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Values, Motivation & Performance

Values

Values are not just important; they are a driving force behind everything that happens in an organization. By "values" we do not mean just the "organizational values" as espoused by formal leaders or those in strategic positions or written in the company handbook. We mean those actually lived out by every member of the organization.

In our work at Lazarus, we have come to understand that the values held by individuals and groups across the organization have as much to do with success as good processes or adequate money. We have seen everything from change projects, to IPOs, to team development fall short or fail entirely because of poorly understood or misaligned values.

Organization members tend to live their lives, perform their work, and set their goals based on what is important to them — not what is important to executives, owners, board members, or stockholders. We may be able to live or work in situations that do not line up with our values for a while, but few of us can do it indefinitely. And few of us have the drive or motivation to really invest our energy and abilities to the max when what is important to us and what is important to the company are different.

Finding out what is really important to organization members is a necessary first step for any organization wanting to stay alive and make it into the future. At Lazarus, a values assessment is the first assessment we do. We use this data as part of the baseline to which we compare other assessment findings about the organization. Even when we are working with just a part of the organization, we have found that information about the real values of the organization is necessary to our doing successful change interventions.

We are not saying that every member of every organization must or ever will have identical values. We are saying that on the whole, the those things that are the most important to members and those things that are of the most important to those making strategic decisions or setting direction should be fairly well matched or at the least discussed and some agreement reached if the organization and its members are to be successful. This is true for organizations in general and is especially true for small businesses, which currently account for about 98% of all organizations and employ about 85% of all those employed in this country.

Values and Motivation

Since values drive what we are willing to put our time and energies into, values are, in essence, the bottom line of motivation. Discovering and understanding what is important to everyone, then, is critical to understanding motivation and performance management in your business or organization.

Since everything associated with Motivation and Performance Management has something to do with “values,” we will not be able to have much impact on motivation or performance if we do not know a little something about values. So that we are all speaking the same language, let’s define values as follows.

Values are the worth or significance

that we give to

people, things, or ideas.

Our value system is the set of standards we live by. Values are a huge part of whom we are inside. However, our values will not show up on a MRI or X-Ray film. They are only identifiable as we walk them out in our lives, expressing them in our behaviors, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, and in our life and work choices.

VALUES drive our way of being in the world and ultimately the decisions we make and the relationships we build. Our values affect everything in our lives. We cannot just drop them at the door as we are coming into work. They affect how we behave at work and even the place we choose to work. They influence how we think about work, how we perform our jobs, what priorities we set, what our relationships look like, how we react to information and assignments, and even whether or not we can set aside our personal goals to work for the goals of someone else.

Value Systems

We would like to believe that the value sets of others are very similar, if not identical, to our own. The reality is, however, that our value sets are different. The more of us who are involved in any one effort, the more values sets will be present. Values differences are difficult to navigate and cause the most enduring conflicts. For this reason, we tend to seek out others with compatible value sets for our primary relationships. We also tend to seek PLACES TO WORK whose cultures indicate SIMILAR VALUES TO OURS.

Our value systems TEND TO FALL INTO ONE OF THREE GROUPS.

• Those whose systems are things oriented;
• Those whose systems are ideas or concepts oriented; and
• Those whose systems are people oriented.

If we are not sure which group we fall into, we can get some clues from just looking at what we do, listening to what we say, and considering how we think about things. However, since it is not always easy to objectively look or listen to ourselves, we may find that someone who knows us is better able to give us an objective opinion about what seems important to us.

In general, if we are drawn to things first and repeatedly – working with, purchasing, or even reading about things such as machinery, equipment, technology or other objects – then we likely are things oriented.

If we are drawn to ideas or concepts first and repeatedly – working with, talking about, or reading about ideas and concepts such as some new plan, innovations or solution – then ideas is probably our orientation.

If we are drawn to people first and repeatedly – working with, relaxing with, or reading about people such as helping others, teaming on projects, or socializing with friends – then people is probably our central focus.

Organizations as well FALL INTO ONE OF THESE GROUPS. Like us, THEY DEMONSTRATE their SYSTEMS in what they do first and repeatedly. We will likely be most comfortable in an organization that has an orientation similar to or aT LEAST COMPATIBLE WITH OURS. VALUE SYSTEMS are not right or wrong, good or bad, less valuable or more valuable. They just are, and they drive who we are, what we do, and how we think.

Differing Values and Performance

In more cases than we want to admit, organization members hold different values from the values of the organizations they work for. They complain, get frustrated, talk negatively about how the organization behaves, and yet may continue to be members.

When an organization has values that we find unacceptable or say they have values that we can support, yet do not walk these out, our motivation to work and the quality of our performance will be less than our best. We will usually find ourselves unable to fully support the organization and its values and investing lots of emotional and physical energy into our unhappiness. We may even find ourselves part of a larger group who share out feelings. The greater the unhappiness and the larger the number having similar feelings, the lower the motivation and the worse the performance will be. Motivation and subsequent performance are directly related to our ability to respect and champion the values of the organization.

Championing the values of our organizations is a lot like championing our favorite sports teams. We believe in the team; we wear team clothing; we root for them even in a bad season; we put signs on our vehicles. In short, we are avid fans. To optimize work performance, we must be genuine and avid fans of the values of any organization of which we are a member.

MINI ASSESSMENT

Take a few minutes to think about your value system orientation. What seems to be the most important to you: things, ideas, or people? Once you have made your choice (or if you are having a hard time deciding) ask a friend what his or her perceptions ARE of your orientation.

What seems to be the orientation of the organization for which you work? What evidence supports your theory? Does your orientation and that of your organization match? Are they compatible?

Questions? Comments? We would love to hear from you.
Drop us a line at info@lazarusconsulting.com .