Are Your Core Values Aligned with Your Employer?
Janell Zeug
Fractional CHRO & HR Consulting... Extroverted Introvert | Work Hard, Play Hard
This year as I reflected on my personal goals, I started to think about my personal values. In Q4 of 2021, I was in professional transition and was focused on finding my next great organization. The one difference in this job search was that I had a laser focus on finding an organization that aligned with my personal values. Subconsciously, I have chosen companies that were a “good fit”, but I had never stopped to purposefully think about how my values aligned. I found my next great company that perfectly aligns with my values.
Have you ever stopped to think about your personal core values? Defining say your top 3-5 values? Your values are what you believe are important in the way you live your life. Whether written or not – we all have our own personal values that guide us on our journey through life.
As I was writing my goals in March of this year, I stopped to consider my personal values. I would define my top five as:
Our values drive our behaviors and the decisions we make. When I look at my 2022 goals, I see my values reflected in them. One of my 2022 goals is to take 3 fun trips this year… play hard. Another is to finalize the outline for the book I am writing… work hard.
The reason I was in transition is that the company I worked for over 5 years closed last year. We were a small geophysical company operating in the oil and gas space. We had a great Executive team and a great company. I was aligned not only with our company values, but also with the personal values of the team. At the end of Q2 of 2021, we divested and sold the company assets. The final goal for the Executive team, while we all knew that we were being displaced ? to ensure most of our employees had jobs. ?In the end, about 93% of our team members were hired by the company who bought the assets. This was our focus. Work hard.
As many people do, I reflected on where we started as our journey together was ending. In one conversation with my CEO, I asked how long he thought it took the two of us to get our working stride… walking in unison. He said it took about six months and, thinking back, I had to agree. While I was not focused on the company values when I interviewed with him and other executives, I remember that I just “clicked” with him and other core team members. A few members changed along the way, but the team only got stronger through the years. And I am still in touch with the team because for me, many I consider dear friends.
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Why are values so important?
Company values align employees and influences the working environment. They also provide a picture to the world – how our customers, competitors and partners view the Company.
While interviewing with the executive team at Stoller Group where I now work, I was immediately struck by the people I was meeting and the values the company was focused on: People, Integrity, Innovation, Customer, Knowledge, and Excellence.
Now that I am working with the global Human Resources team, we are focused on ways to reinforce and live our core values in several different ways:?onboarding orientation, communications, rewards and recognition, sales processes, performance review process, and even our termination process.
Take a moment to reflect on what you value. Ritu Bhasin suggests this exercise to recognize themes that come up which will help you to identify your personal values (you will find the link to her full article below). For one week, take a few moments each day to write down 3 things:
Once you are clear on your values, you will find yourself emphasizing behaviors that support them and recognizing the things that get in your way and do not align with them.
Are You Living By Your Values? Here Are 3 Ways to Tell:?https://ritubhasin.com/blog/values-based-living
Thank you Maureen Iglesias for always taking time to review my articles, providing meaningful comments and edits. You're the best!
Great opportunity spotted! ?? Networking is key in finding the best fit. Sharing this with my circle and hoping the right candidate discovers this through us. ?? #networking #opportunities
HR Business Partner
2 年Such a phenomenal post. It reiterated and confirmed so many of my personal practices. Thank you for sharing!
With a customer-centric approach and a relentless drive for success, I propel businesses towards exponential sales growth
2 年Hi Janell, interesting and inspiring post. One question to you. You write that you looked for a company that was aligned with your personal values and you succeeded ! In my experiences the core value of companies are written down in words but you do not know how they are executed and embedded in the company and their employees. You can only find out by start working at that company and experience the culture and values. So, what is your secret here ? How do you get hold of this before entering a new company ?
Senior Executive / Business & Corporate Strategist / Litigation Support / EHS / Boards of Directors
2 年An excellent read!
Internal Communications Manager at Viridien
2 年Great food for thought! Really enjoyed the article and insight