First Word
Why Values are Important in and out of the Workplace
W/O Keith Gell
We are a values based organisation, therefore values count, but how many people really understand what it’s all about.
Whether you know it or not, we all have our own personal values and it’s not something new. For me values are priorities or preferences. One of my values is family, why, because they are important to me and they are a priority in my life.
We as an Air Force also have our values. These were put together by a group of Air Force folk in the late nineties. This group was made up of all ranks, therefore they were not given to us by a bunch of folk from the head office. They came up with the values of Service, Allegiance, Professionalism, Integrity, Teamwork, Discipline, History and Tradition. They came up with those values because they were the priorities as they saw them as a group. This is how they wanted the Air Force to be viewed.
For me these values shape our behaviours and they are visible in how we act. When people join our Air Force as recruits, our organisational values are pushed hard. This is important because behavioural alignment at these early stages is important. That is alignment of personal and organisational values. This does not mean they have to be exactly the same, but similar in heading, especially heading in the same direction. For example I value my family. This could be seen as being similar to service and allegiance. I am committed to my family as I am committed to the Air Force.
As I said before, we are spending a lot of time with our recruits on values, however I think we can do better in promoting our values out on the work face. It is out on the work face that we pick up on our Air Force culture, and it is out in the work face that we are most influenced about the RNZAF. When I think of values in the work place, I look at the behaviours of our people. If I can see our values through our people, then that section in my mind is in good shape, if I can’t, then that unit has some work to do.
Remember organisations do not live your values, people do. It is people who make up our Air Force and it is people who demonstrate our values through their actions. Next time you have got a spare thought, think about your unit and other units and see if you can see the value of Service, Allegiance, Professionalism, Integrity, Teamwork, History, Tradition and Discipline in them.
Many units have a reputation built by the people who work in that unit. That reputation could be good or bad, however the judgement tool you should be using is our values. Remember it is our values that give us meaning as an Air Force, which in turn provides us with strength, motivation and willpower.
Don’t be afraid to talk about values. Don’t be afraid also to look at yourself, others and see if they fit into our values. Don’t be afraid also to pass judgement, that’s how we learn.