Have you ever been unhappy and desperate to change your job within the first year? You probably started out thinking that what you brought to the table aligned well with your employer’s needs. Your passion, personality and experience seemed like a good fit and you looked forward to a happy and successful career. Or, perhaps, you have been very happy in your organization for some time, but lately things have shifted; the environment seems different and you may be feeling disconnected and uncomfortable. You may be asking yourself, “what’s going on,” “do I have a role in this,” “what actions can I take to remedy this situation,” or “am I going crazy?”
These situations are frequently difficult to analyze; gaining personal clarity and developing an action plan can also be challenging. A practical neuroscience approach to defining alignment of your values with the core values of your employer is your pathway to career success.
My suggestion is to begin the process by identifying the behaviors you experience on a daily basis. Behaviors are the words, actions, body language, facial expressions, and tone-of-voice people use to express themselves. They are both the content of the messages and the manner in which the messages are delivered. The following checklist will guide you through the process of gaining clarity in your current situation:
- Identify behaviors. Make a list of the “low road” behaviors that seem disturbing to you. These may include fear tactics to increase productivity, lay-off threats, unethical behavior, attacking one another, unkind words, finger pointing, impatience and rude behavior. Also, make a list of “high road” behaviors you admire and experience on a daily basis like respect for one another, teamwork, politeness, kindness, compliments, healthy laughter, fun, celebrating success and people helping one another. Which list is dominant and has the greatest impact on your personal mood and productivity? Usually, both lists do not and cannot co-exist at the same time in a concentrated work group environment. It is possible to find localized pockets of “high road” and “low road” behaviors in departments or separate business units of a large organization.
- Source of behaviors: Are the “high road” and “low road” behaviors on a local level, upper management level or throughout the organization? You are likely to get more of what you are experiencing over the long-term if the behaviors emanate from the top leadership team. If the behaviors come from local management, perhaps a quick regime change will fix the problem. If you are in a department that has offensive “low road” behaviors, transferring to another team may be a quick and easy solution for your situation.
- Longevity of behaviors: Try to determine if the behaviors are situational or systemic. Situational conditions may be due to temporary turmoil from adjustments to acquisitions and mergers, competition, product launch, quality problems, reorganizing, retooling and shifts in the economy. An organization with “high road values and behaviors” can always navigate the tumultuous straits of change. An organization is only as strong as the values, vision and core competencies of the top leadership team. “High road values” will always yield “high road outcomes” for the organization’s workforce, stakeholders and customers. “Low road” behaviors are a dead-end street.
In conclusion, determining the source and longevity of the behaviors experienced within an organization will give you valuable insights and information you need to make better and more logical career decisions. Choose trusted advisors at work and in your personal life to review the process, provide insights and be a quality control check. You may be ready to “dig in” and help improve the situation if the problem is localized and temporary. On the other hand, you may want to start planning your exit strategy if your personal values misalign with an organization’s core values and you don’t see any signs of short or intermediate-term improvement.
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