Aligning Your Personal and Professional Values to Enhance Overall Wellness

Personal values are a set of beliefs held by an individual that help them differentiate between right and wrong. These values represent your moral compass and guide your actions in all aspects of life. This determines who you are as an individual, your resilience, your priorities, and how reliable you are to others around you.

Every significant or insignificant decision we make is influenced by our personal values. It is important to align your personal and professional values to feel comfortable and satisfied in a professional environment. Read on to find out how you can experience personal and professional growth by aligning your personal and professional values.

• What Are Personal Values?
  • What are corporate values?
• Core Values Examples
• Examples of Common Core Values
• How Can We Align Personal and Corporate Values?
  • What happens when values are misaligned?
  • How to align personal values in your business?
  • How can you ensure core value alignment?
• Conclusion

What Are Personal Values?

Personal values are the guiding principles in your life that help you make important decisions. These core values represent your moral compass and are a sign of what you believe is important in life.

These core values cause people to experience thoughts and emotions that lead them to achieve their goals. They are defined by many factors, including your personal experiences, your familial environment, education, religious beliefs, content consumption, and mentors.

Personal values are important because they allow you to make consistent decisions throughout your life. They provide a sense of purpose and direction in your personal life, allowing you to realize and follow your dreams.

What are corporate values?

For a business, core values reflect the ideals of the company’s founder and leaders. If the leadership is made of individuals with high emotional intelligence, the company is likely to have robust core values that govern everyday decision-making. These values serve as a guide for making decisions within the organization, both by employees and employers. These values are among the most important guiding principles within the workplace.

A company’s core values reflect how it engages with people in and outside the corporation. These values reflect how employees interact with each other and external bodies, including clients and partners.

Aligning your own values with those of your workplace can result in great success and stability.

Core Values Examples

Figuring out your own personal values isn’t as easy as it seems. You must allow deep self-reflection and honesty to determine where your moral compass points. You can refer to the list of common personal values below to understand which ones you relate to and practice the most in your daily life. This self-reflection will point you in the right direction to begin making important changes in your life.

Examples of Common Core Values

Our personal values evolve as we grow older. As our values change, so does our moral compass. Something that may have been important to you as a child may not even be a priority now. Similarly, moral values that didn’t mean much during your teenage years may be significantly important to you now. We keep adding and removing personal values in our moral compass, and that’s okay. This is what emotional growth looks like; as human beings, we constantly grow in emotional maturity.

Here is a list of core personal values commonly found in people. This will help you figure out your moral compass and may even encourage you to instill some more personal values in yourself.

• Honesty
• Compassion
• Balance
• Modesty
• Adventure
• Autonomy
• Courage
• Curiosity
• Empathy
• Kindness
• Loyalty
• Respect
• Optimism
• Spontaneity
• Risk-taking
• Wisdom
• Service
• Self-awareness
• Self-reliance

How Can We Align Personal and Corporate Values?

Understanding why an alignment in values is essential for a healthy work-life balance is important.

According to a Jobseeker study in 2018, 46% of job seekers cite company culture as an important factor to consider when looking for a new job.

https://youtu.be/YhZlSbD4Ur8

A company’s culture is based on the shared values, beliefs, standards, and policies that make up the work environment. A good company culture invites more talent and helps the firm retain valuable employees. This is only possible because the company’s values align with the employees’ or jobseekers’ personal values.

The alignment of core values allows individuals to feel more comfortable and secure within an organization. This leads to a greater sense of attachment and increased productivity.

What happens when values are misaligned?

It can be quite frustrating for an employee to work for an organization whose principles and values don’t align with their own personal values. This may result in lower job satisfaction and even conflict within the workplace. Around 46% of employees in the U.K. and U.S. are considering leaving their jobs because the company does not align with their personal values.

This means that the misalignment of personal and corporate values is as problematic for employers as it is for employees. So how can you align your personal and professional values?

How to align personal values in your business?

Business owners need to understand that company goals can evolve as the company evolves. Sticking to outdated principles and beliefs can be quite damaging to the company’s future. Thus, to align the company’s values with those of its employees, organizations need to review their values and adjust them to suit current times better.

Companies can help their workers identify and define their personal values. This will encourage the employees to agree on principles that contribute to personal growth and professional development. They can even tie personal development and professional goals by taking initiative for important causes to their team, like climate change or income disparity.

When employees feel like they have their employer’s support and backing, they are more likely to feel valued. This will lead them to come up with new ideas for the workplace and improve workplace relationships.

It is also important for businesses to be transparent about their fundamental beliefs and create a culture that aligns with these values. When their actions align with their words, employees will be more likely to place their trust in the employer and create a strong-knitted community.

How can you ensure core value alignment?

As an individual, you can contribute to value alignment by researching a company’s culture and creating a list of questions for them. This can include certain values such as integrity, transparency, and flexibility that will lead to your personal well-being and professional growth.

When you go for an interview, do not hesitate to question the company’s values that will contribute to your career and everyday life. You can ask how they plan to ensure that their employees feel satisfied.

Conclusion

There will always be some misalignment of values within an organization. This is why looking for a workplace that prioritizes your values and ensures a healthy work-life balance is important. As an individual, you should be willing to adapt to essential values like hard work and perseverance that are naturally expected by any employer. A company that understands your personal values and prioritizes the same offers a working environment that can help enhance overall wellness. Your personal values may not perfectly align with your professional values; however, by working for an organization that you believe prioritizes your individual beliefs and needs, your time spent at work becomes more worthwhile.