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.
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.
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.”
Other members of the project group:
- Frauke Meyer, Director of Finance and Administration
- Nadine Banse, Head of Administration Faculty 08
- Alexandra Baumkötter, Human Resource Development
- Almut Dietrich, ADE (Substitute for Sewita Mebrahtu)
- Henri Ohlmann, Head of Administration Faculty 06
- Monica Wehaus, Women's Representative
Questions and Answers about the Core Values Compass
Core values are the beliefs, attitudes, and ideals that are important to us and to which we aspire. You can think of them as a beacon or a compass that points us in the right direction and guides us on our journey through life.
Values are not set in stone, but change over the course of our lives. Generally, we are not consciously aware of our personal values. These develop unconsciously without our active involvement. Our personal values are something that we have adopted in the course of our lives and are usually also strongly influenced by our families. We don’t usually actively engage with our values and often only realize them when something happens that goes against them - for example, when we notice that we are getting angry or are irritated by the way someone is behaving or how a task is organized. And the reverse is also true. If we live true to our values, we will usually enjoy what we do, feel like taking on responsibility, and dive right into our work.
Although values are very personal, most of us are very similar in what is important to us, what we strive for, and what we need. The idea of the Core Values Compass is to look at our common attitudes and beliefs that guide our work in administration and operations at the university. It is a negotiation process to which everyone can contribute their personal convictions. Values are not something that is imposed on us, but something that we already live by.
The last survey on leadership standards took place in the late 1990s. As values change over time and many new employees have joined the University of Bremen since then, the time was right for a new survey. During her time in office as Director of Finance and Administration, Ms. Meyer was repeatedly asked what values guide our work together and whether there was a common framework on which we can base our expectations of ourselves and others. Within the university context, people often refer to what is known as the “Bremen spirit.” But there is currently no real definition for this. We want the Core Values Compass to provide new employees with guidelines for how to treat each other and what dependable behavior is. If we get upset about something at work that violates our personal values, the Core Values Compass gives us a reliable point of reference that we have agreed on.
The Core Values Compass is intended to give us orientation, facilitate discussion, and provide security in our actions. Changes to the workplace such as working from home require us to coordinate tasks better and to improve our communication. In order to rely on good cooperation and effective communication at work, we need a good basis that we can fall back on and a good working environment in which agreements and negotiations are fruitful. The Core Values Compass can have a positive impact on staff’s identification with the university and create a climate in which we not only enjoy our work but also motivate ourselves and others to work here.
In May, the project group met for the first time with representatives from various areas of administration and operations and developed a list of values that they consider relevant for university staff and our collaboration. Both the results of the previous staff survey and the university's Mission Statement were taken into account. The guiding questions were: What do we value about our collaboration with colleagues and managers? What do we remember as positive? And in which situations did collaboration not work well? Clusters were formed from a large collection of values and 26 core values were derived from these. In September, all participating staff who work in administration and operations can select from these 26 values the twelve core values that are most important to them. In October, the project group will discuss and decide upon the selected values. During this process, they will also determine what these values should actually include and what this means for the University of Bremen. The evaluation process will be made transparent. In a workshop in November, representatives from staff and their supervisors will review the Core Values Compass for comprehensibility and applicability. The publication of the Core Values Compass has been scheduled for January 2025. After that, we will begin with the implementation phase, which will be accompanied by various follow-up measures and discussion formats.
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. The inspiration to engage with the topic of values came primarily from her area. In addition, developing a Core Values Compass for a smaller area first simplifies its subsequent introduction process. In this way, we create a project that can be implemented in a short space of time and therefore produces results quickly. Academic staff at the university are faced with other issues and there are probably more values to consider here. In administration and operations, it is relatively obvious in which areas the Core Values Compass can be applied. However, this does not mean that academic staff does not need a Core Values Compass. The Core Values Compass should therefore have an effect beyond the administrative and technical area and can be a good basis for identifying additional aspects for the academic sector.
After the Core Values Compass has been adopted, every unit at the university should consider what it means for their team, for their work, and for each person individually. For recurring problems and conflicts within the team, the University of Bremen’s conflict counseling centers are there to assist. There will not be a separate clearing office for matters concerning the Core Values Compass.
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