ONE KBR Values
Our ONE KBR Values are the essential and enduring principles that drive our day-to-day business activities and define us as a company. They’re also a critical element of our EVP. They help differentiate us from the competition, bind our diverse cultures together, and guide our behavior every day. It is heartening to see our commitment to living these values reflected in your experience at KBR, as shown by the quotes below.
"The company truly stands by their values and demonstrates each day how they are not just words on a poster, which coming from my former career of 20 years, it is so refreshing to see that what I have hoped for my life actually exists."
“KBR values, principles are followed. Work culture is amazing.”
“Fantastic values and behaviors which are embodied on a daily basis at all levels in the organization.”
“The KBR values are excellent, and people really do use them to guide them professionally and personally.”
We also recognize that there are some places in KBR where our values are not always reflected in everyday behavior. As the survey is anonymous, we are unable to investigate the concerns raised in some comments and encourage anyone experiencing behavior which is not in line with our values to raise their concern so that we can take appropriate steps to improve. Please talk to your People/human resources team representative, a senior leader, or our Business Integrity team if you would like help, so that we can ensure we all live by our values every day.
We Value Our People
Our people are the heart of everything we do. We are dedicated to creating diverse and inclusive work environments in which every member of our team of teams feels safe, supported, respected, trusted and valued, and where each person is given opportunities to grow and reach their full potential.
Overall, this value scored 81%, showing a positive improvement based on the individual statements below. It is encouraging to see this upward trend, although we recognize there are still areas where we can improve. A number of business units and countries had lower scores, and these will be picked up in local action plans following the survey.
We recognize that in some parts of KBR our fast pace creates challenges with work-life balance. As one employee put it, “No companies can be perfect, but I think some more work can be put in to make work-life balance easier to access as it is hard to come by as work takes over most plans.”
Finding ways to simplify and streamline how we operate will be one of our global priorities based on this survey, and we will also minimize the number of new initiatives being launched so that we can ensure we are achieving our goals from existing programs before launching new ones. Our focus on mental health and fitness is also continuing, prioritizing building resilience and offering help to those who need it. We are developing new training for managers to help them support their teams, and the tremendous work of the Mental Health and Well-being Committee, our Well-being Ambassadors, and our ERG for mental health and well-being, OK NoW, will continue to support you in this area.
We Deliver
We are our clients’ trusted partner. We are uncompromising in our commitment to deliver innovative, high-quality, technology-led solutions for them, and exceptional, sustainable value for all our stakeholders, underpinned by strong commercial and operational discipline.
The statements below give us an overall score of 78% for this value, with positive trends overall and a slight decline in one statement, demonstrating the commitment of employees and managers across the world to delivering for our customers.
There were many comments about our people’s commitment to deliver for customers and their mission. For example: “I have worked for many companies and one aspect of this company that stands out for me is its willingness to give its business and project managers full responsibility to deliver its clients’ requirements, without too much interference from executive management. To me this demonstrates a high degree of confidence and trust which almost certainly transfers to the company's clientele.”
Such dedication to our customers and passion for delivery is clear at every level in KBR, and we will continue to foster this value to ensure we remain our clients’ trusted partner.
We Are People of Integrity
We are people of character, who value honesty, trust, courage, fairness, prudence and tenacity. We believe doing what’s right for the planet, the communities where we live and work, and our people is good for our business. We will not sacrifice our integrity.
Our score for this value in 2023 is 79%, with several strengths and some opportunities for improvement as shown in the statements below.
Whether it is the way we treat each other, or our commitment to the community and the environment, the people of KBR are good people. There are lower scores in some countries and businesses, and we will follow up with specific local action plans to address these areas of concern, particularly those related to playing favorites or politics in the workplace. However, it is reassuring to see that people feel able to report any observed misconduct — which is fundamental to this value. We also noted the positive trend related to our community and environmental commitments, nicely summarized in one employee’s comment: “I truly appreciate KBR's work towards supporting the people of the company, the community and the environment.”
We Empower
We empower all our people with a shared purpose, the right tools and the supportive culture they need to be proactive, to be adaptive to change, and to succeed. We trust them to be independent decision-makers who aren’t afraid to meet any challenge head on and who proudly own their work.
The PPS feedback has given an overall score of 80% for this value in 2023, with encouraging improvements in a number of the statements as shown below.
Our people feel trusted and equipped to do their jobs and relish the responsibility they are given — all critical areas of empowering our talent around the world. It is also encouraging to see that some of the lower-scoring statements related to empowerment have shown improvements since last year, particularly related to management responding to input from their teams and keeping them informed about upcoming changes.
We still have more to do to ensure all our people feel empowered. On the one hand, there were many comments such as, “The management as well as my direct manager do not micromanage my work and give me the opportunity to manage my own workload efficiently,” contrasting with others, such as, “I would like to be treated like an adult and not micromanaged. I have a wealth of experience and it would be good if this was appreciated.” We hire good people, and when they are empowered, the entire organization benefits from their energy, engagement and efforts, so this will be an area of focus in local action plans where your feedback has raised concerns.
We Are a Team of Teams
We have a will to succeed, individually and as a company, but we value the achievements of our team of teams over our individual accomplishments. Our collective focus powers our operational excellence, fuels our passion for delivering for our customers, and makes us a better, stronger, more effective and efficient company. We are ONE KBR.
Our overall score for this value is 77%, the lowest of all our ONE KBR Values, albeit with a positive trend overall and with significant differences in the ratings for each of the statements below.
The positive scores showing our people feel they are treated as a full team member regardless of their position and for cooperation among team members are encouraging. However, we recognize there is more we can do to ensure employees are involved in decisions that affect their jobs or work environment. Lower scores for this statement were found at all levels below executive-level leadership and in most businesses and countries. We will therefore continue to work on this area as an overall priority and put greater emphasis on engaging with our people about changes that will affect them wherever we can, supporting managers in doing so in our local action plans.
