Pillars of a Strong Value System

Published On - November 27, 2020

Aishwarya Nayak

She came up to me and said, ” We need to talk!”. Almost taken aback, I asked her to proceed. “Would you believe me if I say that my company literally has everything, great salary structures, infrastructure, yet I feel extremely suffocated and dejected”, she said.

I pondered over this for a few days, asking myself repeatedly, what would have made her say so.

I put myself into her shoes and thought to myself, what would that one thing be, which would make me wake up with utmost excitement and go to work the next day? What would make me “want” to go to work and not “have” to? What would I want to look forward to the most at work?

My mind almost shouted out to me, that her “everything” literally missed the most important thing! A culture that binds people together, creates a sense of belonging, for knitting people together through shared values and a common purpose for collaboration.

As for my thoughts, culture is not a mere constant to be forcibly sunken into, it contains values which make us who we are, as individuals, as working professionals, which trickles down to our families as well. It is about being comfortable with what we are surrounded by, and find yourself resonating with the ideology of the company and its people.

Culture stands still on values which make the organization strong and closely knit. A good culture helps retain talent and sustain the business of an organization.

In my opinion, the four fundamental pillars of a strong value system would constitute – Respect, Integrity, Inclusiveness, commitment. These would make me want to be one among the various pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of the organization.

The value of respect is the primary DNA that must constitute the structure of an organization. Respect includes respect for others and everything they do. Cascading down from an executive to the junior-most position, everyone needs, wants and deserves respect. Being respected leads to feeling valued and accounted for significant contribution. This helps induce the feeling of responsibility, accountability and dignity.

The core reason for longevity of a business generally stems from integrity and ethics. This starts with inculcating the value of transparency and honesty at each step, in order to make the structure unassailable. This can be ensured by efficient communication and a regular feedback mechanism. This culture helps the company steer clear of malpractices and maintain a high standard of corporate governance. This leads to increase in the trustworthiness of the company in the minds of its internal and external stakeholders, also giving it a competitive advantage.

Inclusiveness is very crucial to make an employee feel a part of the Family of the organization. Inclusivity despite diversity helps different people with different ideas, backgrounds, perspectives come together with dedication to build an empire. Various ideas being brought to the table by uniquely tailored minds help turn the table with an exquisite twist to make an organization exceptional. A feeling of belongingness makes employees want to give more to the company thinking of it as their very own, which helps in improving performance by making people feel like “Home”.

Last, but certainly not least, is Commitment. Commitment to everything you do, with others and for others. Commitment to the organization shall remain a value cast on stone. It shows commitment to its mission, vision, values, goals, work and relationships. Commitment also includes commitment to the company’s external environment, the society and the world at large. This helps the organization to develop itself financially and culturally remaining persistent towards its goal constantly delivering its promises to its customers and its environment.

People form the biggest asset of the organization. Hence, to make them feel valued, the company must build its value system based on tough, powerful pillars.

There are many imperative values that help build a strong base for the organization.

Keeping the same in mind, in my view, the four values i.e., Respect, Integrity, Inclusiveness, commitment, are the makers or breakers of a strong value system in an organization. The absence of even one of them might lead to a weak foundation of values, which may affect the sustainability of the organization in the longer term.

Remember that some of these values can be something for which a person joins you or leaves you, for which a person wants to come every morning and work, for which a person substantially owes his or her happy life to.

Each employee is a gem, and has to be treasured like one.

If you look at your professional career as an average 35 years journey, you need to have both short term and long term focus. If we define the short term as initial 10 years of your career, it’s important to focus on learning operating stuff or functional skills as you begin your career. Most of the times/More often than not, your performance at this stage will be evaluated basis your speed of delivery, technical accuracy, enthusiasm, ability to work in a project team and above all, willingness to learn.
It’s important to build and nurture the core, especially when you have spent around 10 -15 years of your career (remember number of years are indicative, each one moves differently in their career journey based on their potential as well as opportunities). Building a strong core to me means developing your expertise, knowing well what you are really good at and also understanding what others think about your expertise. Here, you need to pick up new skills and expertise along with people and team management capabilities. At this stage you also decide which industry or sector you would like to be in and whether you want go deep and specialize in a field or widen your competency base and move into general management. Ideally, at this stage you should also experience what it means to work with different geographies, cultures etc., if you get such opportunities.
You grow rapidly in terms of knowledge, expertise, leadership capabilities, business acumen when you have spent around 20 years in your career. It’s not the number of years which defines this phase, but the kind of challenges you have handled, expertise you have built, teams you have developed or customers you have won, all of these help you to shape your future. You learn a lot from your achievement and equally from the mistakes you have made over the years. You build your presence, wherever you work and beyond the company as well, by taking keen interest in your profession and furthering it’s development. This phase also helps you to secure your future financially and make clear plans for the rest of your life.
Many a times you look beyond the obvious career trajectory and question what can be your next challenge or goal. Not that everyone thinks like that or needs to think in that way. Many people happily accept the “ceiling”, continue their journey and achieve their set career and life goals. While some take a leap and opt voluntarily for a new career challenge and opportunity to fulfill their vision. This kind of career transition is possible when you are truly attached to your core values and determined to walk the lane once again for a new quest and ambition and mentally strong to manage associated disruptions. You don’t measure the success here in defined societal standards, but the way you move closer to your vision and how much difference you are able to make to others; these become important parameters. Ultimately, who defines your success?
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