Values & Beliefs of Friesens
When David W. Friesen founded his business in 1907 in Altona, Manitoba, he had a vision of an enterprise that would serve his customers and its community. Today Friesens organization continues to be inspired and guided by this philosophy of service and corporate responsibility.
It was D. W. Friesen who said, “If our customers are successful, then so will we be successful.” We continue to understand and believe that it is the customer who is at the heart of all the decisions we make, and who is responsible for our very existence.
At Friesens, we have always maintained that our company must have values in which people believe as part of a strong culture understood by all of us. Our shared culture, shared values and shared beliefs have been the foundation of our approach to customers, staff members and the community. This document is meant to communicate those values and beliefs.
Contents
Our Vision
At Friesens, we have the following vision:
- Create Raving Fans and Achieve Market Leadership
- On time delivery
- Best quality first time – every time
- Reduce cycle time
- Achieve the Industry’s most Efficient Cost Structure, Best Quality and Shortest Cycle Time
- Most efficient work practices
- Cut down on waiting time
- Continuous rather than batch processing
- Cultivate Long Term Relationships with Staff, Customers, Suppliers, Partners and Communities
- Staff satisfaction
- Communication inside and outside departments
- Communication with management
- Training and education
- Achieve a Skilled and Healthy Workforce, Dedicated to having the Highest Integrity and Ability to Work Together to Achieve Personal and Corporate Goals
- Staff involvement
- Teams and problem solving
- Ownership education
- Leadership development
- Promote Activities which add Value for our Customers, which Reinforce our Commitment to Partnership in Business
- Up-to-date technology
- New products and processes
Our Products and Our Customers
We provide outstanding products and services to our customers. At Friesens, we serve our customers as follows:
- Book Division - By producing quality printed products that allow our customers to entertain, educate, and inform.
- Yearbook Division - By helping people create products that celebrate their experiences, both past and present for years to come. We are in the business of preserving memories.
- Retail Division - By being in the business of satisfying the needs of customers who wish to purchase books, stationery supplies and business machines.
Our Products
At Friesens, we produce books of many kinds, for many customers. We believe in earning the good-will of customers for our products by:
- Offering products that provide value for money
- Ensuring that our products meet all the required standards
- Guaranteeing the quality of our products
- Developing and maintaining a high standard of quality in all of our products and services
- Monitoring closely the changing wishes and needs of our customers
- Producing products of consistent quality that are superior to major competitors
Our Services
At Friesens, we see a sale as a beginning of a relationship which is to be built on excellent service. For example we:
- Promise only what we can deliver
- Strive for consistent levels of service in all of our divisions
- Give our trained staff the authority to satisfy customer complaints without delay
Our People
Our ability to meet our customer’s needs depends on the knowledge, imagination, skills, diversity, team work and integrity of our people. We ensure this by recruiting and retaining the best people available.
We are also guided by the principles of non-discrimination and respect for human rights and individual freedoms for all staff members. Thus, we do not allow discriminatory practices, and we provide equal treatment and opportunity to all, no matter their gender, age, race or religion.
We are committed to being a socially responsible company, and our human resources programs are driven by this commitment.
We look for and honour education, skill and experience and above all, commitment to the Organization and its success.
Entrepreneurship
We encourage our people to use their experience, skill and inventiveness to improve the operational and commercial success of Friesens. This provides opportunities for greater job satisfaction and personal development, while helping the Organization achieve its objectives.
Accountability
We believe in aligning decision-making power with responsibility at all levels of the Organization so that our people are accountable for the activities and results over which they have control.
Remuneration and Profit Sharing
We provide remuneration and benefits that are fair and competitive within our industry and within our community.
Ownership at Friesens
We provide the opportunity for every staff member to be an owner in the company.
Training and Advancement
We provide opportunities for personal development and advancement, by running local courses for training and improving skills. At Friesens, we encourage life-long learning.
Teamwork and Communications
Teamwork
Working as part of a team produces a sense of belonging for everyone at Friesens. All staff should feel that he or she is contributing in a significant way to the team effort and can call on others to help. This gives all of us a sense of pride and accomplishment in our work.
Communications
We attempt to create a climate whereby all staff have a chance to freely air their concerns and express their opinions with assurance that these will be fairly considered. This is accomplished through Staff Committee, surveys, human resources access, manager access, and an open door policy.
We deal in good faith with all staff members at all times.
Our Suppliers
We seek the best suppliers who reflect our values.
We select reliable, excellent quality suppliers and sub-contractors who support our values and beliefs, and we develop long-term relationships with those people based on mutual respect.
We maintain these relationships through the following practices:
- We are fair and truthful in all our dealings with our suppliers
- We foster long-term stability in our supplier relationships in return for value, quality, competitiveness and reliability
- We exchange information with our suppliers and integrate them into our planning processes.
Our Profitability
Being profitable is a requirement, not only for shareholders, but also for staff in the communities where we operate.
Being a profitable Organization is essential for Friesens, for a number of reasons:
- It ensures our long-term prosperity and growth
- It enables us to track and maintain the best people to work with us
- It allows individual staff members to grow in their career within the Organization
- It enables us to contribute to the well-being of the community in which we operate
Our Shareholders
At Friesens, all of us are shareholders. As such, we have a special responsibility to each other and to the company as a whole.
At all times, we must have our shareholders interests in mind. To this end, we:
- Endeavour to make a consistent and growing return on our shareholders investment
- Protect and increase our corporate assets
- Encourage communication between the Board of Directors, Management and staff
- Inform and educate our staff about fiscal matters
Our Community
We are an active and involved part of our community, specifically Altona and Southern Manitoba.
We are committed to being a good corporate citizen and to contributing to the well-being of the region and the province in which we operate. We do this by donating to the community, to educational organizations and cultural organizations, and to environmental, historical and medical research. We also encourage staff member participation in community and civic affairs.
We are involved as a large company in a small community. It is always important that we respect the views of others in the community and see them as “partners in progress” with us.
In addition, we believe in:
- Collaborating with people in the community or dedicate to raising standards of health, education, workplace safety and economic well-being
- Promoting sustainable development by striving to play a leading role in preserving and enhancing the natural environment
- Engaging in a two-way communication with elected officials
- Allocating a share of our profits to enhance the well-being of the community
Health and Safety
The health and safety of our people is first and foremost.
We believe in providing a safe, clean, attractive and stimulating workplace for all our staff members and working conditions that protect everyone’s health.
We manage our operations with the conviction that all injuries are preventable and all identifiable risks to health care can be contained. To that end we maintain high standards for the health and safety of all staff, making it a primary concern of management and a requirement in the design and operation of our facilities.
We protect staff members from avoidable injury and illness in the workplace by:
- Providing appropriate safety training for our staff members along with occupational health service
- Establishing health and safety committees in all our companies, which constantly investigate areas of potential risk
- Looking into and implementing recommendations from safety committees and staff members
The Environment
At Friesens, it is our intention to protect our people, customers and community, and to protect our natural environment in order to help sustain human development globally.
We implement our environmental mission statement by:
- Taking those practical steps necessary to prevent or lessen any adverse impacts on the environment that may result from our operations and products
- Regularly evaluating compliance with all applicable environmental laws and regulations
- Minimizing waste and recycling whenever appropriate
- Seeking to achieve the most efficient use of energy and other raw materials
- Striving to introduce the best practice in environmental standards
- Working with the local community to be a leader in environmental concerns and practices
