Ethical values you subscribe to and working for a company that shares them

Thank you so much @Amany for sharing John's insights as well as asking the though-provoking questions.

The first one has been comprehensively covered by others and I can relate to all the responses.

The second one needs more a bit more reality. In my experience, it is difficult to gauge whether the company culture as it is written and the practice are congruent. It depends on who is interviewing you, what level of seniority you are interviewing for, what the company perceives your value to them is, and whether there are other competitive applicants. Ultimately, it also depends on how much you need the job.

If it is a relatively junior job, you are better of finding this out for yourself. You will have already been told what the company values are (in the advert), and this could be one of the things that attracted you there. So asking that question would be tantamount to asking them to confirm their own values - not a very good idea. If on the other hand you are interviewing for a relatively senior position, they would expect you to ask about ethics as well as knowing what your values are. This would also enable them to know whether you will ultimately fit in their company.

The realities of life are such that we are sometimes forced to compromise our ethics due to financial constraints especially where the company activities are marginal at best. Challenging any of these would ultimately lead to you being 'managed' out.

Perhaps a third question here @amany is: What is your cut-off point before
a) challenging ethical values
b) leaving the company if your threshold of expectations is not met?

If anyone can share these, that would truly help others.

Kosam

That is a really good question. Only thing I would add is "Striving for excellence". Everyone might be able to say "I am responsible...sometimes" or "I am respectful...almost always" or with any of the core values.
But to follow the code at every interaction...to be the best you, you can be...at every opportunity...that to me is "striving for excellence".

I think the PMI code of ethics can be elaborated beyond projects. And to measure against company values...if one is already working for a company, one can gauge the culture. If you are looking to join the company...do your research.

Personally, honesty precede all other values, because if you honest with yourself first, you will learn how to respect yourself and others.
You will never know the real values of a company, until you join and get engaged in the system, that's why most of the companies, at least from where I come from, have a 3 month probation period, where at the end of this period, you decide if you fit in the values or not.

Thank you so much @Amany for sharing John's insights as well as asking the though-provoking questions.

The first one has been comprehensively covered by others and I can relate to all the responses.

The second one needs more a bit more reality. In my experience, it is difficult to gauge whether the company culture as it is written and the practice are congruent. It depends on who is interviewing you, what level of seniority you are interviewing for, what the company perceives your value to them is, and whether there are other competitive applicants. Ultimately, it also depends on how much you need the job.

If it is a relatively junior job, you are better of finding this out for yourself. You will have already been told what the company values are (in the advert), and this could be one of the things that attracted you there. So asking that question would be tantamount to asking them to confirm their own values - not a very good idea. If on the other hand you are interviewing for a relatively senior position, they would expect you to ask about ethics as well as knowing what your values are. This would also enable them to know whether you will ultimately fit in their company.

The realities of life are such that we are sometimes forced to compromise our ethics due to financial constraints especially where the company activities are marginal at best. Challenging any of these would ultimately lead to you being 'managed' out.

Perhaps a third question here @amany is: What is your cut-off point before
a) challenging ethical values
b) leaving the company if your threshold of expectations is not met?

If anyone can share these, that would truly help others.

Kosam

Amany, yes, great question and dialogue here.

Want to share from my perspective some things:

1. There is research by Rushworth-Kidder saying that there are universal human values, and he tested them in many cultures globally. The 8 values he found the most are (4 from the PMI Code of Ethics)

honesty, reliability, integrity, truth
responsibility, accountability
respect, tolerance, mindfulness
humility, reverence for life
fairness, equality, justice
community, relatedness, tribal attachment
freedom, autonomy, self-determination
compassion, motivation, purpose, love

Others say they are universal to humans because they were developed evolutionary. BTW AI couldn't care less about them.

2. there is a difference between values and beliefs. Beliefs systems include nations, religions, economic theories, company codes, even science schools.
Do you believe in global warming?
In the outstanding role of your nation?
In the rationality of humans?
Somebody said values unite, beliefs divide.
Both are necessary though to give us a mental structure and stability.

3. we all are the product of the many cultures / belief systems / tribes we belong to: family, neighborhood, job, team, profession, school, church, profession, nation, ethnical belonging, diseases etc. We behave according to what these tribal standards demand of us, depending on the situation, we are in 'ethical' dilemmas if we perceive contradicting demands (what about the free will?).