Every human endeavor must be guided, shaped and supported by basic underlying values. These values should be the foundation for every decision we make and every action we take. We have a set of such values at LaGray that we expect everyone to live by. These values facilitate decision making in our day-to-day activities and keep us focused on the right way forward in order to live up to our mission and realize our vision.
These values give everyone, in the LaGray family, the freedom and ability to make independent decisions about how to treat customers, their fellow workers, vendors and our community in the "LaGray Way." They also clearly define the characteristics of the individuals who will be happiest and most successful as part of the LaGray family.
These are our most important values:
Uncompromising quality and customer satisfaction
Respect for people
Adherence to environmental health and safety standards
Continuous learning and improvement
A hard work ethic
Empowerment of our people
Teamwork
Personal accountability
Integrity
Uncompromising Quality and Customer Satisfaction
The philosophy of the founders of LaGray Chemical Company is that, like the beautiful kente cloth, excellence has to be woven into every aspect of our business. We are in the business of preserving and improving human life and cannot afford to compromise on the quality of our products. The hallmark of LaGray is quality. Every member of the LaGray family must have the passion for providing uncompromising quality in every thing we do. Just being "good" is not good enough. We must be outstanding. We will continuously raise the standards of performance, always seeking new ways of providing our customers with quality products to improve their lives. By giving our customers uncompromising satisfaction, we will achieve everything we set out to do.
Respect for People
We believe in the fundamental rights of every individual to freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of association, non-discrimination, protection of privacy and the right to be heard. Our success depends, first and foremost, on all of us here, the LaGray family. We must encourage constructive dialogue and open communications and should actively seek and encourage each one of us, as employees, to be committed to improving our work practices.
Respect for people includes respect for their choices and their decisions. Under no circumstances must we make any of our colleagues feel threatened or uncomfortable at work. With this in mind, sexual harassment should never emerge as a problem at LaGray.
Environmental Safety & Health
We are deeply committed to environmental safety and health (ESH). The health and safety of our employees, neighbors, customers and the public at large as well as the protection of the environment takes priority in all our activities. We should perform our jobs in a safe manner in accordance with our comprehensive ESH policy.
Maintaining a safe, healthy and productive environment is essential to our success as a company. Our goal of excellence can only be achieved if we remain on the job as safe, healthy and productive employees. We are the most important component of our company. The responsibility for a safe work environment resides with each one of us. As individuals, we are challenged to be informed and continually motivated to assume the responsibility of our own safety and the safety of our fellow employees. We need each and every one of us to make our company succeed.
Continuous Learning & Improvement
Our goal should be to help each other become the best we are capable of, so we can make LaGray the best company in Africa. Many companies say that, "people are our most important asset." At LaGray, our goal is to make that a reality by providing the training and opportunities for personal and professional growth and development as well as a working environment that will help each individual become the very best he/she can be. Education and training of our employees will be an investment priority.
There are constant changes in the market place, in technology, and in customer expectations. Also, each of us has different levels of knowledge and ability and we all must constantly strive to raise those levels. Each employee is expected to make the commitment and effort to take advantage of learning opportunities.
We must constantly learn from our customers, from the best of other companies, from each other and from other sources. It is a mind-set we must acquire - a never ending pursuit of knowledge. That is the only way we can stay at the leading edge in every area of our business. It is everyone's responsibility to learn and to teach others about customers and their needs, about our company and about effective business practices. We must strive for continuous improvement of processes and quality of products and monitor performance by measuring results carefully.
A Hard Work Ethic
It is only through intelligent hard work and fun in what we do, that each individual within the company can make a difference to his/her own success and to LaGray's success. So we must expect a lot from each other as pioneers of LaGray.
Success lies in the aggressive and outstanding execution of our strategies and tactics and not just in the genius of the strategies and tactics themselves. We will "go through brick walls" to achieve our goals. We will constantly strive to improve our performance in every way.
Empowering People
All of us as individuals in the company will be empowered to do our job as it should be done. "Risk taking" and "trust" are the critical elements behind this ideal. We are the owners of our jobs and must be encouraged to come up with ideas for improvement consistently.
Innovation and scientific excellence are keys to our growth and profitability. We will therefore strive to provide our employees with a stimulating and challenging work environment and encouragement to dare to try new paths.
Teamwork
We are all familiar with the old Akan adage: “Tikoro nko agyina”, translated: Two heads are better than one. Teamwork enhances both individual and corporate performance. When individuals have the opportunity to combine their talents and knowledge in the quest for solutions and improvements, they produce much better results. They also learn from the experience and broaden their knowledge and abilities.
LaGray will encourage teamwork in every area of the company. In seeking improvements as well as in problem solving, we will use the team concept: within departments, between departments and across the whole company. We also extend this concept in working with our suppliers and distributors in "partnering" relationships. We will treat our vendors and affiliates as partners working together to provide high quality, cost effective products to our mutual benefit.
Personal Accountability
Each one of us as individuals, every person at every level, is accountable for every task we are required to perform. We must ensure that our tasks are performed flawlessly, as the sum of our individual contributions contributes to the overall success of our company. Every task at LaGray, from maintenance of our facilities, through discovery of a new cure has equal importance in making LaGray the premier company we aspire to be.
Unwavering Integrity
Integrity simply means having sound moral principles, including honesty and decency. It also means being trustworthy, caring and dependable. It is a character quality that will allow our customers, suppliers and fellow workers to depend on us in all our dealings. We expect integrity from the people we deal with and should expect it from ourselves.
In conclusion, we are about to make history. We will build the most coveted business and work environment in Africa. We will make the name of LaGray synonymous with quality and health care in Africa.