A value is what drives a primary motivation. The difference between personal, team, and broader organizational values can be the source of workplace satisfaction or despair.
As a leader, understanding your employees’ personal values alongside the organizational values they connect with is invaluable. This awareness fosters a workplace culture rooted in understanding, collaboration and respect. The insight can also help you manage employees more effectively, improving their satisfaction and yours.
Let’s look at 10 values and their potential impact on the workplace:
Achievement –defined as the successful completion of tasks or projects
An employee with a high ranking in this value may prioritize finishing an individual project before beginning another.
Advancement—meaning progress or aspiration to a higher level
An employee with a high ranking in this value may take on multiple projects at once or choose to take on only high-profile tasks.
Integrity—defined as acting in line with beliefs, doing what you committed to do
An employee with a high ranking in this value may prioritize staying true to their word over aligning with a group decision.
Honesty—meaning being sincere and truthful, keeping promises
An employee with a high ranking in this value may value full transparency with customers, even if it could lead to negative perceptions.
Prosperity—defined as flourishing, being well-off, easily obtaining desires
An employee with a high ranking in this value may prioritize emphasizing the organization’s positives over acknowledging present challenges.
Winning—meaning success when competing, coming out on top
An employee with a high ranking in this value may prioritize projects with a higher likelihood of success and avoid unproven methods.
Personal growth—such as continual learning and personal development
An employee with a high ranking in this value may schedule frequent educational webinars to stay motivated and engaged at work.
Helping—as in taking care of others, helping others to flourish
An employee with a high ranking in this value may favor team projects and seek out collaborative work environments.
Security—meaning freedom from worry, safety from threats
An employee with a high ranking in this value may stay in roles they’ve outgrown to avoid stepping outside their comfort zone.
Peace—as when finding harmony among people and groups
An employee with a high ranking in this value may hold back from sharing opinions or solutions that could potentially cause conflict within the team.
By understanding employees’ perspectives through the lens of their values you, as a leader, are better equipped to grasp their motivations and work with them to align with in the organization’s direction during times of conflict.
As a leader, investing time and effort in identifying each employee’s values can become one of the most powerful and rewarding tools in your management approach.
These are just a few examples of values and how they can potentially impact an employee’s work behavior. For a list of the most common life values, message me at [email protected]
