Resonance of Individual and Organization Values

Values are permanent convictions that largely shape and influence an individual’s behavior. They serve as guiding principles in life and impact our decision-making process to a great extent. Individual values also serve as building blocks to organizational values. Individuals can find meaning in their work, and companies can develop a committed workforce that is able to function well through periods of change when there is proper alignment of individual and organizational values. Values help the organization to engage the hearts and minds of employees in pursuit of the corporate goals. Research has shown that where there is overlap between organizational and employees’ values, the employee tends to demonstrate a preference for, and commitment to that employer.

This thought between resonance of values was invoked when I was attending a session on understanding the organization’s values and its ways of working. It was being held to find out and explore one’s own individual values and how they can be aligned to the organizational values in the larger context. The session consisted of employees with an experience of 5 years and stretched out till a maximum of 12 years. After the initial ice breaker, the employees were asked to list down their top 3 values in life, which was followed by an exercise called “Mountains and Valleys“; this was to help the individuals find out their personal core values. This was then turned into a group activity, where the employees were asked to discuss among a group of 5’s and come to a common consensus with respect to the values of the group. It finally culminated in extrapolation to the entire audience and comparison to the organizational values and how all the employees fit in.

All this brought out and emphasized one pertinent question – “How important is it to have common individual and organizational values?”.  Values are present in all organizations—it is just a question of whether they are explicit and whether they are shared and espoused by the employees. Values guide the decisions and actions of values-led organizations. In these organizations, there is less need for detailed procedures and management control to ensure that subordinates’ decisions are consistent with what the organization wants. The employees are free to take decisions that are in sync with their own values, as they are also in line with the values of the organization. This fosters the feeling of empowerment, and also enables the employees to act and take morally justifiable decisions even in times of extremely difficult situations. This also makes them feel valued in the organization and a part of the system. Inclusion comes naturally when there is common alignment of values. A sense of responsibility is a given as well; the individual is aware of the power and the authority he or she possesses and also knows the impact of the decision he or she takes, and most certainly works towards building a culture which echoes these core values.  When there is mismatch of values between the organization and individual, the feeling of belonging is absent. It also limits the individual performance of every employee as value decisions resonate deeply with emotional feelings and may result in a sense of resentment.

Also, in this age of constant change and modernization, companies that are value led and have employees who espouse similar values, have a very distinct advantage when it comes to reorganization of the company, change implementation and matters of downsizing or acquisition; these employees are significantly lesser prone to stress and are able to maintain their optimal level of functioning. This is because the core company values remain unchanged, and they provide a framework and a sense of security for the individual to operate from.

Once an organization has intellectually and emotionally adopted a common set of values, there are significant benefits to both the business and the individual. Case in point would be Sellotape. It experienced an unprecedented improvement in business performance, raising profitability from 3 per cent to 10 per cent in two and a half years. The combination of individual achievement, group success and shared values led to high morale, effective teamwork and a high performance culture.

Overall, having employees whose values resemble those of your own organization is extremely beneficial for both the parties as it fosters symbiotic and holistic growth for everyone involved. It also provides a sense of direction and guidance to take faster and quicker decisions and also is a key factor during times of crisis. It also enables a long journey of growth and togetherness.

This brings me to the final question – What is the connection of values with Organization Development (OD) and what makes OD as a subject so unique and spectacular? The answer – Encompassment of human values in its methodologies, tools and processes. The function of OD imbibes the human tendency which makes us ‘who we are’. It cherishes and emboldens the human spirit and seeks to inculcate the same in the work that we do. This resonance of OD values with our intrinsic human values is what will develop the individual in the process of OD consultation and also positively affect the deliverable and output.

References:

• Sullivan, W., Sullivan, R., & Buffton, B. (2001). Aligning individual and organizational values to support change. Journal of Change Management, 2(3), 247–254.

URL retrieved from  https://doi.org/10.1080/738552750

• Abel Gaiya (Author), 2013, How Values Affect Individual and Organizational Behavior, Munich, GRIN Verlag,

URL Retrieved from https://www.grin.com/document/385515

• Hemingway, C.A. & Maclagan, P.W. Journal of Business Ethics (2004) 50: 33.

URL retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000020964.80208.c9