Alignment Fuels Activation
The relationship between employees and their work has fundamentally changed. According to Integral founder and CEO Ethan McCarty, employee willingness to take action on behalf of (or against!) an employer is now directly linked to how aligned employees feel with their organizations’ values. These findings, which were shared during a recent Think Thursday, are from the Integral Employee Activation Index, a joint study from Integral and the Harris Poll.
If there is an alignment of values, employees are twice as likely to show up grateful, mindful, and confident. On the other side, 21% of survey respondents reported that they think a coworker would not follow company policy if there was not an alignment of values, and 17% reported that they thought a co-worker would actively sabotage their organization if there was misalignment. While the upside for alignment is notable, the downside for misalignment carries serious business risk.
Below are the top 5 social issues employers should care about, according to their employees:
- Employee health and wellbeing
- Job Creation
- Racial inequity/injustice/hate crimes/prejudice/bias
- Data Privacy
- Gender Wage and Leadership Gap/gender equity
It is critical to remember that your employees won’t know if there is an alignment of values if you do not clearly communicate what those values are. But it’s equally important to remember that stating values and acting on values are two very different things, and that perceived deviation can have a strong negative impact on how your employees view alignment.