Your scores indicate that one of your Top 5 Personal Values
is Challenge.
You put a high, personal
value on focusing your efforts on work that is demanding,
difficult, or nearly impossible – the kinds of tasks and
projects that push you up to or beyond the limits of your
capabilities, and require you to seek ever-higher levels of
performance. You find satisfaction in work situations with
high standards of excellence that few can attain, working on
inherently challenging tasks that involve, for example,
making new discoveries, exploring new frontiers, setting new
records, solving long-standing problems, or creating new
products. You may prefer to realize your need for Challenge
through competition against adversaries or peers, or you may
pit yourself against your own self-defined goals. You value
projects and assignments that you and others regard as very
difficult if not next to impossible.
Ideal Work Situations
You can realize your
strong value for challenging work in many assignments and
projects that stretch your capabilities. You may enjoy work
that calls on you to struggle with knotty problems, compete
with adversaries, overcome arduous conditions, respond
quickly to shifting circumstances, or meet short deadlines.
Congruent with a priority on Challenge are difficult
objectives that not everybody can meet. Seek out assignments
that require individual goal-setting and provide specific
feedback on performance. Think twice about taking on work
with repetitive, externally-paced, closely prescribed tasks,
easy goals, or undemanding performance criteria.
Relationship with Your
Manager
Work toward open
communication with your manager and keep him or her informed
about the status of ongoing projects and assignments; be
sure to clarify goals and discuss feedback. Also, the more
you can do to build your manager's confidence in you and
your capabilities, the more likely he or she is to give you
challenging assignments. If you find yourself reporting to
someone who does not think well of you, your first challenge
is to change that manager's outlook!
Peer Group
Look for capable,
motivated work peers who will "keep you on your toes." In a
group of high-performing peers you can expect to be
challenged by the examples they set, their spirit of
competition, and their high expectations. Avoid working with
people less capable than you or people who do not value
Challenge and accomplishment.
Compensation
Most compatible with your
value on Challenge is performance-based compensation. You
probably respond favorably to contests and competitions. If
possible, avoid fixed-salary or time-in-grade,
seniority-driven compensation systems.
Organizational Culture
You will probably be most
comfortable with the level of Challenge in an organization
with a high-performance culture - one that sets high goals,
demands results, and recognizes significant accomplishments
by employees.
Work Assignments
Take the initiative in
asking for difficult, challenging projects and assignments
you're confident you can handle effectively. Keep your
manager informed about your accomplishments and successes -
and about your skills and capabilities that could prove to
be assets to your work group that you haven't had the chance
to fully demonstrate yet.
Value Conflicts
The work value Challenge
potentially conflicts with a value on Security. If you place
a priority on stable employment and avoiding the risk of
unemployment, you may hesitate to take on challenging
assignments because of the risks. Similarly, in an
organization or work group that places a high value on
Security, you may experience strong pressure toward making
work assignments hazard-free and fail-safe more than
stimulating or challenging.
Challenging work may be
relatively difficult to obtain or sustain if you also place
a high personal value on Geographic Locale. Depending on the
location you want, you may have to trade a certain amount
of Challenge for the privilege of staying in a preferred
place. To take advantage of the many challenging assignments
that call for travel, you may have to spend time away from
your preferred locale, or even re-locate.
Because challenging work
generally takes a substantial time-commitment, realizing a
value for Challenge can conflict with other values that
require time-commitments, especially Family and Leisure &
Recreation. Other values that demand time-intensive
activities might also bring conflicts: Social Responsibility
and Environment & Ecology.
Several work values
complement and support your personal value on Challenge:
values for Excitement; Creativity; High Income; and
Achievement. In a work group or organizational culture that
promotes these values, you probably will find the challenge
you want. On the other hand, if your work group places low
priority on any of these values, you may find yourself
limited. For example, if members of your work group don't
value Creativity as much as you do, they may become
impatient if you try to address challenging problems using
creative solutions.
If your personal work
values don't include those that support Challenge - like
Excitement, High Income, and Achievement - you may
experience internal conflict. As a consequence, you could
limit the kinds of challenges you'll consider pursuing or
the arenas in which you'll pursue them. You may even limit
your choices without being aware of it. For example, if
Excitement isn't a priority, you may find yourself attracted
to predictable projects, and not to the greater challenge of
relatively chaotic projects.
Career
Development Questions
-
To what extent does
your current position give you the Challenge you desire?
-
How well have you
succeeded in cultivating a relationship with your
manager that is characterized by open communication,
trust, and confidence?
-
How well have you
succeeded in linking your compensation to your
performance in challenging assignments?
-
To what degree do
your organizational culture and work group share your
value on Challenge?
-
How well does your
current work role position you to move later in your
career into more challenging roles?
Achievement
Your scores indicate that another one of your Top 5 Personal
Values is Achievement.
You put high priority on
accomplishments that bring recognition and esteem for you by
people whose opinions you value. You strive for prestige,
acclaim, and admiration of your talents and successes. You
value accomplishments that set you apart, make you a role
model, bring honor to you and your name, or give you
widespread visibility. You want to be well regarded by a
group you care about, such as co-workers, members of your
profession, community, or the wider public.
Ideal Work Situations
You can realize your
value on Achievement in work assignments that allow you to
use your talents and abilities to best advantage. Look for
projects that allow you to succeed by applying your
knowledge and skills where others can't or won't. A personal
value on Achievement calls for identifying your strongest
talents and abilities, and positioning yourself to apply
them in ways that stand out from others. Your ideal work
situation is a work role that showcases your capabilities
and demands, recognizes, and reinforces Achievement of
individuals.
Organizational Culture
For someone with your
high priority on Achievement, the best-fit organization has
a culture that fosters Achievement through its values and
structures. You probably feel at home in an organization
that promotes excellence, continuous improvement, and
organizational learning, and offers multiple opportunities
for fostering them. If your organization lacks key
structures for promoting excellence, consider a personal
initiative toward establishing the one you see as most
beneficial.
Training and
Development
Achievement depends on
developing and sharpening your individual capabilities,
which in turn calls for continuous training and education to
refine your knowledge, skills, and abilities. You will
benefit from taking full advantage of your organization's
programs in training and education. Ask your manager
and co-workers about training opportunities. Look for
internship programs, continuing education, outreach
initiatives, and placements that allow you to develop your
talents. Consider taking classes in your area of Expertise.
Mentors, Role Models,
and Professional Affiliations
Key to high Achievement
is "insider" knowledge about your career, which you can best
obtain by learning from the successes of high-achievers and
how they accomplished what they did – and how you can
emulate and even improve on their achievements. Look for
assignments or projects that give you formal or informal
access to the most successful members of the occupation, and
allow you to learn from them - preferably through mentoring,
peer learning, coaching, or internships. Affiliate with the
most prestigious, professional societies in your field, join
influential committees, and position yourself to hold key
roles.
Networking
Achievement depends on
finding out about opportunities and acting on them quickly.
In turn, this depends on having a wide network of contacts
willing to keep you informed, including mentors,
professional acquaintances and colleagues, co-workers, and
customers.
Value Conflicts
Work values most likely
to spark conflict with your high priority on Achievement
include Family and Leisure & Recreation. Because Achievement
requires a substantial time-commitment, Achievement
naturally conflicts with other values that require
time-commitments. Realizing your need for Achievement leaves
relatively little time for Family and Recreation & Leisure.
You can expect to have this conflict called to your
attention early and often – perhaps by your own values, or
by your family, or by friends and co-workers. As Achievement
continues to be a priority, be ready to hear people call you
a "workaholic."
Your value on Achievement
can conflict directly with a value on Geographic Locale. If
you have an attachment to a specific place, and a
career-advancing assignment opens somewhere else that
requires you to re-locate to take advantage, you face a
difficult choice.
Compatible values that
support your need for Achievement include Expertise,
Challenge, Autonomy, and High Income. To the extent that you
or others around you downplay these values, your avenues
toward Achievement may be limited. For example, if you or
your co-workers don't value Expertise, you'll find fewer
ways forward Achievement.
Career Development
Questions
-
To what extent does
your current position allow you to showcase your
individual talents and capabilities?
-
How satisfied are you
with the opportunities your organization offers for
professional training and development?
-
How strongly does
your organization emphasize excellence, continuous
improvement, and organizational learning?
-
To what extent does
your organization reinforce and recognize Achievement
through awards, incentives, and developmental
assignments?
-
Does your present
position offer you a clear path of advancement to
greater authority and potential for greater Achievement?
Autonomy
Your scores indicate that
another one of your Top 5 Personal Values is Autonomy.
You place high priority
on control over your own time, freedom to choose what you
work on, how you work, and when you work. You want the
freedom to conceive, design, initiate, plan, and execute
projects. You highly value working independently, with
minimum supervision, so you can exercise self-direction on
your work projects and tasks.
Ideal Work Situations
You can realize your
strong value for Autonomy in work roles and assignments that
give you responsibility for whole tasks, projects, products,
or services. Look for opportunities to get involved in
projects that allow you to choose how you work or what you
work on. Consider positioning yourself for assignments that
involve multiple locations, travel, flexible scheduling,
and/or contact with external customers and suppliers. When
possible, avoid assignments and tasks with rigid procedures,
tightly regulated time schedules, or close supervision. Most
compatible with your high value on Autonomy are work
situations that allow you to move among different work
settings and maintain some personal privacy. If you can,
avoid assignments that require you to spend most of your
time at a single workstation, especially one in a public,
visible, open area. Or, you might prefer a job where you can
choose where you work and when you work.
Relationship with Your
Manager
Most congruent with your
value on Autonomy is a work situation with no manager at
all. You'll experience some degree of strain in any work
situation that requires you to follow somebody else's
direction. (As an employee it is important for you realize
this about yourself and develop productive ways of dealing
with the strain of working to someone else's agenda.) Your
ideal manager has a trusting, empowering style, readily
delegates authority, and pays far more attention to results
than to procedural details. You can cultivate a style of
supervision that maximizes your own Autonomy by
conscientiously completing your assignments - always on
time, with due attention to detail, as independently as
possible. The more you demonstrate to your manager that he
or she can count on you to work effectively on your own, the
more discretion you will receive in future assignments. If
you can, avoid working for a manager with an authoritarian
style, and expect to experience conflict if you cannot avoid
such a manager.
Your Approach to
Management
As a manager yourself,
you are likely to express your value on Autonomy by wanting
and expecting people who report to you to work
independently, take substantial responsibility for their own
work, and take initiative in asking for direction.
Compatible with your value is a competent, highly motivated,
self-directed staff. You can expect to be frustrated in work
roles that require you to exercise close supervision or deal
with unmotivated employees. For people who report to you –
even those capable of substantial self-direction – you may
have to remind yourself to review their work. Try to ask
what they need more often than you would want to be asked
that yourself. You may place a higher value on Autonomy than
they do.
Value Conflicts
Your value on Autonomy
potentially conflicts with a value on Power. If you place a
high priority on Power yourself, you probably have to give
up some Autonomy to achieve the influence you want. Most
positions of power will require accountability,
accessibility, and relationship to others, which tend to
reduce your Autonomy by limiting your control of your own
time and activities.
Similarly, if you value
Leadership or Teamwork, you probably cannot achieve a high
level of Autonomy at the same time. Effective Leadership and
Teamwork both require accessibility, collaboration, and
communication responsive to others' needs.
You probably will
experience value conflicts with co-workers who place a high
value on Power, especially your manager, and peers or
customers who see you as someone they want to influence. For
you, this conflict will likely be particularly intense and
difficult in an organization that emphasizes hierarchy of
authority and the chain of command. Also, you can expect
conflict in an organizational culture that places a high
value on Teamwork, which will reduce your Autonomy and
demand that you coordinate your activities with those of
others.
Career Development
Questions
-
Does your current
work situation allow the Autonomy you want?
-
To what extent does
your current manager provide the delegation you want?
-
In what areas do you
want greater discretion or authority?
-
What can you do to
reinforce your reputation for being able to handle
assignments with minimal supervision?
-
To what extent does
your current career path lead toward greater Autonomy in
the areas you consider most important?
Integrity
Your scores indicate that another one of
your Top 5 Personal Values is Integrity.
You place a high priority
on moral, ethical conduct. You uphold the principles of
honesty, truth, fairness, and personal responsibility in
your relationships with people in your work, and you expect
them to do the same. You want the leaders and members of
your organization to have a clear sense of right and wrong,
behave morally, and not only proclaim the letter of the law,
but do the right thing.
Organizational Culture
You feel most at home in
an organization in which the culture matches your own high
value on Integrity – a culture that demands and reinforces
justice for all and maintains the highest ethical standards.
It is important for you to affiliate with an organization
with a well-earned reputation for honesty and moral conduct.
Look for public, well-developed procedures for reporting
ethical problems of all kinds - from environmental spills to
discrimination or favoritism to conflict of interest - and
procedures for confronting dishonesty or deception. If your
organization lacks any essential structures for dealing with
such issues, you can express your value on Integrity by
helping build the structures of procedural justice - ideally
before a crisis calls for them. If you discover that your
organization's culture and practices fall noticeably below
your ethical standards, give serious consideration to
finding another place to work.
Value Conflicts and
Support
Of all the personal work
values, Integrity can create some of the most difficult
value conflicts. When you come across a moral or ethical
conflict or legal violation – and sooner or later you
probably will – you face the dilemma of whether to confront
the problem or look the other way. Unfortunately,
confrontation carries costs. In the best case, to confront
an injustice will take fortitude, persistence, time, and
energy. In the worst case, you could share the fates of many
"whistle-blowers" in the past: lost job, de-railed career,
or threats of worse by those who benefit from unfair
exploitation. Demonstrating a value on Integrity calls for
courage and might bring you into personal conflict with
powerful people in your organization.
Some work values can
intensify conflicts with a value on Integrity. Among the
potential sources of conflict to watch are values on High
Income or Power. If you or your work group place a high
value on financial gain, you may be tempted to compromise
your Integrity. Those around you may press you in subtle
ways to accept money in return for relaxing your moral
vigilance or standards. Similarly, a value on Power can
place you in situations in which exercising influence over
others can create injustice.
Other work values can
reinforce a value on Integrity, especially values on Family
and Social Responsibility. To the extent that you and your
work group share these values, you are likely to avoid some
value conflicts related to Integrity. In an organization
that places a low value on Family or Social Responsibility,
conflicts involving Integrity become more likely.
Relationship with Your
Manager
If you can choose your
boss, look for a manager who places the same high value on
Integrity that you do. Your ideal boss maintains honest,
principled, ethical conduct at all times, and demands of you
the kind of ethical standards that you demand of yourself.
With such a manager you can build an open, trusting
relationship that reinforces your value on Integrity.
Reporting to an
unprincipled manager is likely to be extremely stressful for
you, and could be a sufficient reason to look for another
position. If your manager values Integrity less than you do,
you can try to educate him or her by your example.
Unfortunately, you are likely to experience resistance or
even reprisals if you confront your boss about such things
as favoritism or deceptive business practices.
Career Development
Questions
-
How comfortable are
you with your organization's code of ethics?
-
To what extent do the
members of your organization demonstrate ethical conduct
that matches your own standards?
-
How satisfied are you
with the way your organization promotes adherence to
ethical standards?
-
What kind of
reputation does your organization have for complying
with regulations and legal requirements?
-
What can you do
personally to promote the development of procedural
justice in your organization?
Informality
Your scores indicate that another one of
your Top 5 Personal Values is Informality.
You prefer to work in a
casual setting with few if any formal protocols or standard
ways of doing things. You have little patience for
unnecessary rules and rituals, and you probably don't like
dress codes, status symbols, or time-cards. You would rather
focus on getting the work done than on maintaining
appearances, accounting for every minute at work, or
following pointless rules. You prefer to ignore differences
in rank and status except when the work makes them
important.
Work Environments
Most compatible with your
need for a casual style of working are settings where you
can dress comfortably, keep a flexible schedule, and arrange
your workspace the way you want it. If your job allows it,
you may want to arrange to do some of your work at home. You
are most comfortable working in a casual setting where
people call one another by their first names and don't stand
on ceremony. Ideally, you can personalize your workspace –
for example, with photos, mementos, or furniture – and use
your own style of communicating.
Relationship with Your
Manager
Most fitting for you is
a manager who also values Informality and with whom you do
not have to observe protocol or carefully manage your image.
You and your manager should be able to have an open, genuine
communication style that is not constrained by formal
expectations.
Work Peers
You enjoy working with
other people who also like an informal style and like to
keep things casual in the workplace. You would be
comfortable with: peer communications that are natural and
spontaneous, impromptu conversations, meetings where agendas
are loose and the discussion is allowed to flow, and other
unstructured interactions not scheduled in advance.
Organizational Culture
You will be most
comfortable in an organization that values Informality and
has a minimum of established rules, policies, and
procedures. Your best fit employer will provide ample
opportunities for personalization of work space, relaxed
dress code, ad hoc meetings, and spontaneous interaction as
well as de-emphasis on formal ceremonies and rituals, status
identifiers, and personal behavior guidelines.
Value Support and
Conflicts
A high value for
Informality is most likely to be consonant with values for
Leisure Recreation, Family, and Environment & Ecology. Since
you can choose your Leisure activities, a high value for
Leisure is easy to realize simultaneously with a high value
for Informality. Similarly, most family settings and
activities are informal which allows high values for Family
and Informality to co-occur. Many environmental groups and
organizations have flexible operating procedures, do not
have dress codes or status hierarchies, permit
personalization of work spaces, have unscheduled and ad hoc
meetings, and have a casual workplace atmosphere—all of
which align with a high value for Informality.
A high value for
Informality can conflict with several other values,
including Leadership, Power, and Security. The formal role
requirements of Leadership, including goal setting,
communication, and performance appraisal as well as the many
formal settings in which leaders must behave properly
conflict directly with Informality. Similarly, the necessary
compliance with norms and protocol as well as participation
in many formal functions, meetings, and other events clash
with Informality. Companies that which offer job Security
usually are associated with compliance with policies,
procedures, protocol, and social norms that preclude
Informality.
Career Development
Questions
-
To what extent do you
work in a setting that can be characterized as informal?
To what degree do your organizational culture and work
group share and support your value for Informality?
-
If your employer
allows some limited opportunities to be more informal
and relaxed, such as "casual" dress days or after work
happy hour get-togethers, but these are insufficient
from your standpoint, what have you personally done to
create more such opportunities?
-
Have you sought out
assignments and projects that give you more chances to
be informal or work in a more casual setting, such as
out-of-town projects, training programs, and meetings
with other departments or field offices that require
travel and meetings in informal settings; or interfacing
with clients and customers who have more informal styles
and work environments?
-
Have you sought out
and completed continued education and training that
would allow you to move into a different job where you
worked in a more casual setting?
Following are brief
definitions of the 18 work-related values assessed by the Personal
Work Values Inventory. These can represent an
individual's enduring, fundamental priorities and
standards for meaning and significance in the world of work.
ACHIEVEMENT
Efforts and accomplishments that bring recognition,
esteem, respect, and admiration by those whose opinions
matter most. Striving to attain successes that lead to
prestige, acclaim, public visibility, and honor.
AUTONOMY
Self-direction, including freedom to conceive, design,
initiate, plan, and execute major projects with little or no
supervision. Independent control over the timing, pacing,
and methods of work. Discretion in choosing what to do and
how to proceed.
CHALLENGE
Having difficult, demanding tasks that few can do.
Missions that demand full capability, or more. Pressure to
perform with speed or precision. Confronting complex or
"impossible" problems. Facing worthy competitors or
seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
CREATIVITY
Creative self-expression that draws on individual
talents, imagination, and capacity for invention,
innovation, and artistry. Generating novel, unique, and
elegant solutions, events, works of art, or other original
products.
ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY
Fostering and promoting the continued health and
well-being of the natural world and all that inhabits it.
Preserving and conserving environments and settings. Helping
protect eco-systems from pollution, exploitation, or
degradation.
EXCITEMENT
Stimulating situations that arouse one’s attention,
senses, and emotions while presenting novelty, adventure,
and possibly risk or danger. Preference for varied,
unpredictable, fast-paced, multi-faceted activities.
EXPERTISE
Competence, deep knowledge, and consummate skill in a
specialty area. Mastery, proficiency, and excellence in
one’s work. Full development and expression of abilities and
talents.
FAMILY
Spending time with family members, such as spouse,
children, parents, grandchildren, siblings, and other
relatives. Honoring commitments to, and maintaining
satisfying relationships with family.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCALE
Having work that enables one to live in a particular
location or geographic area. Preference for a specific
residence, neighborhood, city, or region.
HIGH INCOME
Having work or career that allows one to earn a great
deal of money and other compensation, leading to financial
independence and accumulated personal wealth.
INFORMALITY
Working in an informal, casual setting with de-emphasis
on rank, status, protocol, dress codes, and unnecessary
rules.
INTEGRITY
Upholding the principles of honesty, truth, fairness,
honor, and personal accountability in relationships with all
other people, and expecting others to do the same. Following
legal and ethical codes.
LEADERSHIP
Taking responsibility for initiating, organizing,
facilitating, and guiding people toward achieving shared
goals. Motivating, inspiring, and challenging others.
Helping individuals and groups realize their potentials.
Fostering unity, alignment, common vision, and cooperative
accomplishment.
LEISURE &
RECREATION
Having enough free time away from work for rest,
relaxation, and renewal, involving leisure pursuits of one’s
choosing, such as hobbies, sports, spending time with
friends, and having fun.
POWER
Authority over others. Influencing what people do and
how they do it. Commanding and controlling employees'
assignments and activities. Capability to enforce compliance
with directives.
SECURITY
Having a career or working in an organization that
offers stable, dependable, long-term livelihood. Assured
employment. Predictable livelihood. Freedom from unexpected
lay-off or down-time.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Dedication to causes rooted in humanitarian, civic,
community, religious, or spiritual ideals. Upholding justice
and equal rights. Helping alleviate human suffering and
promoting quality of life.
TEAMWORK
Collaboration and close cooperation with others in
interdependent efforts toward shared goals and joint
accomplishments. Working with others to achieve group-based
outcomes; making contribution to collective projects that
call for coordination of specialized expertise, using team
problem-solving and joint decision-making.
