Work Values

"We work not only to produce but also to give value to our time." Eugene Delacroix

Work values and attitudes can be one of the most important and most overlooked considerations when it comes to making career choices.

Do you know whether your values and personal needs match with your career choice? If you haven't taken the time to think about the ways in which your possible career options impact your day to day life and fit within your own set of values, then you've missed an important piece in the career choice process.

It can be easy to slip into pursuing career rewards that do not fit with your own value system. Society tells us to value prestige, power and a high income. If those types of career accomplishments are within your own personal set of values, then pursuing those things will likely contribute to your happiness and career satisfaction.

Define Success on Your Own Terms

However, if you value flexibility in your work schedule, creativity and helping others, then you'll find more career satisfaction in pursuing those career goals. That doesn't mean that you're destined to be unhappy in a high paying job if high income is not one of your core values. However, it does mean that if earning a high income is not one of your primary values, that income will not make up for the shortcomings of a job that goes against your own personal values.

One way to think through your career related values and attitudes is by using a values inventory. Unlike interest and aptitude assessments, a values inventory is not a formal tool that has been validated through objective research and analysis.

A values inventory can still be a useful test for choosing a career. It will help you to brainstorm and assess things that motivate you (such as influencing others) and your needs (working with others, for example) as they are related to your career choices.

Often people struggle to state what they want out of their work (beyond an income), so a values inventory can help by prompting you to think through many possible work related values.

Matching work values and career choice is an often overlooked aspect of career planning. Considering that the leading cause of job burnout is a mismatch between your personal values and the realities of your job, it's important to assess your values and the ways they will be expressed in your career decisions.

When your values are in line with your work, small, day to day annoyances at work won't bother you as easily because you will see and be committed to the bigger picture of the things you are accomplishing. When your values and your work are out of line, every inconvenience will have the potential to weigh heavily on your mind.

As you make your career decisions, keep in mind that work values affect job satisfaction in ways that are profound, but not immediately obvious. Matching your career and your values can be a crucial step in your career success and satisfaction.