7.4: Values

Values are the fundamental beliefs and principles that guide behavior, decision-making, and interactions within an organization or group. They reflect what is considered important, such as integrity, accountability, respect, or teamwork, and serve as a moral compass for both leaders and their teams. For leaders, having clearly defined values is important because they shape organizational culture, build trust, and ensure consistency in actions and decisions. Strong values help leaders set expectations, inspire ethical behavior, and create a positive environment where individuals feel guided and motivated, ultimately supporting long-term success and credibility.

Values refer to people’s stable life goals, reflecting what is most important to them. Values are established throughout one’s life as a result of accumulating life experiences, and values tend to be relatively stable (Lusk & Oliver, 1974; Rokeach, 1973). The values that are important to a person tend to affect the types of decisions they make, how they perceive their environment, and their actual behaviors. Moreover, a person is more likely to accept a job offer when the company possesses the values he or she cares about (Judge & Bretz, 1992; Ravlin & Meglino, 1987). Value attainment is one reason people stay in a company. When a job does not help them attain their values, they are likely to decide to leave if they are dissatisfied with the job (George & Jones, 1996).

What are the values people care about? As with personality dimensions, researchers have developed several frameworks, or typologies, of values. One of the particularly useful frameworks includes 10 values (Schwartz, 1992).

Values	Definitions
Achievement	The desire for personal success.
Benevolence	The desire to protect the well-being of people who are close to the person.
Conformity	Being motivated by being self-disciplined and obedient. Conforming to others.
Hedonism	The desire for pleasure in life.
Power	The desire for control over others, attaining power and prestige.
Security	Valuing safety and stability
Self-direction	The desire to be free and independent.
Stimulation	The desire for a stimulating and exciting life.
Tradition	Acceptance of social customs and traditional ideas in a society.
Universalism	The desire to protect the well-being of all people. Caring about social justice.

Table 4 Table Values included in Schwartz's (1992) Value Inventory

Values a person holds will affect their employment. For example, someone who values stimulation highly may seek jobs that involve fast action and high risk, such as firefighter, police officer, or emergency medicine. Someone who values achievement highly may be likely to become an entrepreneur or intrapreneur. And an individual who values benevolence and universalism may seek work in the nonprofit sector with a charitable organization or in a “helping profession,” such as nursing or social work. Like personality, values have implications for Organizing activities, such as assigning duties to specific jobs or developing the chain of command; employee values are likely to affect how employees respond to changes in the characteristics of their jobs.

In terms of work behaviors, a person is more likely to accept a job offer when the company possesses the values he or she cares about. A firm’s values are often described in the company’s mission and vision statements, an element of the Planning function (Judge & Bretz, 1992; Ravlin & Meglino, 1987). Value attainment is one reason people stay in a company. When a job does not help them attain their values, they are likely to decide to leave if they are also dissatisfied with the job (George & Jones, 1996).³²

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³²Radtke, L. (2022)