Understanding Workplace Values

Assessing the Importance of Workplace Values

Some (possibly conflicting) examples of workplace values include:

Being accountable.

Responsibility and Accountability

When you are hired for a job, your manager provides you a list of your duties, also known as responsibilities.
She'll tell you that it is your job to ensure the tasks on the list are completed when due. While you can be
assigned a variety of responsibilities, whether or not you are accountable depends on your character. A person
who demonstrates accountability takes the hit if she doesn't complete the task on schedule. When you refuse
to be accountable, you'll place the blame on someone else for the project's failure.

People with solid work ethic and character take responsibility for the work they do. They demonstrate a
willingness to not only ensure the job is done, but also accept responsibility for the results -- good or bad. They
take their assigned duties seriously and go the extra mile to make sure the work is the best that it can be.
When you have character and are accountable, you recognize that the quality of your work is also a
representation of you.

 Making a difference.
Regardless of your job title, your role can make a difference. It comes down to leadership and
understanding how to champion ideas and build trust.
a. Be transparent.
Honesty and vulnerability are key characteristics of great leaders
b. No excuses.
"When life gets busy and chaos starts to happen, that’s when we start to come up with excuses.
Phrases like 'I wasn’t expecting X to happen…' start creeping into your life and you end up
pushing off the goals that you said were important."
c. Give them space
To best develop talent, encourage and provide space for your colleagues to be able to step
outside their job description and find inspiration in unlikely places. "Give them the resources
and training they need, then set them free, letting them know the team believes in their
capabilities."
 d. Ask for feedback
Asking for feedback shows employees that leaders are approachable and willing to listen to
constructive criticism. It also shows they take what employees think seriously and are willing to
make changes, which makes for a more open work environment.
e. Let failure fuel you.
Trying to forget or hide your mistakes is a huge error. Rather, hold them near and dear to your
heart… I can trace every one of my accomplishments to earlier failures that I learned from.
f. Think long term.
Don’t get so lost in day-to-day crises that you lose sight of the bigger picture. In an age that
lauds a get-rich-quick mentality, coming up with a great new app or business model and flipping
it for millions (or billions) is a viable career option. However, for those interested in building
something that lasts, mastery -- and the patience, focus and dedication required to attain it -- is
the key to success.
g. Find what’s missing.
Think of an idea that is rooted in a perspective that everyone else is missing because they don't
see the potential today.
h. Protect your options.
i. Start slow.
j. Remember: Your strength is in your staff.
This means ensuring you retain staffers and helping them develops into leaders that evolve
with your business

 Focusing on detail.
a. Attention to detail is important because it helps prevent mistakes and makes success in
the workplace easier. The problem is that being attentive to detail can be nearly impossible
when you're at work and your boss and colleagues keep distracting you, or you're one of those
people who just can't focus.

 Delivering quality.
a. Deliver quality work to help develop your professional personal brand for career success.
 Keeping promises.
a. Keeping promises at work means you should understand the rewards and benefits of keeping
them so that you would be motivated to finish it. For example, committing to increasing sales
by 20% means you did not only do your job, you might have an increase in incentive as well.

---- Indeed promises define us as individuals whether this is in the context of your workplace
attitude or your personal commitments. It is very important that you walk the talk, commit to
something you can, and learn to say no if you can’t. Keeping promises at work is one of the
most important benchmark on how people will regard your character in the workplace. Keep
them, and you will be regarded well. Break them, and it will cost your name.
 Being positive.
 Meeting deadlines.

 Helping others.

 Being a great team member.

 Respecting company policy and rules, and respecting others.

 Showing tolerance.

Your organization's workplace values set the tone for your company's culture, and they identify what your
organization, as a whole, cares about. It's important that your people's values align with these.

When this happens, people understand one another, everyone does the right things for the right reasons, and
this common purpose and understanding helps people build great working relationships. Values alignment
helps the organization as a whole to achieve its core mission.

When values are out of alignment, people work towards different goals, with different intentions, and with
different outcomes. This can damage work relationships, productivity, job satisfaction, and creative potential.

The most important thing that you need to do when interviewing someone is understand his or her workplace
values. After all, you can train people to cover skills gaps, and you can help people gain experience. But it's
really hard to get people to change their values; and they will be "problem workers" until they do.