1

A study of whether employee meaning at work is affected by Values Based

Leadership

Master of Business Administration (MBA) Dissertation (STRM044)

By

Lee Collins (15402204)

Tutor: Dr Mils Hils

The University of Northampton

26th September 2016

2

Declaration of academic integrity

I declare that this dissertation ‘A study of whether employee meaning at work is affected

by Values Based Leadership’ is entirely my own work, and that where any material

could be construed as the work of others it is fully cited and referenced with the

appropriate acknowledgement given.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me throughout the

course of this MBA project. I am especially grateful to my long suffering and continually

understanding wife and family for their patience and encouragement that has helped

keep me on-track without major, if not minor, incident.

I am also thankful for the assistance and guidance provided by The University of

Northampton MBA teaching and programme staff who have provided advice and

guidance when requested. In particular I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to my

supervisor Thomas Moore for his guidance, providing eternally constructive and

helpfully blunt critiques in addition to friendly advice throughout this projects work

without which I feel this dissertation would be a lesser piece of work.

Finally; I am sincerely grateful to all the respondents to my request for assistance in

completing the online survey without which this investigation would not have been able

to begin, let alone end. I am constantly amazed by the generosity of friends, associates

and strangers to give up their time and energy to assist in such means and hope that

the finished dissertation is felt worthy of your time and effort.

3

Abstract

A number of organisations nowadays are looking to maximise the engagement levels of

their employees in order they can maximise their return of employee work place

contribution and promote their place of work as one that provides meaning and

significance in an effort to attract and retain staff.

Values Based Leadership is a strategy that takes an approach to developing a

leadership style that aims to couple the organisations values with the employee’s

values. The aim being to motivate employees by providing an alignment between their

personal values, the core beliefs which guide them on how they conduct their life in a

way that is meaningful and satisfying, and the values promoted by the leadership of the

organisation.

The focus of this study is to explore, with a view to establishing, whether there is an

identifiable link between an organisational implementation of Values Based Leadership

and employee meaning at work levels. To provide an appreciation of the current

knowledge of these two themes a literature review was conducted that concentrated on

three areas of investigation that were felt relevant to this study;

a) Employee engagement and meaning at work through the lens of Human

Resources Management.

b) Meaning at work in the workplace

c) Values Based Leadership’s effect on meaning at work.

The literature review findings revealed that many employees are actively looking to

perform meaningful work and that if found will repay their organisation through

increased productivity, pride and commitment. These findings are over and above the

somewhat expected benefits of employee retention and loyalty and point to a definite

performance benefit to be obtained by organisations that successfully deploy a Values

Based Leadership strategy.

The literature review also established the link between workplace wellbeing, employee

values and the employees’ assessment of meaning at work. It found that if aligned

values can be a powerful ‘glue’ that can bind an employee to an organisation and as a

4

result organisations were found to experience less staff turnover and greater employee

productivity; in addition employees who experienced meaning at work were also happier

and less prone to absence through illness.

Any misalignment of values between employee and organisation were found to surface

as unhappiness and regret and were likely to lead to a loss of productivity, absence or

resignation. Employees who were bereft of meaning at work also suffered health

issues, took extended sick days off work and were less active in activities outside of

work. Furthermore, the findings highlighted that as work now provides some of the

meaning to our lives any lack of meaning at work is likely to manifest in employee

disengagement and negative experiences in social interactions.

The study contained within this dissertation made use of an online survey to gather

feedback from a variety of respondents in respect of their experiences of Values Based

Leadership. These results were then collated and analysed in order that their findings

may help to establish a link between Values Based Leadership and meaning at work.

Analysis of the study found links between Values Based Leadership and meaning at

work and helped form some key recommendations felt useful for organisations

embarking on a Values Based Leadership deployment.

There was found to be a link between employee engagement and meaning at work, to

the extent that it is felt that one cannot exist without the other, with the greatest findings

of success from those organisations that included all employees in their implementation

of the strategy. Those organisations that did not include any employees in their

implementation of the strategy fared less well, to the point of actually decreasing

employee performance and work output in some cases.

Leadership and management conduct were found to be vital to the good standing and

effectiveness of Values Based Leadership, with any conflict between the stated values

and managerial conduct being immediately noticed by employees and proving

detrimental to employee motivation and regard for the organisation.

Interestingly, the study found that employees who had no experience of organisations

that had implemented Values Based Leadership could still reap the benefits of

5

enhanced engagement and meaning at work if their management teams exhibited

practices such as open and honest communications, inclusion in decision making and

explanations as to how the employee fits and contributes to the organisations’ success.

The study concludes by finding that while Values Based Leadership can positively affect

employee meaning at work it is dependent on both the extent of the inclusion of

employees during the implementation cycle and the behaviours of the management

during and following the implementation; including the finding that management not

present in the organisation at time of implementation being able to affect the employees

opinion of the strategy’s worth as time progresses.

6

Table of Contents

Declaration of academic integrity ............................................................................................................. 2

Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................... 2

Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ 3

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 8

1.1 Structure of document ............................................................................................................... 8

1.2 Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 8

1.3 Theme descriptions .................................................................................................................. 10

1.3.1 Values Based Leadership (VBL) .......................................................................................... 10

1.3.2 Values ...................................................................................................................................... 10

1.3.3 Meaning at Work .................................................................................................................... 11

1.4 Research Question .................................................................................................................. 11

2. Literature review ............................................................................................................................... 13

2.1 Employee engagement and meaning at work through the ‘lens’ of Human Resource

Management (HRM) ............................................................................................................................ 13

2.2 Meaning at work in the workplace ......................................................................................... 17

2.3 Values Based Leaderships’ effect on meaning at work ..................................................... 21

2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 26

3. Research Methodology ................................................................................................................... 28

3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 28

3.2 Research Methodology ........................................................................................................... 29

3.2.1 Research Philosophy ............................................................................................................. 29

3.2.2 Research Approach ............................................................................................................... 30

3.2.3 Research Strategy ................................................................................................................. 30

3.2.4 Research Choice .................................................................................................................... 31

3.2.5 Time Horizons ......................................................................................................................... 32

7

3.2.6 Data Collection and Analysis ................................................................................................ 32

3.3 Research Context ..................................................................................................................... 37

3.4 Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................................. 37

4. Key findings ....................................................................................................................................... 39

4.1 Respondents who have encountered Values Based Leadership in a workplace setting

– Survey Results .................................................................................................................................. 40

4.1.1 Analysis of responses to questions 6, 7, 10 & 13 ....................................................... 41

- Summary ................................................................................................................................... 41

- Key findings ............................................................................................................................... 42

4.1.2 Analysis of responses to questions 8, 9, 11 & 12 ............................................................. 46

- Summary ................................................................................................................................... 47

- Key findings ............................................................................................................................... 48

4.2 Respondents who have not encountered Values Based Leadership in a workplace

setting – Survey Results ..................................................................................................................... 52

4.2.1 Analysis of responses to questions 14 through 22 ..................................................... 53

- Summary ................................................................................................................................... 53

- Key Findings ............................................................................................................................. 55

5 Discussion & Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 59

6 Conclusion & Recommendations ................................................................................................... 66

6.1 Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 68

6.2 Significance of Proposed Research ...................................................................................... 69

6.3 Research Limitations ............................................................................................................... 70

References ................................................................................................................................................ 72

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 78

Appendix A – Values Based Leadership Survey Questionnaire Format & Questions .................. 80

Appendix B – Values Based Leadership Survey Questionnaire Responses .................................. 84

8

1. Introduction

1.1 Structure of document

The document is laid out with an introduction section containing an overview to set

context and understanding of the study. This is then followed by a theme descriptions

sub-section that aims to mitigate any potential for misunderstanding or ambiguity in the

key themes associated with the study and finishes with a concluding sub-section

containing an explanation of the research question to provide the rationale for

undertaking the investigation.

A literature review forms the second substantive section within the document which

aims to ascertain the current level of academic knowledge on the subject of Values

Based Leadership and meaning at work.

Section three provides information on the research context and strategy used and the

rationale for the use of specific research analysis tools and methods in order that the

findings contained within section four provide an accurate and relevant discussion and

analysis section.

Section five contains the conclusion and recommendations based on the analysis of the

information contained within the preceding sections. The document concludes with a

list of references and bibliographies section and the appendices sections containing

survey questionnaire details.

1.2 Overview

Steenkamp et al. (2013) offer that many individuals today suffer from a loss of meaning

in their workplaces; as tasks are ever more removed from the end product and

employees’ experiences are being constantly constrained by a combination of rules,

regulations, processes and structures, which in turn leads to a situation of

powerlessness. This, combined with ‘over-management’ or mechanistic and

9

rationalised views of work, leads to the fragmentation of the human and fuels a loss of

the employees’ perspective as to who they are (Steenkamp & Basson, 2013).

Whilst each individual’s self-view of meaning at work may be different there are some

common characteristics that are centred upon the understanding that the organisations

future is based upon the value of the individual employees; and played out in areas

such as opportunities for growth, development, achievement of a common belonging

where the individual is an integrated player in work planning (Steenkamp & Basson,

2013).

Values Based Leadership is a strategy that has gained significant interest in recent

years and effectively takes an approach to developing a leadership style that aims to

couple the organisations values with the employee’s values; with the ultimate aim of

motivating employees by connecting these organisational goals with the employee’s

personal values (Financial Times, 2016).

In a paper commissioned by the Institute of Employment Studies it stated that there are

seven key drivers concerned with maximising employee engagement; of these seven

drivers meaningful and purposeful work was highlighted as an important precursor for

engagement; on the basis that employees need to feel proud of the work they and their

organisation do, and that they need to feel they are making a difference to the

organisation (Robertson-smith & Markwick, 2009).

So while we have strategies in existence today that aim to promote employee

engagement it is not clear whether there is a direct linkage between Values Based

Leadership and employee meaning at work; and to that end feel this is an area that

warrants further academic investigation in order to ascertain the existence of this link

and the extent that may exist should such a link be established.

The purpose of this research is to establish whether a Values Based Leadership

strategy is able to affect the amount of meaning at work an employee experiences. It is

intended that this research will be able to validate whether a link between Values Based

Leadership and employee meaning at work exists, to measure the extent to which

10

employee meaning at work is felt to be important and establish whether Values Based

Leadership is in fact necessary for an employee’s meaning at work to flourish.

1.3 Theme descriptions

To avoid ambiguity the following descriptions of the main themes of Values Based

Leadership, values and meaning at work have been taken from source materials that

the author feels offer a concise and accurate description.

1.3.1 Values Based Leadership (VBL)

Values based leaders communicate organisational values that inform employees how to

behave in order to fulfil the organisation’s mission. It aims to motivate employees by

linking organisational goals to their personal values. Organisational values are spoken

in a way that connects them to the employee’s personal values. Because these core

values represent the soul of the organisation they have to remain steadfast in the face

of changing market trends, fads or through difficult times. For the employees to believe

in the sincerity and depth of the organisation’s values the leadership team must lead by

example and communicate the values on an ongoing basis to the entire workforce

(Financial Times, 2016).

1.3.2 Values

Values are those elements of your life which you find personally important. They are the

core beliefs which guide you on how to conduct your life in a way that is meaningful and

satisfying for you. Values are the things against which you measure your choices,

whether consciously or not. You use them to rationalise your behaviour to yourself and

others and they determine your level of satisfaction with your choices; even if decisions

are not freely made but constrained by other factors (Cardiff University, 2016).

11

1.3.3 Meaning at Work

‘Meaning at work’ refers to a person’s experience of something meaningful or

something of value that their work provides; this is not the same as ‘meaningful work’

which generally refers to the task itself (Hansen & Keltner, 2012).

1.4 Research Question

The research question within this study is ‘A study of whether meaning at work is

affected by Values Based Leadership’.

The reason for undertaking this study is due to personal experiences of having worked

in what the author feels were organisations that did not promote employee engagement

or saw value in fostering employee meaning at work; with resultant negative impacts to

the satisfaction of the authors professional and personal quality of life.

For many of us work takes up a significant portion of our daily life so it feels imperative

to the author that obtaining some degree of satisfaction, importance or meaning to our

workplace activities is required in order we are able to maintain a sense of usefulness in

addition to whatever our salary and other material benefit needs are.

Whilst the above is the major subject question it has also given rise to a number of sub-

questions that drive the direction and purpose of this research. The list provided below

is the extent of these sub-questions:

a) Is employee meaning at work necessary? A view from Human Resource

Management (HRM)

Given that HRM departments are seen as experts in employee relations it feels

appropriate that a view as to the amount of ‘worth’ a typical HRM function, as found in

the literature review, applies to employee meaning at work is obtained.

b) How does employee meaning at work affect work output?

12

Given that the study concerns the analysis of whether Values Based Leadership can

affect employee meaning at work it seems sensible to also understand what effect

meaning at work has on employee work output; on the basis that if work output is

unaffected then it would potentially offer less attractiveness to organisations to

implement.

c) Can employee meaning at work increase employee engagement on its own?

This question is concerned with establishing the link, if one exists, between meaning at

work and employee engagement. The rationale is to understand whether one is

necessary for the other to flourish or whether one cannot exist without the other.

It should be noted that the use of the term ‘employee’ is used to classify a respondent

who works for the organisation but holds a position below senior management or has no

leadership or strategic responsibilities.

13

2. Literature review

2.1 Employee engagement and meaning at work through the ‘lens’ of Human

Resource Management (HRM)

Employee engagement in terms of its relevance to HRM is over 20 years old as an area

of interest but has only recently began to be acknowledged, in particular there is little

known regarding engagement at the group or team levels and whether levels of

engagement are contagious (Truss et al, 2013). Hill (1992) offers that this is due to the

long standing historical understanding of work as being a necessity that provides for

survival and to atone for the ‘sins of man’ by the Judeo-Christian faiths; a finding

supported by Dupré et al. (1996) who find that Adam and Eve were tasked ‘to work it

and take care of it’; ‘it’ being the Garden of Eden.

Hill (1992) further offers that until the end of the Second World War work was defined by

the industrial age which viewed employees as being ‘inherently lazy and motivated only

by money’ but as the information age developed and the number of white collar workers

outnumbered their blue collar colleagues it became apparent that employees were

motivated by more than money, and it is from this point onwards that the beginnings of

what was then termed ‘job enrichment’ theories began to emerge (Hill, 1992).

Regardless of this shift in employee recognition, as recently as the late 1970’s and early

1980’s it was still commonly noted that a company’s view was generally one of what

was good for the company and not necessarily of what was good for the employees

(Johansen, 1995). For those organisations that perhaps valued profit above all this

sometimes led to the somewhat unsurprising link between having to perform unethical

or illegal activities and work related stress (Gregg, 1998); we now take much more of an

active interest in how we fit into the organisation and contribute to its direction and

successes and as such we are less able to counter the effects of misaligned ethics and

meaning in our work (Johansen, 1995).

In addition, employees today are generally more educated and independent than

previously and are more susceptible to demoralisation if forced to blindly follow leaders

14

with little collaboration or input requested or sought (Marques, 2015). This last point

emphasising that since the breakdown of the nuclear family, and community support

systems, that had previously provided the social glue between an employees work and

outside of work personas many of us now look to the workplace to provide some of the

meaning in our lives.

Over the course of these last fifty years there have also been significant changes to

societal values in the western world. These changes in conjunction with organisational

and economic developments have created ‘talent wars’ that have effectively developed

the need within organisations to engage employees in new ways in order to secure their

commitment (Higgs, 2003). Employee confidence in the job market has also risen

significantly with the result that more employees have voluntarily left their jobs recently

than in the previous 4.5 years. With this upturn comes the realisation from

organisations that they will need to offer more than competitive salaries to attract and

retain the best talent (Robak, 2013).

Employees are becoming more vocal and demanding in their desire for meaningful

work, and they seek answers to the difficult questions and are looking for something

more than basic remuneration for their day’s work. Today’s employees have far greater

expectations that they will be included in the organisations decision making processes

and that their contributions will be valued (Marques, 2015). Moreover, as organisations

look to build a more committed workforce it has become a significant aim for these

organisations to increase employee engagement (Folan & Mitchell, 2003).

The culture within an organisation is one of the most critical aspects identified for

employee retention, along with the finding that most employees are looking for the

opportunity to perform meaningful, interesting work in a challenging and supportive

environment (Robak, 2013). A study noted in 1998 presented the position that although

it may have been the company benefits that recruited the staff it is the company’s

culture that retains them (Gregg, 1998). This assertion is supported by a later study

that found that there were aspects of an organisations performance that tended to

outweigh money in terms of raising employee performance (Uson, 2012).

15

In the context of Human Resource Development (HRD), individual development is acted

on only when it has meaning, organisational change is enacted when it matters, and

work is engaging when it has personal significance (Shuck & Rose, 2013). Employee

consideration drives the engagement levels of employees with the result that the

combination of contribution, influence and reward is seen as key to an employee being

able to self-evaluate whether their work is meaningful (Shuck & Rose, 2013).

a) Contribution in these terms being the degree to which a person believes their

involvement will have an impact on them; their assessment as to whether or not

their involvement will make any difference (Shuck & Rose, 2013).

b) Influence being the belief that engaging in something will affect some kind of

change to a situation; an assessment as to whether something will change with

their input (Shuck & Rose, 2013).

c) Reward is the assessed output from both of these factors in terms of personal

and organisational benefit; involvement will benefit both the employee and the

company; and therefore offers a reward at two levels (Shuck & Rose, 2013).

Although subject to a degree of debate as to exactly what constitutes ‘employee

engagement’ there are many experiments involving managers who believe that the top

down model of decision making, the many being instructed by the few, is ripe for

change and decision making must be opened up to those that can add value (Smythe,

2007). Open communication channels that foster mutual trust between employee and

organisation aide transition through periods of change; as does the need to keep

employees informed of the reasoning for changes and for them to participate in the

planning and execution of changes (Rousseau & Wade-Benzoni, 1994).

Engagement is dependent on and shaped by an individual’s sense of purpose within the

organisation, knowing how their work has an external effect creates a sense of purpose

within the individual (Shuck & Rose, 2013). To create this sense of purpose it is

essential that employees understand how they fit into, participate in and influence the

organisations performance in order to cultivate ‘engagement’. Interactive reports with

staff is one way managers can foster meaning in employees, by facilitating open

discussion of career goals and channelling of their career desires employees gain a

16

sense of meaning in their work that translates into increased motivation and purpose

within the organisation (Uson, 2012).

With the proposition that increased levels of performance are a natural by-product of

work that is considered to be meaningful and of purpose by employees we can

understand why organisations are looking to increase employee meaning at work and

workplace engagement. What is perhaps surprising is that it has taken so long for

many organisations to begin to understand the benefits of increasing employee

meaning at work and engagement; especially when you consider that employees will

give very little energy and attention to efforts they consider as meaningless, or in

situations where they believe their efforts would be wasted.

From this situation a significant number of leadership styles are now relationship based

with high facilitative, trust and values based characteristics that are more in line with the

demands of their employees who expect their leaders to be approachable, open to

ideas, and that allow them to grow and to take ownership without seeking approval

(Marques, 2015). For many organisations such a shift away from the established model

of management driven guidance is something that is both perplexing and concerning.

Employee engagement in regard to HRM practices can be thought of as employee

advocacy, identifying and resolving those issues that cause frustration and actively

working to resolve them. And whilst the results are undoubtedly available, in order to

extract them it is necessary that HRM ask the difficult questions and become seen as

on the side of the employee rather than the organisation (Arrowsmith & Parker, 2013).

HRM should focus not just on traditional business management and leadership

functions, but to also encompass what it means to improve teams, places of work,

communities, cities and countries. To focus on the individual, their health and

development and the extent to which they can develop others. In order to understand

and cultivate this ‘engagement of condition’ will require a profound and deep

collaboration with staff rather than surface cooperation and the shifting of boundaries for

the field of Human Resources (Shuck & Rose, 2013).

17

HR’s role therefore can be thought of as moving away from the current supporting

business function into one where it is seen as a challenger, offering enlightened and

inspiring management, in order it can create an environment that is understanding of

human nature in order to release the potential of employees for the benefit of the

company’s success (Gorsline, 2013).

If the above is the view of employee engagement and meaning at work as taken

through the lens of HRM, what then of the more generalised view of meaning at work in

the workplace, is there a correlation between this view of employee engagement and

meaningfulness in HRM departments and the practice and theory of leadership models

and strategies?

2.2 Meaning at work in the workplace

Meaningful work is argued to be a fundamental human right that if not met manifests in

three concerning outcomes; firstly in an unjust distribution of meaningful work where the

few have meaning that the majority lacks. Harm to the workers capability formulation

whereby an individual’s ability to form free and autonomous action is stunted and finally

the diminishment of human wellbeing; with the resultant negative impacts to mental

health and flourishing (Yeoman, 2014).

Conversely, an increase in meaning at work increases employee-well-being and

reduces the risk for long-term sickness absence and turnover. This may also contribute

towards the ability of the western societies to recruit and retain the necessary supply of

labour in the years to come (Borg, 2011). Disappointingly; whilst many researchers

have acknowledged the work of Kahn’s model of personal engagement, as referenced

in figure 1 below, and the associated psychological conditions necessary to foster

employee engagement, of which meaningfulness of work is a tenet, few have taken this

research further (Sambrook et al. 2013).

18

Figure 1: Dimensions of Psychological Conditions (Kahn, 1990)

This assessment of meaningfulness, in the terms of workplace task assessment, is the

value placed upon the task by the employee in relation to their own values and

standards. Meaningfulness in terms of global assessment is the degree to which

employees immerse themselves in their tasks, and can be thought of as the level of

commitment and care they bring to the workplace; and it is notable that charismatic

leadership, transformational leadership and job design have all been shown to increase

meaningfulness and engagement (Thomas & Velthouse, 1990).

Personal engagement is the employment and expression of a person’s ‘self’ that

promote connections to others whilst engaged within a task; engaged employees bring

themselves to a role without sacrificing any aspect of their persona. Personal

disengagement is the withholding of a person’s ‘self’ with the resultant detrimental

impact on connections and a passive incomplete role performance, roles performed as

remote scripts and acting by interpretation rather than innovation (Kahn, 1990). As if to

19

illustrate this finding the top factors employees cited as being motivators were a sense

of achievement, interesting work and good relations with their colleagues. By

comparison; the top demotivating factors were bad relationship with superiors, bad

relationships with colleagues and unhelpful colleagues (Damij, Levnajić, Rejec Skrt, &

Suklan, 2015).

Salvation to this situation looked to have come from John Heron’s process for engaging

teams that consists of a six step facilitation model; of which it is generally the planning

and structuring dimensions that gain the most attention. Disappointingly it is the

dimensions of meaning, feeling and values that attract less attention but that hold the

key to raising employee engagement (Mehta, 2013).

Figure 2: Heron’s six dimensions of facilitation (Mehta, 2013)

To alleviate any potential confusion strategies such as managerial control, in reference

to the Process for Organizational Meaning (POM), offer to provide meaning in context to

the organizational meaning of tasks or activities to be undertaken and therefore differs

in context to the meaning given to an activity or task by an employee (Bredmar, 2011).

20

The concept of meaning at work points towards experiences at work that add purpose

and significance to the lives of employees and which appear to be closely associated

with the satisfaction of basic psychological and social needs (Borg, 2011). It is noted

that one of the 13 dimensions that contributes to a flourishing mental health outlook is

having a purpose in life, with the ‘cost’ of a lack of a flourishing mental health being

measured in lost days off work, physical illness and poor social functioning; it seems

clear that there is a duality of benefit for companies that can provide employees with

workplace meaning (Keyes, 2007).

Employee workplace wellbeing has also been linked to values; specifically the situation

where mutual responsibilities are accepted in addition to the value of the organisation

itself. Values in this context being the set of ethical and communicational features that

both the individual and the group would have to express and thus forms the link to the

importance of individual values on job satisfaction (Biggio & Cortese, 2013).

Given that employees’ values affect their judgement of whether work is meaningful,

which may also in turn affect the engagement levels of employees, servant leadership is

an attempt to move to a more humanistic and fulfilling place of work for employees that

increases meaning and membership (Chin-Yi, Chun-his & Chun-I, 2013). In addition

well designed, enacted and effective transformational leadership has also been shown

to have positively influenced employee’s perceptions and job performance (Grant,

2012). It is well documented that charismatic and transformational leadership,

independently, or in conjunction with, meaningful well-constructed job designs have

been able to energise employees to lift their performances through the combination of

idealism and fostering of the ability to accomplish meaningful goals (Thomas &

Velthouse, 1990).

The output of this increase in meaning is the increased sense of ownership within the

employee, which then in turn makes their contribution something personal and so are

then generally more committed, loyal, motivated and engaged (Amabile & Kramer,

2012). In doing so the employee then brings more to the role than they would had their

meaning resided at a lower levels of consciousness; and although increases in

employee loyalty have always been associated with the connotation that it is the

21

employer who benefits from this situation there is a body of research that argues that

loyal employees also obtain significant advantages in terms of life progress and

meaning, on the basis that “if I identify with the objectives of my employer and her or his

goals (or at least some of them) are treated as my own goals—the fact that my

employer is more successful in reaching her or his goals makes me ipso facto more

successful in reaching my own goals” (Elegido, 2013).

Experience of meaning at work can thus be promoted by enhancing employee-influence

in decisions regarding work and by improving the quality of leadership. A view shared

by Clausen & Borg who promote that workplace meaning for employees can be

achieved by increasing job resources and in management of job demands, both aspects

that are positively affected by increasing employees in decision making and employing

better quality leadership (Clausen & Borg, 2011).

2.3 Values Based Leaderships’ effect on meaning at work

Our values determine who we are, how we act and assess situations and decisions,

they help us select which companies to work for, what types of jobs we choose to

perform and who to associate with. They are incredibly powerful and if aligned provide

us with feelings of vitality and being alive; conversely if misaligned then they can be the

source of much regret, stress and unhappiness (Rue, 2001). Values are deep and

invisible forces that affect the way a person behaves and finds actions and thoughts of

others acceptable or unacceptable.

If we follow the work of Sehring (2015) and accept that companies exist for two main

reasons; the first being to generate profit and the second to provide meaning we could

say that if an organisation is modelled around shared values, achieved through Values

Based Leadership, then this will in turn increase employee motivation and performance,

creating dividends in the context of happy employees and greater success for the

organisation; which should all spell greater success for the organisation (Sehring,

2015).

22

Values are the glue that bind employees to an organisation and that help to share the

same set of beliefs in order the organisations goals can be achieved (Buchko, 2007).

People tend to make decisions based on their values and this, in combination with their

attitudes, shape their behaviours, and it is behaviours that influence people, with the

result that there exists a high positive relationship between a leader’s personal values,

their effectiveness as a leader and the organisations effectiveness (Bruno & Lay, 2008).

Entrepreneurial leaders that are able to harness the values of employees enable a

developing organization to become successful, assuming the product and idea are

sound and have a market demand. To be able to leverage this potential it is not enough

to have values; the leader must communicate and act out these values for them to

become meaningful and accepted (Darling & Beebe, 2007).

In addition it has been further noted that organisations that foster meaning at work are

able to reap the rewards of increased employee “pride, motivation and productivity”, are

more likely to recommend their employer as a place of work (Kernaghan, 2011) and

help to maintain a healthy pipeline of prospective employees keen to add to their

success.

Values Based Leadership has also received increased attention over recent years due

to the spate of high profile exposures of unethical and immoral practices; questions

were raised as to why previously espoused transformational leaders were in actuality

mere actors. Legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) bill was introduced as a

measure to stop accounting scandals such as WorldCom and Enron, but has also

thought to have cost the US economy $1.4 trillion and has done nothing to change the

mind-set of the type of leaders willing to exploit dubious business practices (Copeland,

2014).

When management were perceived to not have lived the values espoused by the

organisation the consequences were found to be far reaching, from fracture of team

cohesiveness through to employees re-orienting their identity within the organisation,

and in some cases resignation. Notable in this study was the result that many

managers felt compelled to side-line their values in times of conflict with the

organisations aims (Price & Whiteley, 2014).

23

A similar finding by Cha and Edmondson (2006) whose research into an organisation

that was initially enthusiastically promoted by its employees as a great place to work

and who had brought into the Values Based Leadership of the company. Over time the

employees experienced an erosion of these feelings by a combination of factors such

as perceived hypocrisy by the CEO, expansion of the company’s workforce and work

rate leading to the perception that it was really a case of profit above values. In defence

of the organisation concerned the leadership decisions were made based on what they

felt was the most optimum resolution and the decision to expand was based on securing

a more financially robust future, but it does go to show how even the best aims can be

misinterpreted if the workforce is not involved and informed in the decision making

processes (Cha & Edmondson, 2006).

The aim of Values Based Leadership is to close this gap between the values of the

organisation and the values held by employees, the wider the gap the greater the

chance of dis-identification of the employee and hence the greater negative impact to

the organisation (Busch & Wennes, 2012). The most effective CEO’s exhibited values

that were closely aligned to the firms, any inconsistency in their values and actions and

they were deemed to be at best fake, at worst deceitful. To be successful leaders must

exhibit and act in accordance with the values that are endorsed by the group

(Fernandez & Hogan, 2002).

It should be borne in mind however that irrespective of the care and attention brought in

to move an organisation into a period of organisational change there should always be

given presence of mind to the potential negative impact of resistance to change based

on the cultural norms of the workforce (Danisman, 2010), acknowledging perhaps that

not all values have positive attributes.

Employees that work in high involvement companies, those that have high values based

cultures, tend to be more proactive members of society, they are more likely vote, be

active in civic activities and donate to charity. By giving employees the ability to realise

their potential they respond with gratitude through increased productivity and loyalty

(O’Toole, 2009). Employees look to leaders for direction on where they are headed and

24

to receive guidance on how they should behave on their way to achieve it (Baldoni,

2011).

Managers these days should be seen as partners who facilitate employee’s abilities to

achieve mastery, and instil a continuous sense of purpose in the work being done

(Dann, 2015). Work that is infused with a higher degree of relevance moves away from

being a chore into something that is done for the self, rather than something done for

others. The vision and values of organisations if done well can connect with employees

to foster this sense of meaning to work and provide direction and focus, all to the

betterment of the organisations performance (Verma, 2009).

This satisfaction of personal needs is an important aspect as employees are more likely

to accept collective values and norms if they feel their personal needs are also being

met; with a lack of satisfaction likely to manifest in employee disengagement

(Prilleltensky, 2000). With around 28% of employees disengaged at work this manifests

itself in a poor customer experience, and as disengaged employees are less likely to be

concerned to make a good impression and so the negative impact to their and the

organisations performance is something organisations should be working to reduce.

Employees generally want to feel valued and valuable to their organisation, that some

aren’t should be clear cause for concern (Minsker, 2015).

This synchronisation of individual, professional and organisational values has been

shown to reduce workplace tensions between staff of differing job functions. This can

be further enhanced by placing the demands of the organisations customers or clients

in the design and decision making processes as a means to enhance operational

effectiveness (Hobkirk & Deuchar, 2011). In non-profit organisations it is common that

leadership is directed to promote the values of meaningfulness, but many employees in

successful non-profit organisations actually suffered from the performance related

pressure and fatigue more associated with their private sector colleagues (Hoole &

Boonema, 2015).

Whilst the leadership can affect a strong cultural ethic within the organisation to improve

organisational effectiveness the employee’s values must form the main part of the

strategy (Sabir, Sohail & Khan, 2011). As if to illustrate this; in Ahmad & Ghayyur’s

25

2014 study they reported that employees found that their rates of job satisfaction were

hardly increased by the use of Values Based Leadership, but that the performance

within the sector under investigation were increased significantly through

implementation of Vales Based Leadership.

These seemingly conflicting results indicating perhaps that the approaches of the

leadership were found to create unhappiness, indicating perhaps that Values Based

Leadership had not been fully implemented in the organisations concerned (Ahmad &

Ghayyur, 2014); and highlighting that whilst it is possible to define Values Based

Leadership in an organisation the acid test will be the day to day practice of how leaders

use these values, and their associated ethics, in their decision making. Any

contradiction of the agreed values in the application of decision making will be

recognised by the employees who will deduce that the values were only a surface

based initiative and not truly reflective of the organisations ethics and values (Viinamaki,

2012).

By comparison Levi Strauss & Co © as an organisation view values as the bridge

between the hard and soft aspects of running a business, the hard being the day to day

operational effectiveness and financials and the soft being the people skills and

interactions. The key to this has been the understanding that the instructional way of

working no longer works, employees act in a more entrepreneurial way and appreciate

being given the freedom and flexibility to act in ways they feel appropriate.

An often overlooked aspect of this is the acceptance that this may not work for all

prospective employees and it is as important for employees to realise they would be

suited to working for Levi as it would for the company (Howard, 1990). To successfully

operate a values based organisation it is imperative that the company operates as such

during times of great stresses, such as when having to make staff redundancies. Done

the right way, such as face to face and by persons known to the unfortunate party can

reinforce the values of an organisation (Manz, Manz, Adams & Shipper, 2011).

To counter the recent press regarding the criticality of organisations moving to a Values

Based Leadership model there is the finding that the Greek work Aeneid is as relevant

today as when it was written. Interestingly the top three most important factors of this

26

work when presented to modern day leaders were integrity, good judgement and

leadership by example (Ahn, Ettner & Loupin, 2012).

It seems though that we have learnt little from the days of Aeneid as a study conducted

by Posner (2010) discovered that managers were found to have roughly the same

amount of ambivalence for values despite there being a 30 year spread between the

study’s two sample results; conversely though managers in both timeframes expressed

an interest in values, particularly in ensuring their values matched the organisations

(Posner, 2010).

2.4 Conclusion

From the above literature review we can see that given the very obvious benefits

available to organisations it is perhaps no surprise that interest in Values Based

Leadership has surged in recent years? Organisations themselves have much to gain

from a motivated and engaged workforce not just in terms of increased output but also

in wider awareness of the company as a worthy place of work as found by Kernaghan

(2011) “organisations that foster employee meaning at work reap the rewards of

increased employee pride, motivation and productivity”.

Employees gain benefits in terms of greater meaning and purpose to their lives and as a

result suffer fewer ill effects due to misplaced values and meaning. They then add more

to their organisation, contribute more to society and gain increases in personal self-

worth. The concept of meaning at work points towards experiences that add purpose

and significance to our lives (Borg (2011); with the implication that if missing it will

detrimentally affect these facets of our existence.

We have seen that a number of organisations and practitioners now advocate a removal

of top down management systems and move instead to a model that includes those

who are best able to provide value. Managers, in effect, should be seen as ‘…partners

who facilitate employee’s abilities to achieve mastery, and instil a continuous sense of

purpose in the work being done’ (Dann, 2015).

27

So we can see that the aim of Values Based Leadership is to close the gap between the

values of the organisation and the values held by employees (Busch & Wennes, 2012);

but for it to be successful leaders must exhibit and act in accordance with the values

that are endorsed by the group (Fernandez & Hogan, 2002). When management were

perceived to not have lived the values the consequences were far reaching, from

fracture of team cohesiveness through to employee resignations (Price & Whiteley,

2014).

Finally there is the often overlooked aspect that Values Based Leadership may not work

for all employees and it is just as important for current and prospective employees to

realise that they would not perhaps be suited to working for an organisation that uses

this leadership strategy (Howard, 1990); a reminder perhaps that there are no

guarantees of success and that the human factor must always be taken into

consideration.

28

3. Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

This section presents the explanation behind the research design for this study and

includes the rationale for the approach taken and the methods used for primary data

collection. This research design explanation is then followed by descriptions of the

methods used for data collection and the procedures employed for the analysis of this

data by both quantitative and qualitative means.

For ease of reference and to provide an acceptable base model from which to design

the research methodology it was decided to use Saunders et al’s (2012) ‘research

onion’, outlined in figure 1 below.

Figure 3: The research onion (Saunders et al, 2012)

29

3.2 Research Methodology

3.2.1 Research Philosophy

According to Saunders et al (2015) there are three ways of thinking about research

philosophy; epistemology; what constitutes acceptable knowledge in a field of study,

ontology; the nature of social phenomena as entities, and axiology; the study of

judgements about values. Each of these ‘ways of thinking’ affect the manner in which

each of the four research philosophy’s of Positivism, Realism, Interpretivism and

Pragmatism contained in the outer layer of the research onion are applied in a research

setting.

Andersons’ (2013) summary in figure 2 provides for a reference as to how each

research paradigm is affected by ontological and epistemological ‘ways of thinking’.

- It should be noted that Anderson has elected to use the term ‘critical’ as a shorting

of ‘critical realism’.

Figure 4: Summary of research paradigms and methods (Anderson, 2013)

30

In respect of this study the author has elected to use a pragmatic research philosophy

paradigm which allows for a mixed / multi method approach utilising both qualitative and

quantitative data analysis methods; dependent on which method is felt to be appropriate

for the task at hand. The reasoning for this selection is based on the fact that the

research includes both quantitative and qualitative data obtained via the online survey.

Positivism and interpretivism methods are restricted to either their specific quantitative

or qualitative methods which would not cover all response formats and critical realism is

concerned with the direct effecting change of a situation; something this study does not

aim to undertake.

3.2.2 Research Approach

There are three main research approaches; deduction, induction and abduction. With

the deduction approach a theory is developed and a strategy designed to test the

theory. With induction approach data is collected and a theory is developed as a result

of this data analysis. With the abduction approach data is used to explore a

phenomenon and identify themes, explain patterns or to generate a new or modify an

existing theory (Saunders et al. 2012).

This study uses an inductive approach necessitated by the fact that the research

question itself is specific but that the research moves through a pattern of gathering

evidence, seeking patterns and then forming the hypothesis. Deductive and inductive

approaches were dismissed on the view that a deductive approach concludes with a

certain, or guaranteed, conclusion which this study does not propose to provide.

Abductive approaches generally provide what is sometimes termed as the researchers

“best shot” and are generally characterised by a lack of completeness (Butte College,

2008).

3.2.3 Research Strategy

The research strategies identified by Saunders et al (2012) consists of; experiment,

survey, archival research, case study, ethnography, action research, grounded theory

31

and narrative enquiry. It has been this author’s choice to select the survey strategy for

this study as this offers the ability to collate both quantitative and qualitative data within

a single form in order for analysis to be conducted to uncover reasoning and / or

linkages between the terms within the research question.

Of the other strategies available but not selected, experiment was not selected as

predictions or hypothesises were not proposed as part of this study. No access to

archival records was or is available for this study and hence was omitted from the study.

Case study was not included as this dissertation does not have the timeline to conduct

this type of investigation, and the study is concerned with obtaining as wide a section as

responses as possible. Ethnography was not used as this study did not have access to

study groups to collate data from and action research was not used as the study

collated respondent data from passive survey collated responses.

3.2.4 Research Choice

A number of research choices are available to the researcher the mono-method; using

either quantitative or qualitative data capture and analysis method, the multi-method

which also uses either a quantitative or qualitative analysis method but uses multiple

forms of data capture techniques within the research design, or the mixed-method

which uses a combination of quantitative or qualitative data capture and analysis

methods (Saunders et al, 2012).

For this study a mixed-method of research method choice has been selected in order

that quantitative or qualitative data can be obtained and analysed within a single

research strategy. The mono-method was disregarded based on the fact that it offers

only the ability to capture and analyse data in either a quantitative or qualitative method;

multi-method was also disregarded on the same basis in that even through it offers the

opportunity to collate data via different forms it still only offers the ability to analyse in

either a quantitative or qualitative method.

32

3.2.5 Time Horizons

There are two choices for research when obtaining data, cross-sectional; a snapshot

taken at a particular moment in time or longitudinal; a series of snapshots that represent

multiple moments in time (Saunders at al. 2012).

For this study the author has elected to use the cross-sectional time horizon based on

the decision to offer the survey on a one-time only basis. Longitudinal time horizons

were disregarded based on the knowledge that the survey would be a one-time only

activity.

3.2.6 Data Collection and Analysis

This layer includes decisions on sample groups, questionnaire content, and questions to

be asked in interviews and so on. All of the decisions and tools employed at this final

stage must fit in with the philosophies, philosophical stances, strategies, choices and

time-horizons already fixed upon if valid results are to be created and withstand

criticism.

This study has not been contained to a specific sector or geographical region as it is a

strongly held belief of the author that access to meaningful work is something that

should be open to all, irrespective of race, colour or creed, but for practical purposes the

survey for primary research was offered only in English language.

As outlined in table 1 below the survey questionnaire has been designed to offer a

range of questions that collect quantitative responses, qualitative responses and

questions that combine both quantitative and qualitative responses.

In addition the survey itself has been designed to offer the respondents a ‘flow’ through

their experiences; as the respondents travel further and further through the survey the

questions seek further detailed and/or analytical information. Figure 5 provides a visual

representation of this ‘flow’ through the survey.

33

34

35

Table 1: Survey Choice Design by Question

36

Figure 5: Question Flow

37

3.3 Research Context

This research has been undertaken through prior personal experience of what it means

to experience a lack of meaning or purpose in a workplace setting and the negative

impacts the author experienced with regards to workplace engagement.

This reason in conjunction with the recent surge in popularity by organisations and HRM

practitioners in maximising employee engagement were the two primary drivers for

undertaking this study.

The study’s aim then is to understand whether Values Based Leadership affects

employee engagement and meaning at work, and if so whether this is a positive or

negative experience.

Given the author’s direct experience of a lack of meaning at work it was deemed critical

that no aspect of research bias was introduced into the study that may have led to a

false or inaccurate hypothesis being produced. Key to this mitigation was the drafting of

an unambiguous set of questions for use in the online survey that would enable

quantitative results to be collated for numeric analysis, and that also included qualitative

responses with which to add supporting / qualifying information to results obtained.

On this basis only the results directly obtained from the online survey were analysed

and results published that could be directly traced back to individual respondents.

Appendix B contains the full survey responses obtain in order the reader is able to verify

the results obtained from this study.

3.4 Ethical Considerations

The online survey questionnaire requested respondents provide some items of personal

data; name, age and email address. These details were collected on the basis that it

would be necessary to track respondent data entry which could only be reconciled via

the person’s name. Age was collected in order that analysis of age range could be

undertaken and email was recorded in order that the offer of either a follow up survey or

copy of the dissertation could be provided.

38

Prior to analysis each respondent was given a numerical identifier in order that use of

qualitative data provided could be referenced and tracked via this numeric ID rather

than name or other identifying data.

On submission of this dissertation all personal data will be deleted and destroyed;

subject to any respondents who requested a copy of the complete dissertation whose

email addresses will be retained until delivery has been achieved.

The survey was available on a 24hr by 7 day basis in order that respondents had the

ability to complete the questionnaire at a time convenient to them and to ensure any

potential conflicts with professional or personal time was minimised to as much an

extent as possible.

39

4. Key findings

The following key findings are an abridged version of the results obtained in the survey

questionnaire; deliberately kept as short as possible so that the reader is able to

determine what the author considers to be the main or most interesting findings from the

survey results.

A copy of the survey questionnaire detailing the format, associated supporting material

and descriptions used to set context is provided in Appendix A - Values Based

Leadership Survey Questionnaire.

A copy of the survey questionnaire containing all responses, both quantitative and

qualitative, collected is provided in Appendix B – Values Based Leadership Survey

Responses

The survey itself obtained 107 responses; of which 104 respondents moved past the

initial data entry pages (questions 1 through 3). Responses for questions 1 through 3

have been omitted from this section to preserve respondent anonymity, as such

analysis of the survey starts at question 4.

Question 4 - Is Values Based Leadership a leadership style you have encountered within a workplace setting?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Yes 76.0% 79

No 24.0% 25

answered question 104

Table 2: Values Based Leadership Experience Question

N.B. Respondents who answered ‘yes’ to question 4 are forwarded to question 5 which forms the start

point for those who have experienced Values Based Leadership, those answering ‘no’ are forwarded to

question 14 which forms their start point.

40

4.1 Respondents who have encountered Values Based Leadership in a workplace setting – Survey Results

Table 3 below provides the breakdown of the responses obtained in a percentage totalised format. Question 5 is used to

obtain grouping information to determine the experience that respondents had in respect to the level of exposure they

encountered in the organisation that implemented Values Based Leadership. Questions 6 through 13 are then used to

obtain mixed quantitative and qualitative results to be used in the data analysis.

Table 3: Response totals as a percentage for those who have encountered Values Based Leadership

N.B. For easy of display the question statements have been shortened, appendix A contains the unabridged question statement.

41

The questions in table 3 are segmented into two broad groups, those that specifically

query experiences of Values Based Leadership (section 4.1.1) and those that query

engagement and meaning at work (section 4.1.2).

The responses to the question bank were a mixed quantitative and qualitative format; as

such the analysis is comprised of both quantitative and qualitative responses.

The summary sections present the main findings in a concise format and it should be

noted that the use of the term ‘employee’ is used to classify a respondent who works for

the organisation but holds a position below senior management or has no leadership or

strategic responsibilities.

4.1.1 Analysis of responses to questions 6, 7, 10 & 13

This section starts with a review of the questions asked that includes a brief quantitative

summary of the key findings, a more detailed quantitative and qualitative based key

finding section follows on.

- Summary

Q6 - If Values Based Leadership was already implemented did this make

integrating into the organisation easier or difficult?

Organisations that did not involve any employees in their Values Based Leadership

integration reported that integration was hardest and were also the only group to record

this result. The remaining groups all reported integration was easier, with organisations

that involved all employees reporting the highest score to this question.

Q7 - Did Values Based Leadership affect your workplace engagement levels?

Organisations that did not involve any employees in their Values Based Leadership

integration were the only group to report no majority improvement to employee

42

engagement levels. All other groups recorded a majority improvement of both a little or

a lot of improvement.

Q10 - Did Values Based Leadership affect your work output (in terms of quantity

and quality)?

Organisations that did not include any employees in their implementation of Values

Based Leadership were the only group to report no improvement to work output levels

and were also the only group to record an actual fall in work output levels. All other

groups recorded a majority increase in work output levels of a little or a lot.

Q13 - Having experienced Values Based Leadership would you say this is

something all organisations should strive to implement?

With the exception of those organisations that did not include any employees in their

Values Based Leadership implementation all groups agreed that all organisations

should look to implement Values Based Leadership. Conversely the no employee

involvement group were split 50/50 as to whether organisations should implement

Values Based Leadership.

- Key findings

Of the organisations that had implemented Values Based Leadership but included no

employees in the implementation 50% of this group stated that integration was harder;

with a further 25% being unsure as to whether it made integration easier or harder.

“There was a mismatch between stated values and behaviour within the

organisation…Confusion and distrust swiftly follow when the reality doesn't

match.” (Respondent 061).

“Not sure it helped me engage more rather helped me judge myself against the

values”. (Respondent 045)

43

75% experienced no difference to their engagement levels due to the implementation of

Values Based Leadership.

50% stated it made no positive difference to their work output with 25% of this group

stating that the implementation of Values Based Leadership had lowered their work

output.

“The misapplication of the approach made me less willing to undertake extra

work for the company. I didn't trust or value them...” (Respondent 061)

50% agreed that all organisations should implement Values Based Leadership.

“As long as Values Based Leadership is followed it can be effective. The

executive must walk the walk.” (Respondent 040)

Of those organisations that involved mainly the management in the implementation of

Values Based Leadership 58% of this group found this had made organisational

integration easier.

“Common standards and approach easier to achieve” (Respondent 008)

“Expectations were laid out for new hires” (Respondent 065)

“…group norming and performing were certainly accelerated. People enjoyed

working with each other.” (Respondent 093)

77% reported that engagement levels were raised a little or a lot by the implementation

of Values Based Leadership.

70% said their work output was raised as a result of the implementation of Values

Based Leadership.

“The organization "talked the talk" and generally "walked" it too” and I “Went into

the role knowing why it was important.” (Respondent 065)

69% agreed that all organisations should implement Values Based Leadership

44

“It can be motivating if implemented appropriately, de-motivating if done badly…”

(Respondent 068)

Of the group that were unaware of any employee involvement in the implementation of

Values Based Leadership 83% of this group were unsure whether this made

organisational integration easier or harder.

“Though I could see the values every day, there were large stands with them on

entering the building, not obvious people were living them.” (Respondent 018)

86% reported that engagement levels were raised a little or a lot by the implementation

of Values Based Leadership.

“My engagement rises significantly when a manager works in this way.”

(Respondent 009)

“Raises engagement when the values align with personal values.” (Respondent

013)

100% reported that their work output had risen as a result of Values Based Leadership

being implemented.

“When an organisation increases the covalence amongst colleagues then there

seems to be a collective increase in output in terms of both quantity and

quality…” (Respondent 005)

“By being able to understand what I wanted to achieve verses the organisations

direction and other people’s perspectives helped me achieve more.”

(Respondent 088)

72% agreed that all organisations should implement Values Based Leadership.

“Yes but needs to be more than words on a banner, must be engrained in

culture.” (Respondent 018)

45

Of the organisations that used sample groups in the implementation of Values Based

Leadership 57% of this group reported that organisational integration was easier.

“There is a clear and transparent structure and normally a well-publicised policy

that deals with difficult situations.” (Respondent 049)

“The groups that ran under a value-based leadership had a more relaxed and

approachable atmosphere…” (Respondent 087)

58% reported raised engagement levels as an output of the implementation of Values

Based Leadership.

“When there is communication there is always a stronger feeling of being a part

of something.” (Respondent 049

“It made easier to take more responsibility…” (Respondent 087)

86% reported that work output was raised as a result of the implementation of Values

Based Leadership.

“As the values resonated with my own personal beliefs and values, I noticed that

I was happy to just put in more time and effort to most tasks.” (Respondent 020)

“I felt like I needed to take care of my customer and be a good leader to my

team. My level of commitment deepened...” (Respondent 064)

71% agreed that all organisations should implement Values Based Leadership.

“VBL connects with employees feeling of worth and self (Maslow's hierarchy)…”

(Respondent 020)

“As a society we should always be moving to a higher level.” (Respondent 049)

Of organisations that included all their employees in the implementation of Values

Based Leadership 64% of this group reported that organisational integration was easier.

“Because we all knew that we were 'on the same page' believing in, and

motivated by, the same things.” (Respondent 055)

46

“As personal connections were made it was easier to assess how we would work

together, rather than find out later.” (Respondent 081)

“Peoples mind-set’s were aligned and use to change being communicated.”

(Respondent 086)

64% reported raised engagement levels due to the implementation of Values Based

Leadership.

“…it brought the teams together a bit more and gave us a common vocabulary to

use.” (Respondent 046)

“…working with leaders and teams who demonstrably believe in the values we

shared enabled me to feel that we shared a bond built on trust.” (Respondent

055)

“Leaders were proactive…, we spent much more informal time together one on

one and in groups when discussing issues or opportunities.” (Respondent 081)

58% reported that their work output was raised as a result of the implementation of

Values Based Leadership.

“…feeling valued and part of a team is important to me.” (Respondent 055)

71% agreed that all organisations should implement Values Based Leadership

“…being in a VBL environment meant I wasn't the only one who was there early,

staying late or taking on (or volunteering for) additional activities.” (Respondent

081)

4.1.2 Analysis of responses to questions 8, 9, 11 & 12

This section starts with a review of the questions asked that includes a brief quantitative

summary of the key findings. A more detailed quantitative and qualitative based key

finding section follows on.

47

- Summary

Q8 - Did you notice a correlation between your engagement level and meaning at

work?

Organisations that did not involve any employees in the implementation of Values

Based Leadership were the only group that reported an absence of any correlation

between engagement levels and meaning at work. All other groups reported a

correlation.

Q9 - If you noticed an increased meaning at work - did/does this mean more to

you than salary increases or benefits?

Only those groups whose organisations involved all or some employees in their

implementation of Values Based Leadership reported that it would make up for salary

and benefits. The remaining groups disagreed that Values Based Leadership would

make up for salary and benefits.

Q11 - Are you still working at the same organisation that implemented VBL?

Organisations that used sample groups and some employees in their implementation of

Values Based Leadership recorded the highest number of leavers. Organisations that

used all employees or whose employees were unaware of any involvement in the

implementation of Values Based Leadership recorded the lowest number of leavers.

Q12 - Do you feel there is a relationship between high engagement levels at

work and high meaning in work?

All groups reported there they felt there was a relationship between high engagement

levels and high meaning at work.

48

- Key findings

Of the organisations that did not involve employees in the implementation of Values

Based Leadership 75% of this group found no correlation between their engagement

levels and their meaning at work.

“It had certain advantages with personal growth.” (Respondent 040)

50% declared that any increases in their meaning at work would not make up for salary

increases or benefits.

“…we tolerate poor regimes because the money is good but ultimately once the

increased salary becomes the norm, we look for the softer benefits and may be

prepared to trade some salary for values.” (Respondent 061)

50% are still working for the same organisation that implemented Values Based

Leadership.

100% felt there was a relationship between high engagement levels at work and high

meaning at work.

“…the notion that you are part of a collective that share the same principals

should create a feeling of engagement.” (Respondent 045)

Of organisations that involved mainly the management in the implementation of Values

Based Leadership 69% of this group found a correlation between their engagement

levels and their meaning at work.

“Wider awareness of activity and closer engagement.” (Respondent 008)

“…it affords my colleagues and I to better collaborate on business decisions in

order to deliver feasible and viable results” (Respondent 075)

“I joined this company because the values they represent and strive for are those

I already hold…” (Respondent 107)

49

58% said any increases in their meaning at work would not make up for salary

increases or benefits.

“Still a corporation with highly paid executives so fairness was important.”

(Respondent 065)

“Money is important, but after a certain professional level, job sat and

professional development means more” (Respondent 093)

38% are still with the same organisation that implemented Values Based Leadership.

92% said that there was a relationship between high engagement levels at work and

high meaning at work.

“Higher meaning leads to improved delivery which leads to improved satisfaction

and engagement opportunities.” (Respondent 068)

“There is certainly more meaning at work if the employee feels more engaged.”

(Respondent 002)

In the group that were unaware of any employee involvement in the implementation of

Values Based Leadership 100% of this group found a correlation between their

engagement levels and their meaning at work.

“When the meaning of your work is clear and you can see how it contributes to

the organisations values, if these align with personal values engagement levels

increase.” (Respondent 013)

“There is a strong link between how engaged you are and the meaning in the

workplace.” (Respondent 088)

57% said any increases in their meaning at work would make up for salary increases or

benefits.

“Yes, comradeship and shared experience make work enjoyable.” (Respondent

018)

50

57% are still with the same organisation that implemented Values Based Leadership.

72% said that there was a relationship between high engagement levels at work and

high meaning at work.

“It is human nature to want to feel valuable and that your work has meaning. It's

also important to be able to see clearly how your work contributes to the success

of the organisation.” (Respondent 013)

Organisations that used sample groups in the implementation of Values Based

Leadership reported that 86% of this group found a correlation between their

engagement levels and their meaning at work.

“By having a voice I could raise with confidence observations and comments to

leadership which encourages continuous improvement.” (Respondent 049)

“Greater responsibility meant greater interaction with the management team.”

(Respondent 087)

57% said any increases in their meaning at work would not make up for salary

increases or benefits.

71% are no longer with the same organisation that implemented Values Based

Leadership.

“Another company recruited me and offered me a large pay increase. Also,

whereas the company was implementing Values Based Leadership, the leaders

and organization were not living up to those values...” (Respondent 064)

100% said there was a relationship between high engagement levels at work and high

meaning at work.

“Feeling involved is better than feeling ignored.” (Respondent 049)

51

Of organisations that included all employees in the implementation of Values Based

Leadership 71% of this group found a correlation between their engagement levels and

their meaning at work.

“It was like the "north star" and became very prevalent in the communications

and trainings.” (Respondent 046)

“It's much easier to care about something that you believe in and thus give

discretionary effort.” (Respondent 055)

“I felt truly connected to the team I worked with and we felt much more aligned

with the Organisation all the way to the CEO.” (Respondent 081)

62% said any increases in their meaning at work would make up for salary increases or

benefits.

“...once salary is satisfactory (hygiene) then Values Based Leadership is a

powerful motivator.” (Respondent 058)

57% are still with the same organisation that implemented Values Based Leadership.

“Excellent place to work, keeps me engaged and challenged.” (Respondent 027)

“The Values Based Leadership was a bit short lived - there was a re-organization

and new leaders came in and groups were split up so it seemed to die…”

(Respondent 046)

79% said there was a relationship between high engagement levels at work and high

meaning at work.

“People commit more readily to what they believe in...” (Respondent 055)

52

4.2 Respondents who have not encountered Values Based Leadership in a workplace setting – Survey

Results

Table 4 below provides the breakdown of the responses obtained in a percentage totalised format. Question 4 is used to

obtain initial grouping information and to determine whether respondents had experienced Values Based Leadership in a

workplace environment. Respondents are then forwarded to questions 14 through 22 to obtain opinion / information based

feedback.

Table 4: Response totals as a percentage for those who not have encountered Values Based Leadership

N.B. Questions 19 and 20 contain only qualitative responses so do not present any totalised values. For easy of display the question statements

have been shortened, appendix A contains the unabridged question statements.

53

The questions in table 4 are further analysed in section 4.2.1.

The responses to the question bank were mixed quantitative and qualitative formats, as

such the analysis is comprised of both quantitative and qualitative responses.

The summary sections present the main findings in a concise format and it should be

noted that the use of the term ‘employee’ is used to classify a respondent who works for

the organisation but holds a position below senior management or has no leadership or

strategic responsibilities.

4.2.1 Analysis of responses to questions 14 through 22

This section starts with a review of the questions asked that includes a brief quantitative

summary of the key findings. A more detailed quantitative and qualitative based key

finding section follows on.

- Summary

Q14 - From what you have read of Values Based Leadership do you feel this

would be beneficial in your workplace?

The majority of those employees who had not experienced Values Based Leadership

thought it would be beneficial to their organisations.

Q15 - Do you experience meaning at work? (Incorporates Q 16 and Q17)

Most employees who had not experienced Values Based Leadership do not experience

meaning at work, with the top two reasons for this being:

a) No feeling of concern from the organisation

b) Unable to see the results of their efforts.

Of the employees that have not experienced values Based Leadership but do

experience meaning at work their top two reasons for this were:

54

a) Being involved in decision making

b) Understanding where they fit in the organisation.

Q18 - If you had greater meaning at work do you feel you would have greater

engagement levels at work?

The vast majority of employees who had not experienced Values Based Leadership

agreed that if they had greater meaning at work they would have greater engagement

levels at work.

Q19 - What do you see as your biggest barrier to finding more meaning at work?

a) Communication

b) Indifference by management

c) Unable to see results

Q20 - What single action / change would provide you with more meaning at

work?

a) Understanding how effort contributes to collective goal

b) Empowerment

c) Organisation demonstrating concern for employees

Q21 - Do you feel your values align with your organisations?

Most employees who had not experienced Values Based Leadership did not feel their

values aligned with those of their organisation.

Q22 - Do you feel meaning at work to be at all important?

55

The vast majority of employees who had not experienced Values Based Leadership felt

meaning at work to be important.

- Key Findings

73% agreed that Values Based Leadership would be of benefit to their organisations.

“This would increase motivation in the workplace and make employees feel more

connected with the work being carried out.” (Respondent 079)

“From a corporate standpoint, it would create a competitive advantage - allowing

us to recruit talent more easily / cheaper, work with customers more effectively,

and decide to walk away from tempting but bad decisions. As employees, it

would increase our connection to each other and the company as a place of

shared values.” (Respondent 074)

“I think it is important to link personal and organisational goals.” (Respondent

035)

64% of respondents did not experience meaning at work and recorded the following

reasons.

56

Figure 6: Reasons for not experiencing meaning at work

36% of respondents did experience meaning at work and recorded the following

reasons.

Figure 7: Reasons for experiencing meaning at work

90% of respondents stated that if they had more meaning at work then they would

experience greater engagement levels at work.

“I would be happier thus increasing my commitment in my everyday tasks.”

(Respondent 025)

“I would feel I had a vested interest in its success and would care.” (Respondent

047)

“If you are valued you would naturally be and feel more engaged and would provide

more and get more satisfaction for your efforts.” (Respondent 053)

57

“I would feel like my efforts at work had more meaning and were going towards

something greater.” (Respondent 079)

Q19 - What do you see as your biggest barrier to finding more meaning at work?

“Communication between you and your employer.” (Respondent 025)

“Ineffective structures, focus on external image…focus on financial goals first.”

(Respondent 047)

“Silos - backward looking management attitude - reluctance to change.”

(Respondent 053)

“Excessive bureaucracy not giving enough breathing space.” (Respondent 060)

“Indifference in upper management.” (Respondent 074)

“Not always being able to see the bigger picture (the end result of what my efforts

are contributing to).” (Respondent 079)

Q20 - What single action / change would provide you with more meaning at work?

“Change in the current organizational system…” (Respondent 025)

“An understanding of the work that goes on in my team.” (Respondent 047)

“Empowerment.” (Respondent 053)

“Company demonstrating it cares about people more - communicating with a

person about to be laid off…” (Respondent 074)

“Becoming more aware of why my role is important to the company (the affect it

has on others).” (Respondent 079)

When asked if the respondents felt that their values aligned with their organisation 60%

stated they felt that their values did not align with their organisation.

58

“More of a sort of, my values align but I don't believe the organisations lives up to

the values it espouses.” (Respondent 003)

“The quality of the output that I wish to present is affected by the output my

organisation wishes to have.” (Respondent 025)

I believe the people come first, take care of your staff and they take care of the

business….” (Respondent 047)

“The organization's stated values and the values it rewards are inconsistent”

(Respondent 050)

“I believe we should take care of people and policies are in place to help with

that. My company uses policies…to save money...not take care of people.”

(Respondent 074)

“Voices aren't heard above the roar of production.” (Respondent 098)

92% of this group of respondents felt meaning at work to be important.

“It will induce self-fulfilment, every employee who feels accomplished will be

happier.” (Respondent 025)

“If I am going to remain with my organisation I want to have meaning in my day to

day work.” (Respondent 035)

“Meaning at work creates a sense of ownership and a desire to work toward the

organisations goals.” (Respondent 047)

“It matters to motivation - how hard we work, how much we try….” (Respondent

074)

“By not having meaning at work, levels of effort and engagement would drop

dramatically and the wellbeing of employees would reduce also. Meaning at work

leads to higher productivity.” (Respondent 079)

59

5 Discussion & Analysis

The research question asked is ‘A study of whether meaning at work is affected by

Values Based Leadership’. Additionally there are three sub-questions that have also

driven the direction and content of this study:

a) Is employee meaning at work necessary? A view from HRM

b) How does employee meaning at work affect work output?

c) Can employee meaning at work increase employee engagement on its own?

We can see through the literature review and survey responses that there are many

aspects and facets to the seemingly isolated question of whether employee ‘…meaning

at work can be affected by Values Based Leadership’. From the interest shown by

HRM practitioners, through those employees who have experienced Values Based

Leadership and to those who have yet to experience Values Based Leadership it is the

purpose of this section to review the survey results against the previous studies

obtained from the literature review.

Headline items such as the ‘talent wars’ reported by Higgs (2003) and statistics such as

those reported by Robak (2013) stating that ‘more employees are leaving their jobs…’

and in conjunction with the findings that ‘investors are now taking interest in the leaders’

ethics…’ (Marques, 2015) all perhaps offer easy opinions as to why HRM practitioners

are displaying an interest in Values Based Leadership. While this is a somewhat valid

conclusion to draw it shall be seen that there are more benefits to operating a Values

Based Leadership organisation than simply staff retention and investor interest;

important as these topics undoubtedly are.

The survey reported a cross group average of 52% agreement from the groups that had

experienced Values Based Leadership that it meant more to those employees than

salary and benefits; with the organisations that involved all their employees in the

implementation of Values Based Leadership reporting the highest (62%) agreement

score to this question. Respondent 058 elaborated on this finding commenting that

“...once salary is satisfactory (hygiene) then Values Based Leadership is a powerful

motivator”, offering the view that organisations can increase employee motivation

60

through aspects other than hard economics. This finding perhaps also offers the

potential to investigate a link between the extent of employee involvement in Values

Based Leadership implementations, employee retention levels and salary cost controls.

When looking at the ‘worth’ employees gave to meaning at work it was found that the

group that had not experienced Values Based Leadership in a workplace environment

reported a 92% agreement to the question of whether they felt meaning at work to be at

all important and supports the findings that most employees are looking ‘…to perform

meaningful and interesting work’ (Robak, 2013) and that they ‘…want to feel valued’

(Minsker, 2015). Further support of this aspect of the literature reviews’ findings comes

from some of those employees who had experienced Values Based Leadership in a

workplace environment who stated that “…feeling valued and part of a team is important

to me.” (Respondent 055) and that “it is human nature to want to feel valuable and that

your work has meaning…” (Respondent 013).

Perhaps due to the findings from Johansen (1995) that many ‘…now look to the

workplace to provide the meaning in our lives’, organisations that are able to foster

workplace meaning in employees are able to obtain increases in ‘pride, motivation and

productivity’ (Kernaghan, 2011) as positive employee related outputs. The experiences

of a number or respondents supports this view, with respondents 081 and 020 offering

the following qualifications; “…being in a VBL environment meant I wasn't the only one

who was there early, staying late or taking on (or volunteering for) additional activities.”

(Respondent 081) and “as the values resonated with my own personal beliefs and

values, I noticed that I was happy to just put in more time and effort to most tasks.”

(Respondent 020).

57% of the group whose organisations involved all employees in the implementation of

Values Based Leadership are still employed with the same organisation, which helps to

confirm the view from Gregg (1998) that ‘…whilst salary may have recruited employees

it is the company culture that retains them’. By contrast the findings from the groups

whose organisations involved only management or sample groups recorded slightly

over a third of employees still remaining within the same organisation; linking perhaps to

the finding by Marques (2015) that employees are ‘…susceptible to demoralisation if

61

forced to blindly follow leaders with little collaboration or input…’. It is very notable that

the group reporting experience with organisations that did not involve any employees in

the implementation of Values Based Leadership was the only sample that recorded an

actual drop in work output, with one respondent citing this being caused a

“…misapplication of the approach (that) made me less willing to undertake extra work

for the company. I didn't trust or value them” (Respondent 061). Which raises the

possibility that anything less than a visible employee inclusion into the deployment of a

wholly coherent Values Based Leadership implementation will only offer part benefits, or

worse, in return.

Prilleltensky (2000) found that a lack of satisfaction is ‘…likely to manifest in employee

disengagement’, and in addition Shuck et al. (2013) and Uson (2012) reported that

‘engagement is dependent on an individual’s sense of purpose…’ it being ‘essential

employees understand how they fit into, participate in and influence the organisations

performance in order to cultivate ‘engagement’…’. As if to echo these findings the

majority of the survey respondents that had experienced Values Based Leadership

agreed that their work output had increased as a result of the strategy being

implemented and also agreed that their engagement levels had risen as a result. Three

quarters of respondents of this group also reported a positive correlation between

engagement levels and meaning at work. Typical responses from the groups that had

experienced Values Based Leadership support these findings in that “the organization

"talked the talk" and generally "walked" it too” and I “…went into the role knowing why it

was important.” (Respondent 065) and further commenting that “VBL connects with

employees feeling of worth and self (Maslow's hierarchy)…” (Respondent 020).

Of the employees who had not experienced Values Based Leadership we find

alignment with these findings; on the results of those who experienced meaning at work

having been due to the ‘organisation involving them in decision making’, ‘practising

open and honest communications’ and explaining ‘how they fitted into the organisation’.

One respondent who did not experience meaning at work also echoed these findings by

confirming that they perhaps could attain meaning at work if they were “…more aware

of why my role is important to the company...” (Respondent 079).

62

Buchko (2007) has previously stated that ‘…values then are the glue that bind

employees to an organisation and help to share the same set of beliefs in order the

organisations goals can be achieved’. The findings from the survey confirmed that 73%

of those employees that had not experienced Values Based Leadership in the

workplace agreed that their organisations would benefit from its introduction based on

the feelings that “I would feel I had a vested interest in its success and would care.”

(Respondent 047) and it “…would feel like my efforts at work had more meaning and

were going towards something greater.” (Respondent 079). Statements such as this

indicate, on this point at least, that employees are looking for something more from their

work in addition to their salary and benefits and that a sense of purpose and shared

values are clearly also being sought.

The findings from those employees who have experienced Values Based Leadership in

respect of Buchko’s findings are clear in that there seems no doubt that this group

reported a clear link between shared values and the organisations goals being met, as

“when an organisation increases the covalence amongst colleagues then there seems

to be a collective increase in output in terms of both quantity and quality…”

(Respondent 005) and “…we all knew that we were 'on the same page' believing in, and

motivated by, the same things.” (Respondent 055).

Rue (2001) states that ‘…our values determine who we are, how we act and assess

situations, if they are misaligned they can be the source of much regret, stress and

unhappiness’; a commonality to this finding perhaps best summarised by one of the

survey respondents in that “the quality of the output that I wish to present is affected by

the output my organisation wishes to have.” (Respondent 025).

Many are now agreed that the top down model of decision making must be opened up

to those that can add value (Smythe, 2007). Confirmation of this can be seen from the

groups who have experienced Values Based Leadership that “leaders were proactive…,

we spent much more informal time together one on one and in groups when discussing

issues or opportunities.” (Respondent 081). A significant number of leadership styles

are now relationship based with high facilitative, trust and values based characteristics

(Marques, 2015) that enable a position of “…working with leaders and teams who

63

demonstrably believe in the values we shared...” (Respondent 055) and that

incorporated open communication channels that foster trust and participation

(Rousseau & Wade-Benzoni, 1994) with the result that “my engagement rises

significantly when a manager works in this way.” (Respondent 009).

For those employees who had not experienced Values Based Leadership some of the

barriers they reported that were inhibiting obtaining meaning at work mirrored the above

findings in that a lack of “communication between you and your employer.” (Respondent

025) and “excessive bureaucracy not giving enough breathing space.” (Respondent

060) are certainly aspects with negative connotations. When asked what single action

may help to provide meaning at work several respondents indicated “empowerment”

(Respondent 053) and the “company demonstrating it cares about people more -

communicating…” (Respondent 074) would be high on their list of corrective actions for

the organisation to promote. On these points then, perhaps above all others, it seems

clear that employees are looking for organisations to include them in communications

and decision making to provide an environment where they are able to work effectively

and to have trust that the organisation cares about them enough to enquire after their

welfare.

While the above findings provide some of the recorded results of Values Based

Leadership there is an important aspect that the leaders themselves must communicate

and act out the values in order for them to become meaningful and accepted (Darling &

Beebe, 2007). Khan (1990) identified that ‘…engaged employees bring themselves to a

role without sacrificing any aspect of their persona…’ and as such ‘…there exists a high

positive relationship between leaders’ personal values, their effectiveness as a leader

and the organisations effectiveness’ (Bruno & Lay, 2008), with the consequences that

when management were perceived to not have lived the values the ‘…consequences

were far reaching…’ (Price & Whiteley, 2014).

Of the employees that had experienced Values Based Leadership, but had also

experienced situations whereby the leadership and management had not acted within

the expectations laid out by the strategy their feedback was clearly in line with

respondent 068s view that “it can be motivating if implemented appropriately, de-

64

motivating if done badly…”. Certainly for at least one respondent their analysis of the

situation was one that seems to have spelt the end of the relationship as “after some

changes to the management team I found I was not aligned with my new functional

leadership. That was an awkward situation, not one I could continue.” (Respondent

081). Whilst this respondents actions were perhaps indicative of the furthest extent of

reaction to a mismatched Values Based Leadership implementation it is perhaps

respondent 061s experience that summarises the common reaction best in that “the

misapplication of the approach made me less willing to undertake extra work for the

company. I didn't trust or value them...”.

So we can see that whilst the leadership can affect a strong cultural ethic within an

organisation in order to improve organisational effectiveness the employee’s values

must form the main part of the strategy (Sabir, Sohail & Khan, 2011). Certainly the

results of the survey corroborate this finding from the organisations that involved no

employees in the implementation of Values Based Leadership who reported that

organisational integration was the hardest. They also recorded the lowest correlation

between engagement and meaning, and were also the only group to report no increase

in employee engagement levels.

In addition this was also the only group to record a drop in work output levels and

recorded the lowest score to recommend that organisations should implement Values

Based Leadership. It’s hard to find a more damning result from the findings of this

survey and leads the author to draw the conclusion that if an organisation is not willing

to engage with some of their employees when implementing Values Based Leadership

then they should be advised against this course of action; as to do otherwise runs the

very real risk that they may end up in a worse situation than when they started.

The acid test of any Values Based Leadership initiative will be the day to day practice of

how the organisation and its leaders use these values, and their associated ethics in

their decision making (Viinamaki, 2012), as ‘…any contradiction of agreed values will be

recognised by the employees as only surface based and not truly reflective of the

organisations ethics and values’ (Viinamaki, 2012). We can see the results of this study

being supported by the findings from the survey, and specifically by respondent 061

65

who stated that within their organisation “there was a mismatch between stated values

and behaviour within the organisation…Confusion and distrust swiftly follow when the

reality doesn't match.” (Respondent 061).

Clearly then it is not enough for organisations to implement Values Based Leadership;

for even the most stringent and focussed implementations can be undone if the

leadership and managerial teams are seen to contradict or act in ways that conflict or

aren’t consistent with the published values. Perhaps the final word on the merits of a

Values Based Leadership implementation is best summarised by the statement that “as

long as Values Based Leadership is followed it can be effective. The executive must

walk the walk.” (Respondent 040).

66

6 Conclusion & Recommendations

In answer to the question posed by this study of whether employee meaning at work

can be affected by Values Based Leadership the author feels that there is the need to

review several factors felt to be pertinent before the research question can be

answered.

The first factor to highlight is the establishment of the link between employee meaning

at work and engagement levels; seemingly to the point that one cannot exist without the

other. Certainly the majority of respondents to the survey felt that there was a close

relationship between having high workplace engagement and experiencing high

meaning at work; drawing the author to the conclusion that attainment of high meaning

at work is also dependent upon having high workplace engagement.

Furthermore it was found that not only was one aspect reliant on the other but that a

change in one would also likely affect the other to either a positive or negative degree

depending on the nature of the change experienced. The findings of this research

certainly suggests that it does not appear that it is possible to have low engagement

levels and high meaning at work, or vice-versa.

Secondly there is the finding that organisations choose to implement Values Based

Leadership using variations of employee inclusion from none through to all. This

presents the view that whilst it could be argued that only full employee participation

could be classed as a full and true Values Based Leadership implementation there are

obviously organisations who perceive that the same benefits can be obtained using a

mix of employee involvement numbers.

The survey found some mixed results when comparing the experiences of the various

groupings involved, but did find that the biggest gap between those who experienced

meaning at work and work output levels was between the groups that involved no

employees and those that involved all employees. It appears, at least on the basis of

these findings, that if an organisation wishes to maximise its chances of a successful

Values Based Leadership deployment then it should include all employees.

67

Thirdly there is the finding that the behaviours exhibited within the organisation,

particularly from the leadership and management functions, directly affect the

effectiveness of the Values Based Leadership strategy. Employees were found to be

extremely aware of any mismatch of behaviour or adherence to the published values

and the results were always detrimental to the employees regard for the organisation

and their position within it.

Interestingly those employees who had experienced such a mismatch identified that it

was the organisation or management at fault rather than any shortcoming of Values

Based Leadership as a strategic concept; which lends itself to the conclusion that the

organisational leadership really do need to self-evaluate to ensure they are capable of

fully committing to the demands of a Values Based Leadership strategy prior to

committing the organisation to it.

The fourth factor to be taken into consideration is the understanding that the values

alignment between the employee and organisation can be the source of the raising or

the lowering of employee meaning at work and engagement levels. Values that are

aligned between employee and organisation provide employee loyalty not just in

aspects of staff retention and the value of the place of work above certain financial

gains, but also in the positive recommendation and public face of the organisation as a

place of work. Conversely a values misalignment is almost certain to produce reduced

employee performance and may in severe cases cause employee sickness, absence

and resignation.

Finally, it was found that there are employees who have no experience of an

organisation that has implemented Values Based Leadership but nevertheless

experience meaning at work. When asked to state adherence to several aspects such

as involvement in decision making, open and honest communications, explanation of

how they fit into the organisation, control of workload and values alignment it was

shown that they did experience these aspects and offers the view that employees can

obtain meaning at work outside of a formal Values Based Leadership strategy being

deployed.

68

Taking into account the findings within this study the short answer to the research

question as to whether employee meaning at work can be affected by Values Based

Leadership the answer is yes.

But the qualification to this statement is that meaning at work can be affected to a

positive or negative degree depending on the numbers of employees consulted, the

conduct of the organisation and leadership teams during and following the deployment

and the knowledge that there is an inherent linkage between workplace engagement

and meaning at work.

There is also the finding that even those organisations that have not deployed Values

Based Leadership in any formal sense can obtain employee meaning at work through

adherence to some of the key concepts of this strategy.

6.1 Recommendations

The following recommendations are proposed based on the output of this study for

organisations that are considering the implementation of Values Based Leadership as a

strategy to increase employee meaning at work:

1. Include as many employees in the implementation & deployment of Values

Based Leadership as possible.

a) If no employees are to be included in the implementation then seriously

question whether your organisation is actually looking to implement Values

Based Leadership or simply looking to enforce a set of behavioural rules to

be adhered by the workforce.

2. Explain to employees how they fit into the organisation.

a) Ensure they understand why their contribution makes a difference and why

they are important to the continued success of the organisation.

69

3. Include employees in organisational decision making.

a) Ensure that their opinions and recommendations are properly sought and

considered otherwise the perception may be that it is just a box ticking

exercise with no real meaning.

4. Ensure the management and leadership teams live the values in their

conduct, communications and actions.

a) Understand that any mismatch of values to behaviours will be seen as

hypocrisy and a failing of the organisation, not a failing of Values Based

Leadership as a strategy.

5. Practise open and honest communications in all forms of communication.

a) All news, whether good or bad, deserves to be delivered in a qualified,

considerate, clear and unambiguous manner.

6. Accept that employee workplace engagement levels and meaning at work

levels are irretrievably linked.

a) The more meaning at work you are able to provide to employees the more

engagement the organisation will receive in return.

6.2 Significance of Proposed Research

Given that work forms a large part of most people’s life and as such our quality of

experience at work can determine how we feel, act and interact with people and society

inside and outside of the work environment study in the subject of whether employee

meaning at work is affected by Values Based Leadership is essential if we are to fully

understand the benefits and impacts to our self, society and organisations that the work

experience can bring.

70

In this regard the study shows that the benefits to organisations, employees and society

that the raising of meaning at work offers are wide ranging. Employees can become

healthier, happier and more productive; organisations reap the rewards of this employee

wellbeing through increased productivity and loyalty and society benefits from increased

social engagement and activity. The counter point to this finding is the knowledge that a

lack of meaning at work is likely to lead to unhappier, less productive and more illness

prone employees who exhibit less socially beneficial actions and activities.

The study further establishes the link between Values Based Leadership and employee

meaning at work with the finding that Values Based Leadership in itself is no guarantee

of success. It raises the result that a badly formed Values Based Leadership

implementation can actually lower employee meaning at work and confirms the

resultant negative impacts this brings to employee work output and engagement levels.

This research also provides some key recommendations that individuals and

organisations can use to maximise their employee meaning at work levels and to

mitigate the possibility that the strategy may prove detrimental to these aims. The key

recommendations are offered in the hope that organisations utilise them in order to

maximise their chances of a successful Values Based Leadership implementation and

in turn reap the benefits found to be associated for both organisation and employee.

6.3 Research Limitations

It cannot be expected that this research will uncover all possible linkages between

Values Based Leadership and employee meaning at work, or that any proposed actions

or recommendations will solve any and all of the issues encountered by an organisation.

The recommendations provided within the conclusion section are not to be taken as a

full and final list of all recommendations associated with the implementation of a Values

Based Leadership strategy. Organisations are advised to conduct further investigation

in order they are able to obtain a more complete view of the implications and

requirements of such a strategic move prior to engaging into the planning of such a

strategic initiative.

71

The output from this study did not investigate any linkage to support the investment

potential associated with Values Based Leadership, or qualify the extent to which

investor attractiveness to the organisation may be affected by Values Based

Leadership. The author feels that this is a significantly important question and so

suggests that this should form a topic for future study.

This findings also offer the potential to investigate a link between the extent of employee

involvement in Values Based Leadership implementations, the effect on employee

retention levels and associated salary cost controls and is again a subject the author

proposes for future study.

72

References

Ahmad, M & Ghayyur, M, (2014), how Values Based Leadership influences logistics support services and employees satisfaction?, International review of management and business research, Vol. 3, Iss. 1, pp. 55 - 67 Ahn, M, Ettner, L & Loupin, A, (2012),Values v. traits-based approaches to leadership: insights from an analysis of the Aeneid, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 33 Iss 2 pp. 112 – 130 Amabile, T & Kramer, S, (2012), to give your employees meaning, start with vision, [online], available at: https://hbr.org/2012/12/to-give-your-employees-meaning, accessed 26th Jan 2016 Anderson, T, (2013), Research paradigms: ontology’s, epistemologies and methods, [online], available at: http://www.slideshare.net/eLearnCenter/research-methods-uoc-2013, accessed 28th April 2016 Arrowsmith & Parker, (2013), the meaning of ‘employee engagement’ for the values and roles of the HRM function, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24:14, 2692-2712, DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2013.763842 Baldoni, J, (2011) putting courage into action for yourself and others, leader to leader, hesselbein and company, Winter 2011, Iss 59, pp. 24 – 26. Biggio, G & Cortese, C, (2013), Well-being in the workplace through interaction between individual characteristics and organizational context. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, [S.l.], Feb. 2013. ISSN 1748-2631. Available at: http://www.ijqhw.net/index.php/qhw/article/view/19823. Date accessed: 15 Feb. 2016. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v8i0.19823. Borg, T, (2011), Job demands, job resources and meaning at work, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 26 Iss. 8 pp. 665 – 681 DOI: 10.1108/02683941111181761 Bredmar, K, (2011), management control: a process that creates organizational meaning, global business and management research, Vol. 3, Iss. 2, pp. 106 – 118. Bruno, L & Lay, E, (2008), personal values and leadership effectiveness, journal of business research, Vol. 61 pp. 678 – 683 Buchko, A, (2007), the effect of leadership on values based management, leadership and organizational development journal, Vol. 28, Iss. 1 pp. 36 – 50, DOI: 10.1108/01437730710718236

73

Busch, T & Wennes, G, (2012), changing values in the modern public sector: the need

for Values Based Leadership, the international journal of leadership in public services,

Vol. 8 Iss. 4 pp. 201 – 215, DOI: 10.1108/17479881211323599

Butte College, (2008), Deductive, inductive and abductive reasoning, [online], available at: https://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/thinking/reasoning.html, accessed 23rd June 2016 Cardiff University, 2016, What are values, [online], available at: https://careercentral.cardiff.ac.uk/topics/you/you/values/where-do-they-come-from/, accessed 14th April 2016. Cha, S & Edmondson, A, (2006), when values backfire: leadership, attribution, and disenchantment in a values driven organization, the leadership quarterly, pp. 57 – 78 Chin-Yi, C, Chun-hsi, C V & Chun-I, L, (2013), the influence of leader’s spiritual values of servant leadership on employee motivational autonomy and eudaemonic wellbeing, journal of religious health, Vol. 52 pp. 418 - 438 Clausen, T & Borg, V, (2011), job demands, job resources and meaning at work, Journal of managerial psychology, Vol. 26 Iss. 8 pp. 665 – 681 Copeland, M, (2014), the emerging significance of Values Based Leadership: a literature review, International journal of leadership studies, Vol. 8 Iss. Damij N, Levnajić Z, Rejec Skrt V, & Suklan J (2015) What Motivates Us for Work? Intricate Web of Factors beyond Money and Prestige. PLoS ONE, Vol. 10 Iss. 7 DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0132641 Danisman, A, (2010), good intentions and failed implementations: understanding culture based resistance to organizational change, European journal of work and organizational psychology, Vol. 19 Iss. 2 pp. 200 – 220 DOI: 10.1080/13594320902850541 Dann, W, (2015), shifting employee motivation, Incentive magazine, July/August 2015, pg. 32 Darling, J & Beebe, S, (2007), effective entrepreneurial communication in organizational development: achieving excellence based on leadership strategies and values, organizational development journal, Spring 2007, Vol. 25, Iss. 1, pp. 76 – 93 Dupré, J & Gagnier, G, (1996), A brief history of work, Journal of Economic Issues, Vol 30 Iss. 2 (June 1996), pp. 553 - 559 Elegdio, J, (2013), Does it make sense to be a loyal employee?, Journal Business Ethics, Vol. 116 pp. 495–511, DOI 10.1007/s10551-012-1482-4

74

Fernandez, J & Hogan, R, (2002), Values Based Leadership, the journal for quality and participation, Winter 2002 pp 25 - 27 Financial Times, (2016), Definition of Values Based Leadership, [online], available at:

http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=values_based-leadership, accessed 16th Jan 2016

Folan, J & Mitchell, G, (2003), all work and no meaning: will an HR portal keep your

employees from jumping ship, communication world, Vol. 20 Iss 2 pp. 22

Gorsline, K, (2013), out of the box HR, Canadian HR reporter, Vol.26 Iss 14 pp. 9 - 10

Grant, A, (2012), Leading with meaning: beneficiary contact, prosocial impact, and the performance effects of transformational leadership, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 55 Iss. 2 pp. 458 – 476 Gregg, L, (1998), humanity in the workplace: when/work family becomes an issue, Credit union executive journal, Vol. 38 Iss. 5 pp. 32 – 38 Hansen, M, & Keltner, D, (2012), Work, even when your job is dull, [online], Harvard Business Review, available at: https://hbr.org/2012/12/finding-meaning-at-work-even-w, accessed 14th April 2016. Higgs, M, (2003), How can we make sense of leadership in the 21st century?, Leadership and organization Development Journal, Vol. 24 Iss. 5 pp. 273 – 284 Hill, R, (1992), historical context of the work ethic, [online], available at: http://workethic.coe.uga.edu/historypdf.pdf, accessed 9th September 2016 Hobkirk, M & Deuchar, N, (2011), values in managerialism and leadership, the international journal of leadership in public services, Vol. 7 Iss. 2 pp. 109 – 118, DOI 10.1108/17479881111160096 Hoole, C & Boonema, J, (2015), work engagement and meaningful work across generational cohorts, SA journal of human resource management, Vol. 13 Iss. 2 pp. 1 – 11, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v13i1.681 Howard, R, (1990), values make the company: an interview with Robert Haas, Harvard business review, Sept – Oct pp. 132 - 144 Johansen, P, (1995), where’s the meaning and the hope, trends in employee publications, Journal of popular culture Vol. 29 Iss. 3 pp. 129 - 138 Kahn, W. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 33 pp. 692-724.

75

Kernaghan, K, (2011), getting engaged: public service merit and motivation revisited, Canadian public administration, Vol. 54, Iss. 1, pp. 1 – 21. Keyes, C.L.M. (2007), Promoting and protecting mental health as flourishing: a complementary strategy for improving national mental health, American Psychologist, Vol. 62 Iss. 2, pp. 95-108. Manz, C, Manz, K, Adams, S & shipper, F, (2011), sustainable performance with valused based shared leadership: a case study of a virtuous organization, Canadian journal of administrative sciences, Vol. 28 PP. 284 – 296, DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.184 Marques, J, (2015), The changed leadership landscape: what matters today, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 34 Iss. 10 pp. 1310 – 1322 Mehta, B, (2013), engagement: what missing?, training journal, April 2013, pp. 56 – 60 Minsker, M, (2015), great customer experience starts with the right corporate culture, customer relationship management, July 2015, pp. 20 – 24. O’Toole, J, (2009), connecting the dots between leadership, ethics and corporate culture, Ivey business journal online, available at: http://search.proquest.com/docview/216176133?accountid=12834, accessed 12th February 2016. Posner, B, (2010), values and the American manager: a three decade perspective, journal of business ethics, Vol. 91, pp. 457 – 465, DOI: 10.1007/s10551-009-0098-9 Price, C & Whiteley, A, (2014) Corporate Culture and Employee Identity: Cooption or Commitment through Contestation?, Journal of Change Management, Vol. 14, Iss. 2, pp. 210-235, DOI: 10.1080/14697017.2014.896391 Prilleltensky, I, (2000) value-based leadership in organizations: balancing values, interests, and power among citizens, workers, and leaders, Ethics & Behavior, 10:2, 139-158, DOI: 10.1207/S15327019EB1002_03 Robertson-smith & Markwick, (2009), Employee engagement a review of current

thinking, [online], available at: http://www.employment-

studies.co.uk/system/files/resources/files/469.pdf, accessed 11th Jan 2016

Rousseau, D & Wade-benzoni, K, (1994), linking strategy and HR practices: how

employee and customer contracts are created, human resource management Vol.33 Iss

3 pp. 463 – 489.

76

Rue, B, 2001, Values Based Leadership; determining our personal values, PM, July –

August 2001, pp. 12 – 16

Sabir, S, Sohail, S & Khan, A, (2011), impact of leadership style on organizational

commitment: in a mediating role of employee values, journal of economics and

behavioural studies, Vol. 3, Iss. 2, pp. 145 – 152.

Saunders, M.N.K, Lewis, P & Thornhill, A, (2012), Research methods for business

students (6th edition), 6th edn. Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall

Sehring, T, 2015, the power of Values Based Leadership, human capital insights, July

2015, pp. 30 – 31.

Shuck, B & Rose, K, (2013), Reframing employee engagement within the context of meaning and purpose: Implications for HRD, Advances in developing human resources, Vol. 15 Iss. 4 pp. 341 – 355, DOI: 10.1177/1523422313503235 Smythe, J, (2007), Employee engagement – its real essence, Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 15 Iss. 7 pp. 11 – 13 Steenkamp, P & Basson, J, 2013, a meaningful workplace: framework, space and context, HTS teologiese studies / theological studies, Vol. 69 Iss. DOI: 10.4102/hts.v69i1.1258 Thomas, K & Velthouse, B, (1990), cognitive elements of empowerment: an “interperative” model of intrinsic task motivation, Academy of management review, Vol. 15 Iss. 4 pp. 666 - 681 Truss, C, Shantz, A, Soane, E, Alfes, K & Delbridge, R ,(2013), Employee engagement, organisational performance and individual wellbeing: exploring the evidence, developing the theory, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24:14, 2657-2669, DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2013.79892 Uson, M, 2012, keeping morale, engagement up when bonuses, raises take a tumble, Canadian HR reporter, Vol.25 Iss. 18 pg.15 Verma, H, (2009), mission statements – a study of intent and influence, Journal of services research, Vol. 9 Iss. 2 pp. 153 – 172 Viinamaki, O, (2012), why leaders fail in introducing Values Based Leadership? An elaboration of feasible steps, challenges, and suggestions for practitioners, international journal of business and management, Vol. 7 Iss. 9 pp. 28 – 39, DOI: 10.5539/ijbm.v7n9p28

77

Yeoman, R, (2014), conceptualising meaningful work as a fundamental human need, journal of business ethics, Vol.125, pp. 235 – 251, DOI 10.1007/s10551-013-1894-9

78

Bibliography

Asse.org, (2015), finding meaning in work can benefit companies, employee mental

health, Professional safety

Brooks, S & Saltzman, J, (2012), why employee engagement is not strategic, people

and strategy, Vol. 35 Iss 4 pg. 4

Caplan, J, (2014), develop and engage all your staff for business success, Strategic HR

review, Vol. 13 Iss 2 pp. 75

Frost, J, (2014), Values based leadership, Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 46 Iss 3 pp. 124 – 129 DOI: 10.1108/ICT-10-2013-0073 Grojean, M, Resick, C, Dickson, M & Smith, D, (2004), leaders, values and organizational climate: examining leadership strategies for establishing an organizational climate regarding ethics, journal of business ethics, Vol. 55, pp. 223 – 241. Hood, J, (2003), the relationship of leadership style and CEO values to ethical practices in organizations, journal of business ethics, Vol. 43, pp. 263 - 273 Kraemer, H, (2011), Values Based Leadership: encourage it at every level, leadership

excellence, July 2011, pg. 17

Kahn, W. (2010). The essence of employee engagement: Lessons from the field. In S. Albrecht (Ed.), Handbook of employee engagement (pp. 20-30). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Kazlauskaite, R, Buciuniene, I & Turauskas, L, (2011),Organisational and psychological empowerment in the HRM-performance linkage, Employee Relations, Vol. 34 Iss 2 pp. 138 – 158 DOI: 10.1108/01425451211191869 London, M, (1999), principled leadership and business diplomacy, journal of management development, Vol. 18, Iss. 2 pp. 170 – 192, DOI: 10.1108/02621719910257783 Miles, R, (2007), innovation and leadership values, California management review, Vol. 50, Iss. 1, pp. 192 – 201 Morrison, H, (2010), strategic philanthropy and maximization of shareholder investment through ethical and values-based leadership in a post Enron/Anderson debacle, journal of business studies quarterly, Vol. 1, Iss. 4, pp. 94 – 109.

79

Overton, B, (1995), value based leadership, international business, May 1995, pg. 76 Pratt, M.G. and Ashforth, B.E. (2003), “Fostering meaningfulness in working and at work”, in Cameron, K.S., Dutton, J.E. and Quinn, R.E. (Eds), Positive Organizational Scholarship. Foundations of a New Discipline, Berett-Kohler Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, pp. 309-27. Robak, J, (2013), recruiting and retaining staff in a rebounding and economy and employment market, The American Water Works Association, Vol. 105 Iss. 8 pp. 26 - 28 Robinson, D & Harvey, M, (2008), Global leadership in a culturally diverse world, Management Decision, Vol. 46 Iss 3 pp. 466 – 480, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00251740810863898 Sambrook, S, Jones, N & Doloriert, C, (2013), employee engagement and

autoethnography: being and studying self, Journal of workplace learning, Vol. 26 Iss.

3/4 pp. 172 – 187

Scott, N, 2013, did you hear the one about….recognition?, Canadian HR reporter,

Vol.26 Iss 17 pg. 23

80

Appendix A – Values Based Leadership Survey Questionnaire

Format & Questions

Introduction

For the purposes of this survey the following descriptions are provide in order a consistent

interpretation of the main themes of Values Based Leadership, meaning at work and values.

Values Based Leadership

Values-based leaders communicate organisational values that inform employees how to behave

in order to fulfil the organisation’s mission. It aims is to motivate employees by linking

organisational goals to their personal values. Organisational values are spoken in a way that

connects them to the employee’s personal values.

Because these core values represent the soul of the organisation, they have to remain steadfast

in the face of changing market trends, fads or through difficult times the organisation faces. For

the employees to believe in the sincerity and depth of the organisation’s values, the leadership

team must lead by example and communicate the values on an ongoing basis to the entire

workforce.

Values

Your values are those elements of your life which you find personally important. They are the

core beliefs which guide you on how to conduct your life in a way that is meaningful and

satisfying for you. Values are the things against which you measure your choices, whether

consciously or not. You use them to rationalise your behaviour to yourself and others, and they

determine your level of satisfaction with your choices, even if decisions are not freely made but

constrained by other factors.

Meaning at work

The phrase ‘meaning at work’ refers to a person’s experience of something meaningful or

something of value that work provides. This is not the same as ‘meaningful work’ which

generally refers to the task itself.

1. Personal details

a. Name (free text entry)

81

b. Age (free text entry)

c. Email address (free text entry)

2. Would you like a copy of my dissertation emailed to you on its completion?

a. Yes

b. No

3. Would you like to take part in a follow up survey – should this be necessary?

a. Yes

b. No

4. Is Values Based Leadership a leadership style you have encountered within a workplace

setting?

a. Yes – move onto question 5

b. No – skip to question 16

5. When implementing Values Based Leadership did the organisation do this in a

collaborative and facilitative manner over several months?

a. No – no employees were included

b. some – mainly the management were involved

c. Not aware of any involvement

d. A little – we used sample groups from the main depts.

e. Yes – all employees were included

6. If Values Based Leadership was already implemented did this make integrating into the

organisation easier or difficult?

a. Easier

b. Harder

c. Unsure

d. Why? (free text entry)

7. Did Values Based Leadership affect your workplace engagement levels?

a. Lowered a lot

b. Lowered a little

c. Made no difference

d. Raised a little

e. Raised a lot

8. Did you notice a correlation between your engagement level and meaning at work?

a. Yes

b. No

82

c. In what way? (free text entry))

9. If you noticed an increased meaning at work - did/does this mean more to you than

salary increases or benefits?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Why? (free text entry)

10. Did Values Based Leadership affect your work output (in terms of quantity and quality)?

a. Lowered a lot

b. Lowered a little

c. Made no difference

d. Raised a little

e. Raised a lot

f. Further info (free text entry)

11. Are you still working at the same organisation that implemented VBL?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Why? (free text entry)

12. Do you feel there is a relationship between high engagement levels at work and high

meaning in work?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Unsure

d. Why? (free text entry)

13. Having experienced Values Based Leadership would you say this is something all

organisations should strive to implement?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Why? (free text entry)

14. From what you have read of Values Based Leadership do you feel this would be

beneficial in your workplace?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Why? (free text entry)

15. Do you experience meaning at work?

83

a. Yes – move to question 17

b. No – move to question 16

16. If you answered no:

a. Does your company overregulate or constrain you

b. Can you see the end result of your efforts

c. Do you have regular interaction with your manger

d. Do you feel overloaded with work

e. Do you feel your future is a concern for the organisation

17. If you answered yes:

a. Does your company involve you in decision making

b. Does your company practice open and honest communications

c. Does your company explain how you fit into the organisation

d. Does your company control your workload

e. Does your company’s values align with yours

18. If you had greater meaning at work do you feel you would have greater engagement

levels at work?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Why? (free text entry)

19. What do you see as your biggest barrier to finding more meaning at work?

a. (free text entry)

20. What single action / change would provide you with more meaning at work?

a. (free text entry)

21. Do you feel your values align with your organisations?

a. yes

b. no

c. Why? (free text entry)

22. Do you feel meaning at work to be at all important?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Why? (free text entry)

84

Appendix B – Values Based Leadership Survey Questionnaire

Responses

Question 1 - Personal details

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Name (full) 99.0% 96

Age 94.8% 92

Email Address 90.7% 88

answered question 97

Question 2 - Would you like a copy of my dissertation emailed to you on its completion?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Yes 69.7% 69

No 30.3% 30

answered question 99

Question 3 - Would you like to take part in an follow-up survey - should this be necessary

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Yes 88.9% 88

No 11.1% 11

answered question 99

Question 4 - Is Values Based Leadership a leadership style you have encountered within a workplace setting?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Yes 76.0% 79

No 24.0% 25

answered question 104

Question 5 - When implementing Values Based Leadership did the organisation do this in a collaborative and facilitative manner over several months?

85

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

No - no employees were included 8.9% 4

Some - mainly the management were involved 28.9% 13

Not aware of any involvement 15.6% 7

A little - sample groups from the main departments were used

15.6% 7

Yes - all employees were included 31.1% 14

answered question 45

Question 6 - If Values Based Leadership was already implemented did this make integrating into the organisation easier or harder?

Answer Options Response Percent Response

Count

Easier 52.4% 22

Harder 7.1% 3 Unsure 40.5% 17 Why (max 100 chars) 24

answered question 42

The company had a set of core values that it strived to adhere to,

however while the western workforce adopted to these values, it was

more of a struggle for the local employees to adopt new values.

Stakeholder buy in. In a larger organisation people have different

values. Having a clear set of values that are constantly used can affect

behaviour. The values must be powerful. Some people buy into this,

some people see it as a waste of time. I think the size of the

organization is a major factor in the success of Values Based

Leadership.

Common standards and approach easier to achieve

Challenge less about whether VBL was already in place, but more

about whether colleagues were 'convinced' and whether senior

management were setting the example in a real way that was felt by

colleagues

Gave a clearer view of the company direction. Helps to provide

direction (i.e. employees aligning potential tasks and actions with the

values), which helps when integrating into the organisation.

86

Though I could see the values every day, there were large stands with

them on entering the building, not obvious people were living them

There was a lack of trust and disconnect between front line staff and

senior management which meant that strategy and action to deliver

any leadership style across the organisation got 'stuck' at middle

management.

Executing a balance/work lifestyle was central to their beliefs and they

practiced what they preached

Vbl was not already implemented so question invalid

I am personally not a believer in top down management, it makes it

extremely difficult to obtain buy-in

The leadership was very hierarchical, so those values didn't always

filter down to our experience.

Having core values to judge your behaviours against makes decision

making easier

There is a clear and transparent structure and normally a well-

publicised policy that deals with difficult situations.

Because we all knew that we were 'on the same page' believing in,

and motivated by, the same things.

Essential part of the start-up in 2006, and key value since

There was a mismatch between stated values and behaviour within the

organisation. When joining a company that has published value

statements, it is reasonable to take them at face value and look to

operate in line. Confusion and distrust swiftly follow when the reality

doesn't match

Expectations were laid out for new hires. If in a position to make a

decision without direct management's presence, these values guided

the action.

The groups that ran under a value-based leadership had a more

relaxed and approachable atmosphere. It was easier to get to know

87

the team members and that led to an easier integration into the

organisation.

As personal connections were made it was easier to assess how we

would work together, rather than find out later.

I joined the organisation once Values Based Leadership was

embedded.

Currently being rolled out across the organisation in the coming 6-12

months

peoples mind-sets were aligned and use to change being

communicated

Since the rules of engagement were clear, and value systems were

consistent, group norming and performing were certainly accelerated.

People enjoyed working with each other. Group synergy was also

evident.

Implementation is at early stages

Question 7 - Did Values Based Leadership affect your engagement levels at work?

Answer Options Response Percent Response

Count

Lowered a lot 0.0% 0 Lowered a little 0.0% 0 Made no difference 31.1% 14 Raised a little 37.8% 17 Raised a lot 31.1% 14 Further info (max 100 chars) 18

answered question 45

With a new company and new values to roll out, there was a lot of

incentives and engagement to be done amongst the workforce.

My engagement rises significantly when a manager works in this way

Raises engagement when the values align with personal values.

88

The values give a point of reference to the organisation and can be

used as a check when not being felt on a daily basis

I feel that I held those values anyway. So worked with them, and that's

why I choose the organisation that I work for.

Not sure it helped me engage more rather helped me judge myself

against the values

It felt like it brought the teams together a bit more and gave us a

common vocabulary to use.

When there is communication there is always a stronger feeling of

being a part of something.

There is no doubt for me that working with leaders and teams who

demonstrably believe in the values we shared enabled me to feel that

we shared a bond built on trust.

I use our mind-set as a consultant project manager and find it a very

powerful tool. Social contract trumps orders any day.

The organization "talked the talk" and generally "walked" it too

(although there were certainly exceptions)

It was something imposed rather than inclusive

Yes, it created a deeper sense of responsibility and commitment to the

organisational culture and business mandate

It made easier to take more responsibility, it allowed for a greater level

of delegation from the leadership team

Leaders were proactive in there approach, we spent much more

informal time together one on one and in groups when discussing

issues or opportunities

The roll out was confused as the message was not clear and peoples

engagement and understanding was reduced.

knowing the objectives and how people are a core part of this raised

enthusiasm

89

Not currently

Question 8 - Did you notice a correlation between your work engagement level and meaning at work?

Answer Options Response Percent Response

Count

Yes 73.3% 33 No 26.7% 12 in what way (max 100 chars) 23

answered question 45

I was already engaged at work and, from a security manager's

perspective, already sought plenty of meaning at work. Amongst other

departments (mining, safety) there was much more correlation

For me it affects personal pride and the desire to work towards a

shared goal or specific outcomes.

Wider awareness of activity and closer engagement

When the meaning of your work is clear and you can see how it

contributes to the organisations values, if these align with personal

values engagement levels increase.

yes I need to feel engaged to enjoy work, want to feel part of

something which shares my values

it enabled me to sift out those relationships and arrangements which

provided no value to outcomes desired.

Far more freedom to integrate my person life with my professional life

No, but felt that I could formally spread the values to my team, that

they could aspire to something tangible.

It had certain advantages with personal growth

It was like the "north star" and became very prevalent in the

communications and trainings.

90

By having a voice I could raise with confidence observations and

comments to leadership which encourages continuous improvement.

It's much easier to care about something that you believe in and thus

give discretionary effort

Meaning at work for me was in applying personal values to serve the

client interests and succeed for the <client?> I found the hypocrisy of

values and behaviour within my organisation caused a clash with my

own values and turned me away from the organisation.

Our product was a life-saving product and was only available to them

once (when baby was born) so quality, great customer experience

were essential.

The company matches its members to the next available role rather

than the most appropriate role for development and skill profile.

Where there are more employee involvement in the work place, it

affords my colleagues and i to better collaborate on business

decisions in order to deliver feasible and viable results

Greater responsibility meant greater interaction with the management

team

I felt truly connected to the team I worked with and we felt much more

aligned with the Organisation all the way to the CEO

It was easier to understand why particular decisions were made if they

were aligned with organisational values.

There is a strong link between how engaged you are and the meaning

in the workplace.

It was professionally gratifying to work in such a professional

environment.

No difference at the moment

I joined this company because the values they represent and strive for

are those I already hold dear.

91

Question 9 - If you noticed an increased meaning at work - did/does this mean more to you than salary increases or benefits?

Answer Options Response Percent Response

Count Yes 52.4% 22 No 47.6% 20 Why (max 100 chars) 23

answered question 42

I think it is commensurate

It's all about the money ultimately. It's good to work in a more effective

or improved environment but that doesn't pay the mortgage or school

fees, or put food on the table.

aligned values helped

Within reason ;o)

Both are important.

Yes, comradeship and shared experience make work enjoyable

The desire to feel that 'good' or 'meaning' has been achieved by

another party/team/individual/service user far outweighs any financial

benefit. Especially when there is evidence that my work and or effort

has changed someone's life for the better.

As a contractor money is the be all / end all as ultimately I will be out

of work after the contract (indeed now been 8 months without work)

There was not enough value to make up for the salary.

No - while the "Values Based Leadership" was occurring within my

group, the overall company was cutting benefits and going through HR

process and salary/benefits changes that ended up having an overall

negative emotional impact on me.

I am that kind of person - feeling valued and part of a team is

important to me

...once salary is satisfactory (hygiene) then Values Based Leadership

is a powerful motivator.

92

Job satisfaction and shared goals and success are very important.

They do not replace the need for recognition through pay and benefits.

Sometimes we tolerate poor regimes because the money is good but

ultimately once the increased salary becomes the norm, we look for

the softer benefits and may be prepared to trade some salary for

values.

Fairness is important to me. I found that the company was paying

men - and others that they hired in as the market tightened at higher

rates than the existing employees, including me.

Still a corporation with highly paid executives so fairness was

important.

No increased meaning experienced.

It comes with a greater sense of teamwork which enhances cohesion

and effectiveness

In the long term, a greater engagement and quality outputs made a

salary discussion much easier than expected.

I like to know why we do what we do, I like to know that others on the

team feel the same way about their work as I do

This is not an either or situation. Simply replacing market rates with

Values Based Leadership will not affect successful strategic delivery.

No salary remained the same.

Yes to a degree of course

Money is important, but after a certain professional level, job sat and

professional development means more!

Question 10 - Did Values Based Leadership affect your work output (in terms of quantity and quality)?

Answer Options Response Percent Response

Count

Lowered a lot 0.0% 0 Lowered a little 2.2% 1 Made no difference 28.9% 13 Raised a little 51.1% 23

93

Raised a lot 17.8% 8 Further info (max 100 chars) 17

answered question 45

When an organisation increases the covalence amongst colleagues

then there seems to be a collective increase in output in terms of

both quantity and quality. In layman’s terms teams and organisations

benefit from a feeling of 'wellbeing'. Morale can increase as can

positive energy. The flip side is also true.

Raised a little but other factors affect my output: guidance, support

and strong mentorship

Gave a point of reference

As the values resonated with my own personal beliefs and values, I

noticed that I was happy to just put in more time and effort to most

tasks.

As a contractor I have no choice but to over deliver as I'm under the

microscope

Able to recognise why I like to work for my organisation

Potentially raised but as the values are moral and sensible they

coincide with my own therefore they do not have the effect of

changing my behaviour

I would work to 100% anyway.

See above

The misapplication of the approach made me less willing to

undertake extra work for the company. I didn't trust or value them.

That said, I put extra effort in delivering to the client to ensure that

their experience was of high quality professional delivery. Personal

values, not company leadership.

94

I felt like I needed to take care of my customer and be a good leader

to my team. My level of commitment deepened. But I was finding

myself working increasing hours and working on weekends to make

good on all of my commitments.

Went into the role knowing why it was important.

Working practices were unchanged

Motivated a greater effort in the employees. Pursuing values rather

than individual orders made the output less dependent on the

manager’s criteria and allowed the manager to take a coaching

position.

I have always believed I giving a discretionary effort at work, being in

a VBL environment meant I wasn't the only one who was there early,

staying late or taking on (or volunteering for) additional activities

A belief that not doing a professional job would affect the reputation

of the organisation.

By being able to understand what I wanted to achieve verses the

organisations direction and other people’s perspectives helped me

achieve more.

Question 11 - Are you still working in the same organisation that implemented Values Based Leadership?

Answer Options Response Percent Response

Count

Yes 46.7% 21

No 53.3% 24

Why is this (max 100 chars) 24

answered question 45

Prefer not to say

95

Well, I think I am but I don't see a strong set of values, at least not as

strong as I have seen. Bear in mind I have been in kind of the same

organisation for 12 years, just different companies (i.e. in a company

that was bought by a company that was bought by a company).

headhunted to a new organisation

Acquisition of old company

The values are a good point of reference

I was made redundant and am now self employed.

Contract finished after 18 months

excellent place to work, keeps me engaged and challenged

Working culture fits with my own values.

Best opportunity currently available

Purely as I am happy (reasonably) in what I'm doing.

The Values Based Leadership was a bit short lived - there was a re-

organization and new leaders came in and groups were split up so it

seemed to die. It became a bit of a joke amongst the rank and file

after that.

I am free-lancer who works with different companies.

Contract ended

Clash of values. They leant on the concept to negate real

management of the company and it asks largely empty rhetoric. They

didn't live the values. In fact they largely operated in a way directly

contrary to the stated values.

96

Another company recruited me and offered me a large pay increase.

Also, whereas the company was implementing Values Based

Leadership, the leaders and organization were not living up to those

values. The company would lay-off people in July and November due

to cost cuts, but leadership was still taking boondoggle trips. They

would say that trust was a value, but no one trusted each other. The

values and the culture were not congruent. I loved the messaging

though.

My position was eliminated (a bit of not walking the talk that said

employees were valued above profits)

Due to sickness and lethargy I have not made the journey to a new

role - yet.

Career progression

After some changes to the management team I found I was not

aligned with my new functional leadership. That was an awkward

situation, not one I could continue

I left after 12 years to pursue my own business.

Convenience, laziness and an inability to find other viable options!

The recession caused them to go under! I got laid-off - sad!

I do this job because I value its purpose and role.

Question 12 - Do you feel there is a relationship between high engagement levels at work and high meaning in work?

Answer Options Response Percent Response

Count

Yes 86.7% 39

No 2.2% 1

Unsure 11.1% 5

Why is this (max 100 chars) 16

answered question 45

97

There is certainly more meaning at work if the employee feels more

engaged

It's not clear what you mean by engagement levels - this is the holy

grail of people management. What does engagement look like?

Alignment of behaviours helps with common objectives

It is human nature to want to feel valuable and that your work has

meaning. It's also important to be able to see clearly how your work

contributes to the success of the organisation.

Engaged people contribute more and enjoy work more

There should but not sure I can qualify how

People do more than asked for, and enjoy their work

For me collaboration is essential at work.

There must, at least for some, be a relationship as the notion that you

are part of a collective that share the same principals should create a

feeling of engagement.

Feeling involved is better than feeling ignored.

People commit more readily to what they believe in. Look at the

clergy!

It gives a sense of value and worth as an individual. A shared goal

and knowing that you make a difference is a real driver.

You can be highly engaged selling / representing products or other

jobs that may or may not have a great deal of meaning

Higher meaning leads to improved delivery which leads to improved

satisfaction and engagement opportunities (unless the "bums on

seats) model described above is implemented. Profit before

employee considerations.

Yes if both side (work & employees) are moving in the same direction

then both parties have a greater prospect of success.

98

When you love what you do, work become exhilarating! and the +

points just add up for all stakeholders

Question 13 - Having experienced Values Based Leadership, would you say this is something all organisations should strive to implement?

Answer Options Response Percent Response

Count

Yes 68.9% 31

No 0.0% 0

Depends on the organisation 31.1% 14

Why (max 100 chars) 22

answered question 45

I think it does depend on the organisation, I alluded to this earlier. It

also depends on the percentage of people types in the organisation

and how to 'engage' all types (which is probably not possible unless a

relatively small organisation).

some organisation are based upon transactional delivery methods

Yes but needs to be more than works on a banner must be engrained

in culture.

VBL connects with employees feeling of worth and self (Maslow's

hierarchy) and when this happens there is an intrinsic desire to achieve

a shared purpose and outcomes.

yes with a caveat, some organisations are not for changing and it will

be to their detriment

There’s an investment to be made. Organisations have to consider

return on investment - will VBL help with the organisation's goals. It's

possible that there are organisations who exhibit VBL characteristics

without trying i.e. it came naturally to that organisation's leadership -

hence no need to implement policies, processes, etc. I suspect that

having structured policy, processes etc would defeat the effectiveness

of VBL in any case.

99

Brings meetings to why we work for the organisation

As long as Values Based Leadership is followed it can be effective.

The executive must walk the walk.

Particularly for customer facing organisations value based should help

individuals place a greater importance on customer providing those

values are specifically targeted at customer relation type values.

As a society we should always be moving to a higher level.

Some organisations have a different psychological contract with their

employees. If it’s all about the money then VBL has no place.

If the organisation has the potential to allow progression and

development through the structure then it is valuable.

More stayed organisation with little movement or development needs

are better sticking to structured management and more transactional

arrangements, with clear boundaries, roles and responsibilities.

It depends on whether or not the company is in a position to walk the

talk.

Provides a compass.

It can be motivating if implemented appropriately, de-motivating if done

badly. It also does not suite all business scenarios.

Yes, it should be an opportunity for other business organisations to

strive for but not most senior management and business owners are

inclined to this objective!

The intangible benefit on an Organisation is huge.

I would suggest certain organisations see employees as commodities

and have no interest in development others believe in their employees

and will benefit.

It's a given, clear strategy communicated to all levels of the business

with tangible objectives they can achieve is key to business success

100

Win-win atmosphere is necessary for Bix success

It has given work team members clearer goals and clearer role profiles.

Which although in early stages of implementation, I guess has helped

I've worked in organisations where work is seen purely as transactional

and commitment levels are low, that's not a great place to work.

Amongst our own staff I have noticed that those who are engaged

because they share the organisations values and purpose have

become more confident and engaged since the organisation started to

define and promote those values, they have more of a sense of

purpose and commitment to the organisation. Although we don't talk

about this is value leadership.

Question 14 - From what you have read of Values Based Leadership - do you feel this would be beneficial to your workplace?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Yes 72.7% 8

No 27.3% 3

Why (max 100 chars) 8

answered question 11

Although I have worked (and do work) in organisations that espoused to

be based upon core values I have first-hand seen that this is only when

it fits. They are paying lip service to it.

Not only will leaders help their employees nurture their work ethics,

employees will have character growth as well.

I think it is important to link personal and organisational goals

I believe that this leadership style would engage staff with the

organisation

engagement = empowerment = trust = more => Win Win

From a corporate standpoint, it would create a competitive advantage -

101

allowing us to recruit talent more easily / cheaper, work with customers

more effectively, and decide to walk away from tempting but bad

decisions.

As employees, it would increase our connection to each other and the

company as a place of shared values.

This would increase motivation in the workplace and make employees

feel more connected with the work being carried out.

My industry is an archaic, hierarchical dinosaur!

Question 15 - Do you experience meaning at work?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Yes 36.4% 4

No 63.6% 7

answered question 11

Question 16 - If you answered no:

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Does your company overregulate or constrain you 57.1% 4

Can you see the end results of your efforts 14.3% 1

Do you have regular interaction with your manager 57.1% 4

Do you feel overloaded with work 28.6% 2

Do you feel your future is a concern for the organisation

14.3% 1

answered question 7

Question 17 - If you answered yes:

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Does your company involve you in decision making 100.0% 4

Does your company practice open and honest communications

75.0% 3

Does your company explain how you fit in the organisation

100.0% 4

Does your company control your workload 75.0% 3

Does your company's values align with yours? 50.0% 2

answered question 4

102

Question 18 - If you had greater meaning at work do you feel you would have greater engagement levels at work

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Yes 90.0% 9

No 10.0% 1

Why (max 100 chars) 8

answered question 10

Contributing to a meaningful goal, that matters to me, provides greater

interest and enjoyment, leading to high productivity

I would be happier thus increasing my commitment in my everyday

tasks.

Particularly if I am influencing decision making

I would feel I had a vested interest in its success and would care

if you are valued you would naturally be and feel more engaged and

would provide more and get more satisfaction for your efforts

There are times currently when I do not 'go the extra mile' because I

don't believe it is valued and appreciated appropriately. Greater

meaning at work would increase my engagement as I know we are

working together for something that matters.

I would feel like my efforts at work had more meaning and were going

towards something greater (the work I produce would make a larger

difference)

Just a cog in a large, uncaring machine.

Question 19 - What do you see as your biggest barrier to finding more meaning at work?

Answer Options Response

Count

10

answered question 10

103

Role transferral and availability of suitable roles

Communication between you and your employer.

Setting my own direction in the cork place

Ineffective structures, focus on external image and not following

through internally & focus on financial goals first

Managers and colleagues who don't care about excellence and lack

integrity

silos - backward looking management attitude - reluctance to

change

Excessive bureaucracy not giving enough breathing space

Indifference in upper management

Not always being able to see the bigger picture (the end result of

what my efforts are contributing to)

attitude

Question 20 - What single action / change would provide you with more meaning at work?

Answer Options Response

Count

10

answered question 10

Role secondments to 'try out' other areas

Change in the current organizational system we have.

Allowing me to define my direction and priorities

An understanding of the work that goes on in my team

No single action

empowerment

Should be given enough freedom to take your own course of action

Company demonstrating it cares about people more -

104

communicating with a person about to be laid off and give them an

opportunity to find another internal position before just tossing them

out.

Becoming more aware of why my role is important to the company

(the affect it has on others)

alternative energy

Question 21 - Do you feel your values align with your organisations?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Yes 40.0% 4

No 60.0% 6

Why (max 100 chars) 9

answered question 10

More of a sort of, my values align but I don't believe the organisations

lives up to the values it espouses.

The quality of the output that I wish to present is affected by the output

my organisation wishes to have.

My organisation goes to lengths to promote core values such as:

transparency, diversity and inclusion. These are genuine and honest

values.

I believe the people come first, take care of your staff and they take

care of the business. Too much focus on the end result and not

ensuring the structures enable achievement of goals

The organization's stated values and the values it rewards are

inconsistent

on the same field - in the same team

I believe we should take care of people and policies are in place to help

with that. My company uses policies as reasons to save money and

not take care of people.

105

Our main aim is customer satisfaction and improving the well-being of

others

Voices aren't heard above the roar of production

Question 22 - Do you feel meaning at work to be at all important?

Answer Options Response Percent

Response Count

Yes 91.7% 11

No 8.3% 1

Why (max 100 chars) 8

answered question 12

What's wrong with greater enjoyment and productivity at work?

It will induce self-fulfilment, every employee who feels accomplished

will be happier.

If I am going to remain with my organisation I want to have meaning in

my day to day work.

Meaning at work creates a sense of ownership and a desire to work

toward the organisations goals

as all the examples, reasons

It matters to motivation - how hard we work, how much we try. Folks

work hard and do their job, but to really have them care and do more,

you need them to see how much their work matters - to their co-

workers, customers, managers, etc...

By not having meaning at work, levels of effort and engagement would

drop dramatically and the wellbeing of employees would reduce also.

Meaning at work leads to higher productivity.

We punch the clock and take the money, that's it