Caring. Treating employees like family. Fairness. Walking the talk.

Graham's Culture and Values are informal, "felt" rather than imposed. They are nonetheless powerful internal influences that have been at the core of the company since its founding.

They create concrete business ethics and every day they strengthen our ability to deliver value to our clients.

Key characteristics of Graham's Culture are:

• Caring – This is the key word for us. Whether it has to do with employees, the company, profitability, clients, reputation, each other – Graham people care. It comes from each individual, and it's ingrained in all of us. It stems mainly from the grassroots makeup of our people. Such people have a way of finding their way to Graham, enabling us to pull together a team of like-minded individuals. Graham's management cares about the individuals who make up the company. In a recent employee survey concerning the nature of the company, half the responses spontaneously used the word "caring".
• Treating employees like family – Graham's Culture was established by its founders, the Graham family, nearly 85 years ago. Being the kind of people they were, they treated their employees like family. Graham was able to sustain that approach as an employee-owned organization beginning in 1985. Today, the senior leadership of the company – right through executive management – are carrying on this tradition. This practice helps to instil and sustain Graham's Culture and Values throughout the organization.
• Fairness – Graham's management team sees value in being perceived as reasonable and fair in all circumstances – with clients and with employees. Fairness is strongly embedded in our Culture. We want to be able to go home at the end of each day and be able to say, "We were fair in all aspects in delivering our services. At the same time, we expect to be treated fairly and not to be taken advantage of."
  
  Caring and fairness don't stop at the borders of the company. Our caring extends to the families of the employees. It includes a willingness and desire to help people when they might encounter difficulties or challenges, such as an injury or illness, or family issues.
• "Walking the talk" – Graham's Culture has been transmitted from person to person by the reality of practising it– walking the talk at all levels of the company. This mentors people to be similar-minded and develop the same Values, sustaining the Culture over time. The Values and other working principles and practices are not just words. Walking the talk is strengthened by our willingness to listen – accepting constructive criticism and learning from it drives a good part of our Culture.