Skip to main content

The 4 most important Values to guide you at work

Values are an effective decision-making tool. Yes, they are not just ideals to be followed, but values can be and should be used as a scale to judge the correctness of a decision.

In our day-to-day life, we take many small and big decisions and end up being confused on many occasions as to what to do. According to various sources, the number of decisions we take in a day may range from 70 to a staggering 35,000. That can be tiring and it is technically called “decision fatigue”.




In this article, we are looking at how values can help in day to day decision making and can make us effective in our workplace (job or business), however, that doesn’t stop you from applying them in other areas of your life, as you will see reading further.

By definition, Values are a set of accepted beliefs and good behavior of an individual, organization, and society. It helps when values are clearly identified and defined for a person to know what actions to take and what actions to not take.

Let us keep it simple by focussing on 4 Core Values as examples and define their meaning. These values can be all-encompassing and applicable to all situations.


1. Integrity: “What you do when no one’s watching


This is a fundamental value and I have seen most organizations include it in their values charter. You may be in any kind of job and this value will be applicable to it. And it is fairly simple to practice. Just be loyal to the work you are doing and don’t find shortcuts or get into malpractices.




The lack of this value is what leads people to corruption, malpractices, low-quality products/service, and delays in output.


2. Honesty: “What you say about things no one was watching


A value that our elders at home or anyone senior has taught us since childhood, honesty is a scarce practice these days. However, to build strong and long-lasting relationships this is an essential component.




The same is for the workplace, being honest about one’s work, strengths, and areas of improvement can really help the organization. Think about the office where you can openly trust your colleagues and how productive and positive that the environment would be. This will be an environment where there is no blame game, few complaints, and a positive approach.


3. Commitment to Work: “What you think and do at work


Long breaks, engaging in water cooler politics, and making excuses can come really easily and is quite a compelling habit. However that neither helps us or the organization. Thus “Commitment to Work” becomes an important self-management value that we need to practice. You can think about how you approach your projects, how you track, and how you can deliver things quicker and with better quality. You can also think about what more you could do if you have free time, which takes us to our next value.





4. Going the extra mile: “What you do over and above your job responsibility


Have you ever said this or heard someone say, “I can only work this much in the salary I get”?
This is quite an attractive and deceivingly correct-sounding principle. And it has spoiled more careers than it has made. Going the extra mile is about doing 2 things: One is to fulfill all your job responsibilities and Two, to do stuff over and above that. It could be about taking up another project or helping a colleague in theirs.




Most organizations have defined their own set of values and it is important that we match our personal values with those of the organization and also make them our guiding principles in day-to-day decision making and our behavior.

We can make our work and our homes happier and ethical places where people can trust each other by basing ourselves on our core values.

Do you have a value that has helped you? Please do share in the comments section below.

Popular posts from this blog

Internal and External Barriers to Effective Communication: And how to overcome them!

Communication Skills are revered to be the key to success. It is true for an individual, teams, organizations, and relationships. Over time you can improve your skill to communicate and leave an impression on everyone you interact with.  However, when you take the car out on the road you are bound to face some bumps and traffic. In a similar way, there are barriers that hinder effective communication. So, what are the barriers to communication? And how to overcome them? Simply put, we can categorize barriers to communication as Internal & External. Internal barriers correspond to hindrances inside of us, including our thinking, attitude, perceptions, as well as the way we communicate . External barriers correspond to hindrances outside of us, including people and environment-related. Let us look at each in detail. Internal barriers – and how they affect communication 1.  Incongruent Thoughts: when some other thoughts come to our mind different than the conversation we ar

Seekhle Kebab Learning Bites: 8 Tips on Office Lunchtime & Cafeteria Etiquette

Feeling hungry for learning? We have just the thing for you. Taking inspiration from the famous dish – Seekh Kebabs, we have started this series of learning bites with quick tips on a particular topic with easy application in your daily work. Enjoy reading this Business Etiquette Seekhle Kebab on Office Lunch Etiquette with your favorite chutney i.e. Action on the learning. Etiquette during office lunch is an important aspect many times overlooked, and it is an opportunity where we can strengthen the bonds between team members and colleagues. Here are 8 tips on manners and etiquette during lunchtime at work: 1.   Respect Time: a very extended lunch is both a waste of your time and detrimental to workplace productivity 2.   Respect others' food preferences: this is not the time to point out why your colleague doesn’t eat this or that, or why the diet they follow is useless. Food is a personal choice and we must respect that 3.   Wait for all to be ready: if s

SMART Goal Setting, Action Plan and Effective Decision Making

Arise! Awake! and stop not until the goal is reached. ~ Swami Vivekananda Goal setting is THE process of converting your dreams into reality! Goals help you move towards your ideal future and keep your motivation high in ensuring you achieve everything you desire. Goals can help you determine where and how you must invest your time. Personally as well we set goals many times, especially around the New Year - the untamed New Year Resolutions. According to one statistic, around 80% of people fail to fulfill their new year resolutions. That is why Goals are more effective than resolutions. In many organizations as well setting goals is a standard process at the beginning of the appraisal cycle. However, people usually end up copy-pasting goals from their colleagues or seniors. And by the end of the year, nobody really knows how they fared on those goals, but they do expect great appraisals and high ratings. Learning how to set SMART goals is easy, given the amount of knowledge and i