value employees who in their work understand that teamwork:
- Builds trust by respecting the contributions of others
- Encourages new ideas
- Contributes to larger goals and positive engagement
- Depends on supporting others and sharing information
As we strive to be more innovative and be more open to taking thoughtful risks, we must also maintain our responsibility to be accountable to the people we serve.
That’s why the BC Public Service values employees who demonstrate accountability in their work through:
- Setting clear goals and measuring success
- Staying focused on the outcomes government is trying to achieve
- Taking responsibility for decisions and completing tasks
- Being consistently proactive in decisions
- Showing the persistence and tenacity to overcome obstacles
The BC Public Service is, more than ever before, faced with a host of challenges that demand the courage to adapt, change and innovate.
That’s why we value employees who approach their work with the courage to:
- Take thoughtful risks in generating and implementing ideas
- Be biased toward action
- Apply imagination
- Empower others to take initiative even in uncertain times
- Look beyond the process to see the possible
- Pursue a vision for the future