The article by Jaffe and Scott highlights how companies such as Levi Strauss, AT&T, and Nordstrom define conflicts between personal and organizational values through different structured values.
For example, at Levis Strauss, top managers would use the “value cards” exercise in order to rank their own values. This was done so that their personal values and organizational goals could be aligned in order to improve overall performance. I can relate to this as I have used this strategy before in a group project for a critical thinking assignment. I am a strong believer that people’s values have everything to do with how they work and the workplace they choose to be in everyday.
As I read this article, I read about AT&T managers and how they engaged in a workshop where they defined their personal values and discussed how their values should direct their actions. This workshop resulted in enhanced team unity and had a positive effect on problem solving.
Continuing, Nordstrom emphasized to their employees how important it was to have a shared value of customer satisfaction, which allowed for personal discretion in how this value was applied.
“The survey shows that when people’s personal values are seen as congruent with their company’s values, their personal lives are better and they feel more optimistic about their jobs.” This quote specifically stood out to me when reading the article because I have always been told about jobs in the real world that “it is not a job if you love doing it”. This makes perfect sense because when people are going to work and actually enjoying what they are doing and who they are working with they don’t have a negative work life to bring into their personal lives all of the time.
After reading this article, I can conclude that obtaining organizational values can enhance personal engagement and resolve bumps in the road with not only your workplace but your personal life as well.
Source: https://moodle-courses2425.wolfware.ncsu.edu/pluginfile.php/654176/mod_resource/content/3/Jaffe_Link_Personal_Values_Team_Values.pdf
The article title is ‘How to link personal Values with team values.’