Recently, while attending a Hindustani Classical music program, I was mesmerized by the melody created by the artists. Both tabla (percussion) and sitar (string) artists were responding to each other, keeping pace with each other’s tempo, developing a raga through improvisation. When the vocalist joined to create a trio, he set the stage, “Hindustani Classical Music is so spontaneous, let us see where this takes us.”
Indeed, each was masterful in his own execution, each was attending to the other’s rhythm, each added his own variation, creating a unique heterophony. They had the audience swaying to the music, in complete rapture. They made eye contact with each other, listened, and performed as a team. They were in alignment.
In sharp contrast, of late, I have been hearing several clients struggling with misalignment of their personal and company’s work values. Choices based on one’s values are high predictors of purpose and meaning that lead to personal well-being.
- Personal values are core principles that influence an employee’s mindset. They affect how the person shows up in life and functions in the workplace.
- Company values are guidelines that act as a framework for optimal work performance, and as a guardrail against derailment.
If both are in sync, it lays the groundwork for an increasingly positive work environment. If the two are not in sync it creates unnecessary dissonance, discord and unease.
Another recurring theme seems to be of noble values being touted by the company, listed in their mission statement, and upheld as ideals. But this appears to be only rhetoric, without the essential application. It is not sufficient to have corporate values as words in print that do not get translated into action. If they are the core beliefs of the founders, leadership needs to invest in engaging them as authentically as possible. They set the tone and exemplify how to operate based on company values. But if leaders ignore their relevance and work from a different framework in direct conflict with company values, they generate discontent.
A company may uphold innovation, transparency, and respect. An employee may also score high on creativity, honesty, and loyalty. The person is eager to show up in this culture. But soon s/he begins to notice a slight shift and then blatant disregard for the values professed by the company. It is both baffling and disillusioning.
An authoritarian leader might dictate processes that devalue individual autonomy. The employee suppresses innovation and foregoes gratification of claiming one’s independent efforts. It leads to job dissatisfaction and unfulfillment.
An executive disregards transparency and is not open about policy changes or structural shifts. This fractures trust between the manager and her direct reports. It paves the way to uncertainty and hypervigilance.
A project lead fails to acknowledge and appreciate individual contributions. This dilutes allegiance to the company. It opens the gates to indifference, apathy, or worse, rebellion. It does not bode well for anyone. Negativity stifles growth and spawns attrition.
It behooves leadership to lead by example and engage the very values of the company that are communicated to employees, investors, customers and the community. Further, to encourage employee engagement, productivity, and retention, it is vital to have an alignment of both personal and company values. This offers a win-win outcome for both personal job satisfaction and the company’s success. According to a Deloitte study, 77% of Gen Z respondents said it was important to work at organizations whose values aligned with theirs.
A values driven company is admirable. Leadership that operates in accordance with those values fosters fertile ground for advancement. Employees whose values align with company values create a recipe for resounding success and sustainable happiness.
Values alignment creates a cohesive whole that presents as a music performance where everyone has varying expertise, brings a different sound, respects one another, builds on one another’s performance to create an incredible melody. The result is simply captivating.