Assessing Workplace Values

Sometimes the values of the workplace are in conflict with your own. It's quite natural to feel uncomfortable being in a work environment where the major focus and thrust is not compatible with your own beliefs.

The questions in the following survey might help you examine what you believe are the basic beliefs and values that your workplace supports. Then you can determine whether or not those workplace values match your beliefs and values about work.

Assessing the Values and Priorities of My Workplace

Think about your workplace and what goes on (not only up front but also behind the scenes).
Ask yourself some questions:
1.
  What are the major concerns of my workplace?
    What comes first in my employer's operations?
    What kind of working relationships and practices does the organization I work for foster?
2.     Look at the following list and check off those values you believe your workplace tries to maintain and promote. Try to find at least five or six values.
        reputation
        being first
        integrity and honesty with employees and clients
        cooperation and sharing
        competition
        expansion
        loyalty of employees
        customer satisfaction
        acceptance of rules and regulations without questions
        there is more than one right way of doing things
        commitment to whatever training employees need to do the job better
        valuable contribution to society
        environmental and/or social responsibility
        profit margin
        quality product
        providing leadership
        improving conditions for others
        commitment to employee well-being
        employees are encouraged to stretch themselves in their abilities to perform tasks
        employees are encouraged to be independent, creative and critical thinkers
        staff opinions enter into the decision-making
3.     Which of those workplace values and priorities you've checked off are you in agreement with?
4.     Note which workplace values and priorities are not in agreement with your own. Can you live with those particular value differences between yourself and those of the workplace? Keep in mind what you want from your particular job now and what you do in your job each day.

There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. Nor are they the only work-related values that employers are concerned with. They are simply questions to start you thinking about the values being played out in your workplace and whether they are ones you want to be associated with. The more questions you ask yourself about why things operate the way they do, the more likely you will be to uncover values that affect what and how things are done within your place of employment.

Look back again at your responses for the My Beliefs and Values About Work survey. Review the five or six values you checked off as being important to you for your reasons to work. Are most of your needs and values being met in this job? If not, you may have reason to be dissatisfied with your job.

Now that you've looked again at your work values and examined which ones are prevalent in your workplace, you may have a clearer picture of what provides satisfaction for you at work. If our values and those of the workplace don't mesh, then it's possible that we don't belong with that particular company or organization.

Our work will be satisfying only if it satisfies our most important values. If we want our jobs to be meaningful, we must periodically re-evaluate the type of work we do to determine how well our jobs meet our needs and values.

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