Sharing Values (July 2009)

SHARING VALUES


One of the key strengths of MPRI is the known quality of our organization and our employees. It is the values that we represent and apply each day on the job that we are remembered for after we are gone.

Values of the organization are fine, but unless they are shared values of the employees there is an immediate disconnect. It may be true statement that our employees are our reputation and our reputation is what keeps us in business.

When there are a number of different contracting agencies to choose from, especially during formal contract competitions and one of the key discriminators can be past performance. In some cases, our reputation has been a key element in the success of maintaining existing and obtaining new contracts.

Sharing our values with those we work with is an excellent way to maintain and strengthen our reputation. Often this is done not as much in how we accomplish the task, but the added effort that we expend going the extra mile to ensure that the task is not only accomplished properly, but also that it is accomplished as effectively and efficiently as possible.

MPRI has established its reputation in the contract industry by adhering to specific core values. These values are not situational, but the same over a long term of successive contracts and achievements.

Our core values, as an organization, drives the way we do business; however, it is the effort of our individual employees that add strength and vitality to the corporate values. The closer our personal values mirror our corporate values the greater opportunity we have for success in our various responsibilities.

How do the corporate and personal values affect our ability to mentor, coach or train?

Everyone comes to an assignment with various values; based on their attitudes, behaviors and ideals. These values have been instilled in us through our lifetime of experiences; our families, our religious faith, our military or professional backgrounds, etc. Yet, each individual must determine, “…of all the values that I possess, which ones are the most important to me?”

Our personal values may be different from those of our colleagues and partners however, their values have been developed in a similar manner; through family, religious, or cultural experiences.

Awareness, tolerance and respect for the values of others are basic in establishing a successful Mentoring relationship. We can be of great service to those we work with if we can better understand their values and encourage them to clarify their own values and establish goals, which are consistent with them. These goals will drive their planning and work efforts as essential elements of the Mentoring Process.

Unlike culture, which is a very general way of observing things and reacting to given situations, and which we discussed last month, values are more personal and harder to adjust to, but they have a stronger affect upon the ability of an individual to accomplish a task.

Values are the bedrock of our personality and character, as it is the bedrock of our organization. Maintaining our personal values adds to the strength of our corporate values which drives our ability to be successful in our assignments.