Survey on the Core Values Compass
Which core values are important to me as a staff member of the university?
How do we want to work together? What are our goals? What is important to me? We want to develop a Core Values Compass to answer these questions and work together to determine what is particularly important for staff in our institution in their work with others. A working group at the University of Bremen is currently developing the foundation for creating this Core Values Compass and has defined a pre-selection of values.
Now it is up to you: We want to know which of these values are close to your heart. We are conducting a survey for staff in administration and operations, which runs from September 9 to September 20, 2024.
What is a Core Values Compass?
A Core Values Compass defines and bundles the shared and aspired core values of a group. It gives employees orientation for their behavior and a framework for what to expect from each other. The Core Values Compass will list and explain all jointly identified values in detail. In addition, it will show the bandwidth within which a certain value operates and define to what extent it is implemented by the institution and its employees and to what extent it is not.
How do I benefit from the Core Values Compass?
The Core Values Compass provides us employees with a basis for successfully working with others and standards for treating each other with respect. It can be used for important group decisions, as a guideline for the annual performance review, and for onboarding new employees. A jointly developed Core Values Compass with a set of clear guidelines also strengthens our sense of unity, increases our commitment to the university, and generally contributes to greater work satisfaction.
Core Values Compass online information event on September 4 at 9 a.m.
Would you like to learn more about the Core Values Compass or do you have any questions?
Join our online informative event with the Staff Council and the Director of Finance and Administration on Wednesday, September 4 at 9 a.m.
Meeting ID: 692 3989 0784
Code: 685227
Voices from the Project Team
Anke Semrau-Pogorzelski, Head of the President’s Office / Bureau for Presidential Affairs
“The process of discussing and reflecting on our values provides reassurance and gives us a benchmark for making good decisions and doing our jobs well. I think it’s important to be aware of our core values and the values that guide our university’s actions and to base our own actions on them. I believe that this will improve the quality of our joint results and successes at work and we will be able to identify more with the survey’s outcome. Our Core Values Compass is supposed to have a positive, motivating effect. For me, the project is successful when we are talking to many colleagues about our core values – when the Core Values Compass is on everyone’s lips.”
Dr. Julia Sievers, Head of Academic Affairs
“Universities are complex structures in which many people in different positions and roles work together to advance research and teaching. The exchange and cooperation between the different status groups is fundamental to the success of our university. Wherever people with different interests come together, friction arises. A Core Values Compass provides guidance on how we want to interact with each other and which core values our university can rally behind. If we can agree on common values, it is much easier to face up to the inevitable disputes and tackle the issues and challenges of these times together.”
Christina Vocke, Head of the Administrative Department for Student Affairs
“I am involved in the project because I hope that engaging with our core values will help us to shape our interactions by talking about our expectations of each other (and ourselves) in a more focused way and by aligning these expectations. For me, the Core Values Compass is therefore primarily a discovery process that will hopefully result in a modern and well-founded sense of WE. For me, the process is successful when reflection processes have started, many colleagues spark new ideas for what ‘I wish for and want to contribute,’ and we shape daily interaction more consciously and actively.”
Holger Ruge, Staff Council Chairman
“Developing a Core Values Compass – another process that will ultimately come to nothing?” This is a fear that will certainly be present in the minds of some employees. I see the Core Values Compass as an opportunity. If we succeed in developing a framework of values together and bringing it to life in our daily work, our interactions will become clearer and more focused, making them a little easier for everyone. That's why I am involved in the project group."
Kristina Logemann, Head of University Communication and Marketing
“The Core Values Compass makes the basis of our cooperation at the University of Bremen clear to everyone. This provides good orientation. I am involved in the project team because respectful and appreciative cooperation at the University of Bremen is very important to me. For me, the project is successful if many members of the university are getting involved with the topic during the course of the project and take part in the survey. This will create a common set of values that unites us all.”
Questions and Answers about the Core Values Compass
We, as staff in administration and operations at the University of Bremen, work together and interact with many different departments and different groups of people. Our work therefore often focuses on consulting activities and is service oriented. The Core Values Compass provides us with standards for this advisory work and provides us with guidelines for our dealings with one another. In our often hectic day-to-day work, the Core Values Compass helps us not to lose sight of what is important.
The project team consists of representatives from various areas of administration and operations. They are creating a list of core values that they consider relevant for us as employees of the university and for a fruitful collaboration. In a survey, all staff from the area of administration and operations can select the values from that list which have the highest priority to them. The project group will then discuss the prioritized values to determine what these should include in detail and what they mean for the University of Bremen. Subsequently, they plan to conduct workshops with staff and supervisors in order to test how comprehensible and applicable the Core Values Compass is.
Many staff in administration and operations regularly have advisory roles. A Core Values Compass can provide excellent orientation and a basis for this. Since the Director of Finance and Administration of the University of Bremen is the head supervisor of all employees in administration and operations and chairs the project, it was only natural to start such a project in her division. However, the Core Values Compass of course also has an effect beyond this area. Whether the Core Values Compass should be incorporated in other areas of the university as well will be established in the course of the project.
All university staff in administration and operations can participate in the anonymous survey. Your participation will influence which team values at work will ultimately be included in the Core Values Compass.
You will need five to ten minutes to complete the survey. The closing date is September 20, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. You will receive the link to the survey by email on September 9, 2024.
Contact
Alexandra Baumkötter
Human Resource Development for Staff in Administration and Operations
Central Projects
Building / Room: FVG / W1120
Phone: +49-421-218-60456
Email: alexandra.baumkoetterprotect me ?!vw.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de