Are your values aligned with those of your employer?

Last week, one of our cars decided we only needed to crawl up the road at 5kms per hour. This wasn’t ideal as I was headed for Canberra the next day and I would usually drive myself to the airport. I found myself needing a ride. I’m not a huge fan of taxi’s and as a person who works in risk, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around ride sharing services with perfect strangers in cars that weren’t necessarily checked over on a regular basis. However, necessity required me to swallow all that if I was going to get to Canberra for the day. 

I had heard a bit about a company called Shebah. I had downloaded the app but hadn’t used it yet. After pre-booking, a small red car was waiting for me, as planned, early the next morning. Shebah is a women-only ride sharing service. They also ferry children around and most have baby car seats so you can easily take your little ones with you (and I hear those that do get loads more work). My driver, Chris*, was a friendly woman who drives for Shebah because it gives her job flexibility to take her mother to health appointments. She told me she loves her job because she can be there for her mother in a way she couldn’t be for her father that passed away some years back. Chris loves the values of the business which include donating 1% of each fare to women’s charities. 

The way she spoke warmed my heart. Not just because of her passion but because I’m a consultant who encourages men and women to choose jobs in organisations which align to their values first and foremost, I loved the fact that she was able to have her family and her work values working in unison.

I was only popping up to Canberra for the day to facilitate a workshop and she offered to be available to me later that night should I need a ride home. Without a second thought, I said yes.

We had built trust in the short time (not so short really in Melbourne’s morning traffic) through our conversation and hearing about her values (which are similar to mine). While I never used ride sharing services in the past, hearing that a small discomfort for me (given my risk hang-ups) can provide a great outcome (and income) for others and can help women’s shelters through charity fare donations, I am certainly starting to change my tune.

When it comes to choosing a workplace, knowing what you consider important and how you feel about where your salary comes from can drive you to make great career decisions and help you to bound out of bed each and every day. And if you can’t find a business whose values are right for you, start your own (which is a whole other blog)!

When you really think about it, are you passionate about the values of your organisation?

You can read more about the importance of value alignment in cyber (or any) careers from pages 66 of my book which you can buy here.

P.s And try Shebah next time you need a lift - it’s a great Australian ‘lady start-up’.