Aligning employees with a company’s code of conduct is key to getting the workforce onboard with its vison, while shaping an employer brand from the inside out. However, it’s difficult to engage employees through long dry manuals beyond induction week. Swedish telecommunications firm, Telia Company, recognised this issue and has invested in a more innovative code of conduct to increase employee engagement.

Telia launched its new code of responsible business, ‘Don’t do this at home,’ designed and produced by Wolff Olins, a global creative consultancy. Aiming to reach 21,000 employees across 14 countries in which it operates, from Sweden to Uzbekistan, Telia wanted an unorthodox tactic to engage staff on the ethics and values of the company. A playful approach to corporate responsibility, Wolff Olins created tongue-in-cheek animations in collaboration with artist Julian Glanders, which tackle heavy issues ranging from money laundering and insider trading, to customer privacy and environmental responsibility. Bordering on the ridiculous, the animations are a memorable, yet simple way for Telia to communicate its code of conduct to employees. The initial global roll-out was completed in Denmark, in late September 2016.

“Wolff Olins had a unique take on a common business brief,” says Mahsa Sina, ethics and compliance officer at Telia Company. “The creative concept has helped the organsiation to deliver the message in a simple, fun and engaging manner.”

In addition to a broadsheet newspaper and a website, Wolff Olins also created posters, event roll-ups, specially designed Rubik’s cubes and a teaser game called ‘don’t play this game at work’ for the launch. The impact of the initiative is already clear, with 20,000 staff viewing the code within eight weeks of its launch.

“We decided to acknowledge that codes of conduct are about telling people what not to do at work, but focused on making the tone and design really fun - something that no one would expect,” says Wolff Olins designer, Calle Enström on the unique concept. “As part of a much bigger employee engagement and change programme, the code was a chance to solidify an over-arching creative concept that captured the spirit of the new Telia brand.”

Nurturing this unique internal culture comes as Telia has shifted its outward image with a recent global rebrand, also designed by Wolff Olins in April 2015. A disruptive rebrand, Telia has embraced a more fun, playful personality, as ‘The New Generation’ telco. Piloted in Estonia in January 2016, the new visual identity improved Telia’s outward perception, and put it alongside the likes of social media giants, Facebook and YouTube, in the ‘top 10 most loved brands’ within a few weeks of its launch.