Reflection on Diversity of Values
Values are important to life. Every day the working class faces two sets of values. He or She has their individual values and the values of the organization he or she works for. This paper will analyze the origin and subsequent evolution of both workplace values and personal values. The paper will explain how individual values drive the actions and behaviors of people, and analyze the alignment between personal values and actions and behaviors. Then it will analyze how personal values align with those of another organization, and why it is important that personal and business values align.
Origin and Subsequent Evolution of Values One’s values are personal beliefs that guide one’s behaviors and decisions. Values are held deep with one’s subconscious and are integrated into his or her everyday life. Every day people make decisions and these decisions even if they are choices are impacted by his or her own values. One gains his or her personal values based on his or her life experiences. Personal values began to develop during child hood and as one grow older and experiences life he or she may drop some of these values and add others (Lopper, 2007).
Workplace values are much like personal values. As the business grows the companies values will change, and some will be dropped, and others will be picked up. In the beginning, depending on the size of the company the values of the company are based on the owner’s personal values. Workplace values set the guidelines for how the company is to make every day business decisions. Workplace values should promote extraordinary customer service by motivated, happy, and productive employees (Heathfield, 2011).
My personal values are family, honesty, integrity, success, dedication, and treat others as you want to be treated. Many of these like treat others as you want to be treated are values that I learned as a child and others like family have become more defined as I go through life. My favorite previous employer Holland America Tours values are focus, service excellence, integrity, honesty, team, change, optimism, and perspective. Individual Values Drive Actions and Behaviors Two people can have the same set of values but take different actions and have different behaviors.
This happens because of the way that the two people define the values that drive him or her. An example of this would be success. One person can define success as a roof over his or her head, and food on the table. Whereas, another person would define success as a bunch of money in the bank (Khoo, 2008). Reflecting on how I got to where I am today my values have not changed much; however my definition of my values has changed. I do believe that my actions and the decision I have made in life reflect my values.
Holland Americas values have helped them in reaching their mission of excellence and through excellence they can create once in a lifetime experiences every time. Alignment between Organizational Values and Personal Values When starting or applying to work with a company it is important to do one’s research and find what the company’s values are and how well they align with his or her personal values. Working for a company that has totally different values than one’s own values can create an unpleasant work environment (Khoo, 2008).
Holland America Tours values and my personal values is not a perfect match but yet it was one of my favorite places to work. This is because my personal values did align with the majority of Holland America Tours values. I did not always agree with the decision that the company made I did however follow those decisions in every possible ways. None of them went completely against my own personal values. Values wether they are personal or the workplace are important to everyone’s every day life.
Our personal values we use to make daily decisions and our work values we use to make decisions at work. Both personal and workplace values are created in the early stages of life and then change as the person or as the company grows. Values are what drive our actions and our behaviors. They are the reason we act the way we do. Because values mean so much to us in our daily lives one has to find an employer that has values that align with his or her personal values. Doing so will allow one to make decisions at work easier and without feeling as if he or she is making the wrong decision.
References
Heathfield, S. M. (2011). How to Make Values Live in Your Organization. Retrieved from http://humanresources. about. com/od/orgdevelopment/a/valueslive. htm Khoo, A. (2008, June 5). How your Personal Values Drive Your Decisons In Life. Retrieved from http://www. articlesbase. com/self-improvement-articles/how-your-personal-values-drive-your-decisons-in-life-439134. html Lopper, J. (2007, October 23). Development of Personal Values. Retrieved from http://www. suite101. com/content/development-of-personal-values-a33585
