Does your organization have important values which need to be put in writing? This is a category that may not seem to have much relevance for your agency, until you are forced to take a stand or make a difficult decision. However, over time, certain important beliefs and/or philosophies will emerge and should be put into writing.

Statements of beliefs and values express the fundamental philosophies of the organization. These will help to support and explain why, or sometimes how, your agency works the way it does.

It is a useful exercise to consider your values, at the beginning, as there will be inevitable value conflicts in the later writing of policies. For example, does your agency place greater value on non-discrimination or on serving the needs of a learner who requests not to work with someone of a particular ethnic background? In the case of conflicting values, you may have to accept that one value will take precedence over another. For example, your own definition of “volunteer” may prevent you from accepting “obligatory service” workers (such as Ontario Works placements) as volunteers. Although you cannot anticipate every issue, you can have preliminary discussions to draw up the fundamental beliefs which guide the organization. This can avoid personalizing and polarizing the issues which later arise.

Some agencies may list their Guiding Principles together with their mission statement. Others may include these statements only in internal documents for recruiting and orienting new staff and volunteers. With such a profile, all those involved with your agency can know from the start, if this is an agency they will be comfortable in. Not all organizations use a formal list, preferring instead to include a short background or preamble before each policy.