The Core Values Compass of the University of Bremen
Over the past few months, a work group of the University of Bremen's administration and technology departments has been working on a Core Values Compass. Consisting of common values of the university's employees, it is intended to provide a basis for employees and managers in their dealings with one another. In September, employees had the opportunity to participate in the selection of values.
The last time a survey on the university's values was conducted was at the end of the 1990s. At that time, however, the focus was on cooperation with superiors, whereas this time the focus is on cooperation between employees.
With the help of this Core Values Compass, which defines and discloses the shared values of a group, a basis is to be created that ensures successful cooperation and provides a framework for promoting respectful interaction. It is also intended to make topics discussable and provide orientation, as well as security in our actions as employees. "It is always important to us that the values remain liveable," said Frauke Meyer, Chancellor of the University of Bremen, during a presentation of the values available for selection to the university's employees.
As well as being useful in difficult situations, the compass is also intended to increase employees' sense of unity and solidarity with the university and thus contribute to the general satisfaction of all employees. The values compass is also intended to help in the search for and selection of suitable advanced training opportunities, for example after an annual appraisal in which one's strengths and weaknesses are made visible.
The process for the current Values Compass is taking place in several phases. In May, the project members drew up a list of 26 values based on the university's mission statement. Employees and managers then had the opportunity to prioritize 12 of these in September, resulting in an opinion poll that will be discussed further in the project group in October. A total of 15 values will be selected later.
Further information on the Values Compass and the process behind its development can be found here: