The following are examples of the sorts of behaviours that, though simple and straightforward in themselves, can significantly strengthen both the brand and the organisation by helping us deliver on our brand promise and delight our customers.

These behaviours are described in the context of customer service. There is a simple reason for this: we are a service provider.

SO HOW DO OUR VALUES WORK IN TERMS OF BEHAVIOUR?

Valuing people means listening to customers, understanding, and making sure that we help them and deal with their real needs.

It means taking extra steps to assist people with additional needs, and never leaving a customer without a source of help or information.

For example, this might mean saying something like: ‘I’m sorry, the British Council doesn’t do that – but here are the details of organisations that do.’

Of course, ‘valuing people’ also means valuing colleagues and working with them to help deliver the best possible service – and, in this context, it particularly means valuing the contribution of front-office and service-delivery staff.

Integrity means always behaving in a principled, honest and trustworthy way, treating all our customers consistently and fairly, answering enquiries with information we know to be correct, and apologising when we get things wrong.

It also means being active in saying helpful and straightforward things like: ‘I’ll give you a written copy for your records.’

Mutuality means working together so that everyone benefits, asking customers for feedback and acting on it, representing British culture in a way that suits local needs, and recognising that a student enquirer today might be a leader tomorrow.

It means asking simple things like: ‘What do you think of our services?’

Creativity means being inventive, helping and encouraging each other to solve problems, asking questions and challenging traditional ways of doing things.

It means being actively creative in the way that you work, taking the opportunity to use examples of British creativity wherever possible, thinking about customers and their needs, and working together to find better ways of delivering service.

This might mean saying things to yourself like: ‘Even though this works now, I may be able to make it work better.’

Professionalism means always delivering what we said we'd deliver, when we said we'd deliver it. It means following up on promises made to our customers, and ensuring that the services we provide are consistently of the highest standard.

It’s about using our own skills to maximum effect, getting to know our colleagues and using their skills too. It also means saying things like: ‘I don’t know, but I can find out for you.’