Our values are the bedrock of the decisions we make concerning our lives. They influence our actions, how we show up in our relationships (personal and work), determine what is important to us, our career decisions and so much more! When your personal values are aligned to your work, you feel a sense of, fulfillment, joy, connection to what you do, and are driven to put your best foot forward. Ultimately such positive feelings are great for our mental well-being. On the other hand, when your personal values are misaligned to your work, your overall well being, productivity, performance, and confidence are negatively affected. Let’s explore further how this happens
1. Lack of performance. A misalignment of values can and does remove your sense of care for the work you’re expected to do. When you don’t feel connected to the values of an organization, you may often find yourself not being accountable, reliable, not delivering quality results, and possibly, not meeting deadlines. It is thus important you critically consider an organization’s values and how these influence their culture, especially when applying for new roles. Check out this blog on how you can assess an organization’s values during the selection process.
2. Burn out – Ever felt like you’re consistently lacking the energy to meet work KPIs? Find it difficult to concentrate on work tasks? Feeling detached from your work, team members, and even your personal relationships? These are some of the symptoms of feeling burned out. While there are several causes that can lead to burnout, values misalignment can exacerbate stress levels and lead to burn out. If you’re feeling uncomfortable about doing certain work tasks, are afraid of raising concerns you have to your boss(es), don’t feel like your work is being valued and so on, this may cause you to lose your motivation, make you feel exhausted because you’re doing work you’re not finding fulfillment in and of course increase your stress levels ultimately leading to burnout.
3. Stagnation – Just because an organization has certain values, does not mean that they live up to them, or all of them. This is why you should continue assessing the organizational culture and how values are implemented, even after you’ve been hired. Clocking a misalignment in values as early as possible can prevent you from investing too much time in an organization that is, for instance; not stretching your skills and knowledge therefore not allowing you to develop your career. This can lead to you being stuck in a position or job for too long when you could have used that time to seek out new opportunities in other organization s that may be invested in your career growth. An organization that is intentional about upholding its values and meeting those of the employees is an organization that is committed to seeing its employees grow in their careers. Wondering if you’re stuck in a career rut? Read our article to find out.
Still, wondering how personal values lead to job satisfaction? Read this article that further explains the importance of clarifying your values with your work. As always, you can find more similar content on our Career Happiness Center, and you can reach out to us about your career challenges at happycareers@edgeperformance.co.ke.