work and congruence and values

[rei]

Do you or have you ever held a professional position that was in some way counter to your personal values or views? Or maybe a position that only clashed with your values in a minor way?

How was it for you? Did it matter? Did it bother you? Did it bother you enough to leave or decline the position?

How might a person go about deciding whether such a situation is bad enough to decline the offer?

And what if you would not have any personal exposure to the clash or conflict, but only knew it was there in the back of things, in an abstract way? What if the position was overall rather well aligned with your views and values?

What might you do in that case?

[elucidate]

Well, when I was homeless, I took this job that I NEVER would have taken if my circumstances had been different. It was working in a call centre calling people up and disturbing them during dinner time, to ask them stupid questions for market research.

I grew up hearing my father get so mad and disgusted with "those people" , who are really just doing their job, and it's not their fault that the only time they can actually catch anyone is after hours.

I got to see things from the other side of the fence, and copped a fair bit of abuse from angry people too. It was not the highlight of my working history, I can tell you.

It did bother me...a LOT! I HATED being there, every second of it, and kept to myself the whole time pretty much. It was one of the "better" ones, reputation wise in my town, and I refused to do surveys which pried into peoples private information, like how much money they made...and one even required me to ask total strangers if they had experienced sexual assault...which I absolutely refused to do...so it was good they didn't force me, 'cos I probably would have quit and just been penniless.

I did look into being an escort at that stage...but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew it would be further damaging to my self-esteem, in the long run, but that illustrates the desperation of my situation at the time.

I just did it, in the Nike sense. Sometimes you have to do things that compromise your principles in some way. I'm definately not proud of it. The hours were only 4 hours increments and the pay was the best I've had, until my current job came along...so I just reminded myself of the positives, and tried not to get down about the situation. It didn't always work, but at least I had case workers I could go to and chat if I needed to.

How would you decide if the situation is bad enough to quit? When you are feeling physically sick every time you enter the building, or feel like you are about to have a breakdown emotionally, I'd say!

If the position was aligned with my values...well, I'd stay!

[Dan Adrian]

Wow, I just posted a perfectly similar question, since I am very concerned about ethics at work too!

All I know is that I don't wanna lie or pretend to be someone else, which is why I will try to avoid jobs in the marketing field, as well as probably PR. Unless I could be working for a wonderful company, in which case I would be great at it

If I knew my worked wasn't congruent with my values, I think I would find a way to quit and try to become a freelancer at all costs. I would also try to find another job where I can interact directly with the end-goal of my work (such as working in a restaurant or something), to support myself until I can start doing what I love full-time. And of course, I would keep looking for a company that is fully aligned with my values (or an individual that I could assist, for example).

[SatvikBeri]

I think it's next to impossible to find a large organization that matches your values perfectly.

The real question is-do you prefer the results of working at this organization (results include benefits to you such as money, learning, etc. as well as benefits/detriments to the world and others) or of some other option?

Then go with the option whose results you like the most.

[ssandra]

I did it twice.

First time was in a call center. Working wasn't so bad (it was inbound, so receiving calls, not calling people) but after 6 months I was promoted to team leader (or... aspiring team leader, which mean the same salary, but more responsibility, more work ). What I didn't like about that company and which lead me to find another job was the manipulation of the people.

It started at highest management level and just went through the entire chain. People were not seen as humans but as "agents". No value if the cannot do the task.

It was very easy to play the system and get noticed. It was also however a job where too much effort and too much of a good thing got punished... because if you do a job perfect, the client will expect perfection again next time and that is out of the question of course

So, I looked for another job, and once I found it, I quit.

The next job was in sales. brrrrrrr.....

I wasn'\t very good at it cause it did involve cold calling, but business, not private homes.

What wasn't alligned with my values was again the manipulation and lying that I had to do. I refused btw. Sometimes I didn't tell everything, but I didn't outright lie.

For other reasons that job brought me close to a burn out and I quit after a year and a half.

if i wouldn't have minded sales and cold calling so much, I would have been great at that job, would have made tons of money and be promoted to team leader very very fast (I was already helping 2 new people after the first 6 months, by direction of my manager).

So, yes, they were all minor annoyances and although not alligned with my values, I could have have lived with them.

I could do it again as well if the situation called for it. Because they were not my highest values that got compromised.

What I wouldn't do for a job for example is something that goes against my highest values (making people miserable, active promoting of anti gay or anti woman rights etc).
I am not sure if I personally could work for an organization that thinks being gay is being ill.... It would depend a lot on my need to feed my family. But that is my personal value. Working for an organization that uses manipulation and lying doesn't bother me nearly as much.


I think a good thing for you to decide rei; after my wall of text is to determine what your highest values are when it comes to work.
And don't worry if money or status is in the top 5 or even top 2. That doesn't make you a bad person, or wrong or anything negative.... but seeing what is most important to you in terms of values can help you determine how to deal with this situation.

[StacyT]

REI,
I hear you describing a situation like this: Let's say you are against questionable labor practices that are instituted by some companies that import mass-produced pieces of plastic from China. You get hired at a company that sells said items, but you are not directly involved in the manufacturing process. Instead, you get to work from home designing graphics for their catalog which is something you LOVE doing. This is your dream job.

In this case, for me personally, I would see if there was any way I could use my talents and skills in a way that is more aligned with the big picture of the business. Personally, I have learned time and time again that the big picture/direction of the company does seep down into individual jobs in certain ways and eventually you will just become apathetic toward your job. Again, that's my personal experience. Apathy is they key feeling that prompts me to leave a job.

[Servina]

I've done this too. My lst job was at a very well respected British private school. I started to work there as a maternity cover and ended up staying for five years. I'm against private education. It drove me mad in the end.