Peter Cullen is currently the author of the Career Doctor articles appearing in the Institute of Managers and Leaders publication named Leadership Matters. The columns on this page have appeared in Leadership Matters. Peter also wrote a weekly column on Workplace Behaviour for the Courier Mail in Queensland. The ebook containing the Courier Mail articles is a free download.
Value Proposition
Why are companies interested in my personal values? Surely my skills, background and education are good enough to assess whether I am a good fit for the organisation.
Increasing numbers of companies are assessing potential employee’s values before making the decision to engage them. They use a variety of assessment questionnaires they ask potential employees to complete that will provide a profile on your values for their review.
The belief is hiring a person with values that may be similar to the companies values goes a long way to creating values alignment which in short, leads to greater personal happiness in the workplace, longevity in the company, and potentially higher performance. This must also be matched of course with the right experience, knowledge and qualifications to ensure they possess the capabilities to perform the role.
This makes a great of deal of sense for a company that is spending a lot of time and money researching the market and trying to find the best fit for the company.
So, if companies want to engage people with similar values then it makes sense for individuals looking for new employment to ensure they assess the values of the prospective company before they accept an offer of employment. This could be a decisive moment in your life. Taking on a new role in a new company without knowing their values and whether or not they live them may be disastrous. Doing so without knowing your own personal values may be worse.
How important then is it for you to know your personal values? Do you know what your personal values really are?
Your values are your beliefs that support the way you think, feel and act during every moment of your life. They are your drivers of what is right and wrong in your world, the barometer by which you gauge relationships and decisions, they are the foundations of your meaning in life. They are core ingredients of who you are. If they are this important then surely it is in our own interest to know what our personal values really are.
How do I find out what mine are?
Stop: find the personal time and space to sit quietly. Think or feel: consider what is important to you then try and uncover a single word that you can relate to. Write: note down all your words and what each one means to you. Evaluate: review your words and hold on to the most important. Write: allow a couple days or weeks to pass then rewrite existing descriptions or add new words. Reevaluate: hold on to the most important. Is there any you want to discard? Keep going until you know or feel these words and their descriptions match who you are. Some examples may be family, wealth, legacy, fun, independence, truth, love, unity, balance, challenge and there are many more. You may wish to also look online or consult a trusted friend for guidance.
Your personal values are the strengths of who you are. Knowing and living them is being true to yourself in a quiet, confident and self-fulfilling way, making it more likely for you to choose to work in a company with values that align with yours.
Recent articles
- What Should You Do When A Manager Treats Staff Badly?
- An Aim Specialist Takes A Problem To Task
- 5 Practical Ways A New Leader Can Make A Positive Impact
- Bouncing back When 360-degree feedback is Hard to Take
- Choose a Candidate
Tags
FREE eBOOK OFFER
REGISTER your details to receive a copy of my eBook, "52 Ideas for Better Workplace Relationships"
