UNIT I (HUMAN VALUES)

MORALS: concerned with the principles of right and wrong

behaviour.
• a lesson that can be derived from a story or experience.

VALUES: the regard that something is held to deserve; the

importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
"your support is of great value“
• principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is
important in life.
"they internalize their parents' rules and values"

ETHICS: the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles.

• moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the
conducting of an activity.
 HUMAN VALUES

• What are Values?

• Values are ideas that guide us in action. In this, they
are similar to plans, goals, fears, intentions, policies,
etc., and the like. All these are ideas which guide us
in action.
• Among these ideas, values alone concern
the manner of our actions, rather than
the consequences (as with plans, goals, and fears) or
the mere fact of their performance (as with intentions,
and policies).
• Values is defined in Organizational Behavior as the collective
conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper
or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture.
• According to M. Haralambos, “A value is a belief that
something is good and desirable”.
• According to R.K. Mukherjee, “Values are socially approved
desires and goals that are internalized through the process of
conditioning, learning or socialization and that become
subjective preferences, standards, and aspirations”.
• According to Zaleznik and David, “Values are the ideas in the
mind of men compared to norms in that they specify how
people should behave. Values also attach degrees of goodness
to activities and relationships”
• Values are different for each person.
• These can be defined as ideas or beliefs that a person holds desirable
or undesirable.
– The variability in that statement is, first, what a person could value, and second, the
degree to which they value it.
• Values may be specific - honouring one’s parents or owning a home
or they may be more general, such as health, love, and democracy.
• Individual achievement, personal happiness, and materialism are
major values of modem industrial society.
• It is defined as a concept of the desirable, an internalized creation or
standard of evaluation a person possesses.
• Such concepts and standards are relatively few and determine or
guide an individual’s evaluations of the many objects encountered in
everyday life.
 The characteristics of values are:
• These are extremely practical, and valuation requires not just
techniques but also an understanding of the strategic context.
• These can provide standards of competence and morality.
• These can go beyond specific situations or persons.
• Personal values can be influenced by culture, tradition, and a
combination of internal and external factors.
• These are relatively permanent.
• These are more central to the core of a person.
• Most of our core values are learned early in life from family,
friends, neighbourhood school, the mass print, visual media
and other sources within the society.
• Values are loaded with effective thoughts about ideas, objects,
behaviour, etc.
• They contain a judgmental element in that they carry an individual’s
ideas as to what is right, good, or desirable.
• Values can differ from culture to culture and even person to person.
• Values play a significant role in the integration and fulfilment of
man’s basic impulses and desire stably and consistently appropriate
for his living.
• They are generic experiences in social action made up of both
individual and social responses and attitudes.
• They build up societies, integrate social relations.
• They mould the ideal dimensions of personality and depth of
culture.
• They influence people’s behaviour and serve as criteria for
evaluating the actions of others.
• They have a great role to play in the conduct of social life. They
help in creating norms to guide day-to-day behaviour.
• The values of a culture may change, but most remain stable
during one person’s lifetime.
• Socially shared, intensely felt values are a fundamental part of
our lives. These values become part of our personalities. They
are shared and reinforced by those with whom we interact.
• Since values often strongly influence both attitude and
behaviour, they serve as a kind of personal compass for
employee conduct in the workplace.
• These help to determine whether an employee is passionate
about work and the workplace, which in turn can lead to
above-average returns, high employee satisfaction, strong
team dynamics, and synergy.
Types of Values
• Terminal Values are most desirable to humans.
• These are values that we think are most important or most
desirable.
• These refer to desirable end-states of existence, the goals a person
would like to achieve during his or her lifetime.
• They include happiness, self-respect, recognition, inner harmony,
leading a prosperous life, and professional excellence.

• Instrumental Values
• Instrumental values deal with views on acceptable modes of
conductor means of achieving the terminal values.
• These include being honest, sincere, ethical, and being ambitious.
These values are more focused on personality traits and character.
• There are many typologies of values. One of the most established surveys to assess
individual values is the Rokeach Value Survey. This survey lists 18 terminal and 18
instrumental values in alphabetical order.
Terminal Values
A comfortable life (a prosperous life)
An exciting life (a stimulating, active life)
A sense of accomplishment (lasting contribution)
A world of peace (free of war and conflict)
 A world of beauty (the beauty of nature and the arts)
Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all)
Family security (taking care of loved ones)
Freedom (independence, free choice)
Happiness ( contentedness)
Inner harmony (freedom from inner conflict)
Mature love (sexual and spiritual intimacy)
National security (protection from attack)
Pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life)
Salvation (saved, eternal)
Self-respect(self-esteem)
Social recognition (respect, admiration)
A true friend (close companionship)
Wisdom ( a mature understanding of life)
Instrumental Values
Ambitious (hardworking)
Broadminded (open-minded)
Capable (competent, efficient)
Cheerful ( lighthearted, joyful)
Clean (neat, tidy)
Courageous (standing up for your beliefs)
Forgiving (willing to pardon)
Helpful (working for the welfare of others)
Honest (sincere, truthful)
Imaginative (daring, creative)
Independent (self-reliant, self-sufficient)
Intellectual (intelligent, reflective)
Logical (consistent, rational)
Loving (affectionate, tender)
Obedient (dutiful, respectful)
Polite (courteous, well-mannered)
Responsible (dependable, reliable)
Self-controlled (restrained, self-disciplined)
• Values refer to the important and enduring beliefs or
principles, based on which an individual makes
judgements in life.
• It is at the centre of our lives which act as a standard of
behaviour. They severely affect the emotional state of
mind of an individual.
• They can be personal values, cultural values or corporate
values.
• Values are forces that cause an individual to behave in a
particular manner. It sets our priorities in life, i.e. what we
consider in the first place.
• It is a reason behind the choices we make. It reflects what
is more important for us.
• So, if we are true to our values and make our choices
accordingly, then the way we live to express our core
values.
• Moreover, if you understand an individual’s values, you
can easily identify what is important for them.
 ETHICS
• Dictionary Meaning: moral principles that govern a person's behaviour
or the conducting of an activity.
• the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles.
• The word comes from the Greek éthikos meaning ‘of or for morals’.
Morals are described by the same dictionary as being concerned with
‘the distinction between right and wrong’. This comes from the Latin
mos (pl. mores) which means ‘a measure or guiding rule of life; as
determined not by the law but by men’s will and pleasure’ (Lewis and
Short 1900).
• Clifford G. Christians et al. define ethics as: ‘The liberal arts discipline
that appraises voluntary human conduct insofar as it can be judged
right or wrong in reference to determinative principles’ (1998: 7).
• In practice, ethics is a way of studying morality which allows decisions
to be made when individuals face specific cases of moral dilemma.
In their attempt to define ethics, Verlasquez et al. (1987) drew attention to four things that
should not be considered as ethics.
• They suggest that ethics is not necessarily about acting in accordance with one’s feelings as
sometimes a person’s feelings about a particular issue may lead them to act in a way that is
unethical.
• Ethics cannot be equated with religion because although most religions advocate and
provide incentives for people to act in an ethical manner, ethics applies to everyone
whereas religion is limited to certain groups of people.
• Behaving in an ethical manner should not be confused with respecting laws as throughout
history examples can be found of laws which with hindsight were clearly unethical (e.g.
linked to slavery, apartheid and compulsory sterilization of certain groups of people). Even
nowadays there are laws which authorize capital punishment, euthanasia, abortion and
compulsory electroconvulsive shock treatment even though large sections of the population
are against such practices.
• Finally, ethical behaviour cannot be based on “what society accepts” because people’s
behaviour may deviate from what is ethical and societies may condone unethical behaviour
(such as withholding vital medical treatment from certain groups of people or even trying
to eliminate certain groups of people altogether). In this sense, society is understood as
state actions or decisions that are more or less supported or tolerated by citizens. However,
whole populations are seldom if ever all in agreement on ethical issues. If by “society”, the
whole population is intended, then it would be necessary to carry out a survey to find out
what they think about each ethical issue and as people tend to be divided on numerous
issues, this would be impractical and inconclusive.
• By the term ‘ethics’ we mean a branch of moral philosophy – a sense
of rightness or wrongness of actions, motives and the results of these
actions.
• In short, it is a discipline that identifies good or evil, just or unjust,
fair or unfair practices, about moral duty.
• It is well-based standards that a person should do, concerning rights,
obligations, fairness, benefits to society and so on. The standard puts
a reasonable obligation to stop crime like stealing, assault, rape,
murder, fraud and so on.
• The system addresses the questions of the human morality, such as
What should be a standard way for people to live? Or What are the
appropriate actions in the given situations? What should be an ideal
human conduct? etc.
 TYPES OF ETHICS
• Personal Ethics
• Includes your personal values and moral qualities.
• Influenced by family, friends, culture, religion, education and
many other factors.
• Examples: I believe racism is morally wrong.
• I am in favor of abortion.
• Personal ethics can change and are chosen by an individual.
 
• Common Ethics
• Ethics that the majority of people agree on.
• Many philosophers argue there is no such ethics.
• Do we have the same ethics in the world? Do we have the same ethics in
the U.S.? Does everyone in your family share the same ethics?
• Examples: Murdering people for the sake of murder is wrong.
• Notice how this would change in the context of self-defense.
• Common ethics have to be very general to avoid disagreement.

• Professional Ethics
• Rules imposed on an employee in a company, or as member of a
profession. For instance, journalists, doctors, lawyers, etc.
• Imposed when you are a part of a professional setting or when you are
being trained or educated for working for a specific profession.
• Examples: no gossiping, time management, punctuality, confidentiality,
transparency.
• Not adhering to these may harm your professional reputation.
 Under Ethics there are four important subject
areas of study:
• Meta-ethics: Ethical philosophy that analyses the meaning
and scope of moral values.
• Descriptive ethics: The branch of ethics that deals with
psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.
• Normative Ethics: The study of the moral course of action
through practical means.
• Applied ethics: This branch tells us how we can achieve
moral outcomes, in a particular circumstance.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETHICS AND VALUES

• Ethics and Values together lay the foundation for

sustainability. While they are sometimes used synonymously,
they are different, wherein ethics are the set of rules that
govern the behaviour of a person, established by a group or
culture. Values refer to the beliefs for which a person has an
enduring preference.
BASIS FOR COMPARISON ETHICS VALUES

Meaning Ethics refers to the guidelines Value is defined as the

for conduct, that address principles and ideals, that
question about morality. helps them in making
judgement of what is more
important.

What are they? System of moral principles. Stimuli for thinking.

Consistency Uniform Differs from person to person

Tells What is morally correct or What we want to do or

incorrect, in the given achieve.
situation.

Determines Extent of rightness or Level of importance.

wrongness of our options.

What it does? Constrains Motivates

• Moral values are the standards of good and evil, which govern
an individual’s behaviour and choices.
• Individual’s morals may derive from society and government,
religion, or self.
• When moral values derive from society and government they,
of necessity, may change as the laws and morals of the society
change.
• An example of the impact of changing laws on moral values
may be seen in the case of marriage vs. “living together.”
 INTEGRITY
• the quality of being honest and having strong moral
principles.
• "a gentleman of complete integrity“
• means following your moral or ethical convictions and
doing the right thing in all circumstances, even if no one
is watching you. Having integrity means you are true to
yourself and would do nothing that demeans or
dishonors you.
• Organizational integrity refers to the ethical integrity of the
individual actors, the ethical quality of their interaction as
well as that of the dominating norms, activities, decision
making procedures and results within a given organization
• .
Integrity in the Workplace
• Work when you are supposed to and save socializing, snacking,
searching the Internet and personal phone calls for break time.
• Turn in the extra change you found in the soda or snack vending
machine.
• Show respect to co-workers with appropriate conversation and
empathy.
• If you are in management, keep your employees informed so
they will know what is coming and what needs to be done.
• Adhere to company policies and procedures.
• Be responsible. Do what you say you will do.
• Use materials for work and not personal use.
• If you make a mistake and a team's project gets messed up or
you miss a deadline, own up to your mistake. Don't let
teammates take the fall.
• Work together as a team. This builds trust and shows integrity.
• Never steal supplies from the workplace.
• If you find yourself in a conflict of interest, get out of it as soon
as possible.
• Don't accept praise of acclaim for someone else's work. That
includes stealing someone's idea or pretending to have worked
on a successful project.
• When making a business deal, make sure everything is on the
table and nothing was left out.
• If your company asks you to do something against your personal
code of conduct, refuse. If it means losing a good paying job, so
be it. Find a more ethical company to work for.
 WORK ETHICS
• In a business, an ethical code is defined as a set of principles
which guide an organization in its activities and decisions and
the firm’s philosophy may affect its productivity, reputation,
and bottom line.
• Among staff ethical behavior ensures work is completed with
integrity and honesty and staff that are ethical adhere to
policies and rules while working to meet the aims of the
enterprise. An ethically positive, healthy work culture
enhances morale among employees.
• Definition: Work ethic is the ability to maintain proper moral
values within the workplace. It is an attitude that shapes the
way an individual performs its job duties with high moral
standards.
 IMPORTANCE OF WORK ETHIC

• Uniform rules and regulations: An ethical organizational example

is the common treatment of all staff, i.e., with the same respect,
regardless of race, culture, religion, or lifestyle, with equal chances
for promotion. Therefore, managers should desist from favoring any
one employee, for it can lead to lawsuits and is also highly
counterproductive.
• Communication of the rules and regulation to all
employees: Company policies must be clearly communicated to each
employee with a transparency at all levels of the hierarchy.
Employees are the spine of all organizations and should have a say in
the goals and objectives of a firm.
• Respect for Employees: Respect employees and in return receive
the same. Regulations should not be so rigid, and therefore, don’t
expect staff to attend work two days before a marriage. If somebody
is not well, don’t ask them to attend office unless or until there’s an
emergency.
• Allow a degree of freedom to employees without constant
micro-management: Key roles of responsibility need to be
established on the first day of joining with responsibilities
commensurate with a person’s expertise. Employees should be
inducted into training if needed.
• Clear cut salary and promotion policy: Employees crib if
they are underpaid. Make sure they get what is deserved and
decided in the presence of the person. A major attrition factor
is a poor appraisal, promotion prospects are ideally based on
merit, not favor. Clarity is crucial.
• Clear and uniform holiday schedule: It is the responsibility
of human resource professionals to prepare the holiday
calendar at the beginning of the year and circulate the same
among all employees.
• Effects of Work Ethics within an organization: Preferably a
workplace ethic culture will ensure that employers guide and mentor
staff appropriately while management treats all as equal. Transparency
is essential.
• How Leadership ethics and Employee ethics can impact the
organization: Owner and executive level accountability is a vital
function of leadership. Executives, as equally as employees, are
expected to be honest and transparent. Organizations need to abide by
ethical norms; all of which benefit the consumer, the society and the
firm.
• What are the core ethical elements that define the ethics of an
organization: There are at least four elements that aim to create an
ethical behavioral culture of employees within an organization.
• A written code of ethics and standards (ethical code).
• Ethics training for executives, managers, and employees.
• The availability of ethical situational advice (i.e. advice lines or
offices).
• A confidential reporting system.
 RESPECT FOR OTHERS
• The word respect comes from the Latin word “respectus”
meaning attention, regard or consideration. It can be defined
as
“esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a
 personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manif
estation of a personal quality or ability“.
• It is a concept that refers to the ability to value and honor
another person, both his or her words and actions, even if we
do not approve or share everything he or she does. It is
accepting the other person and not trying to change
them. Respecting another person is not judging them by their
attitudes, behaviors or thoughts. It is not expecting for
someone to be otherwise.
Respect for others is very important, but for yourself is
fundamental since you will value others to the extent that
you are able to value yourself.
 Types of respect
• For self: This kind refers to the ability to respect oneself, to value and
appreciate oneself. Accepting oneself regardless of what others think.
• For others: This kind refers to the act of tolerating accepting and
considering another person, even though there may be differences
between them, or between the way they think. Some examples would
be; respect for parents, men and women equally, teachers, older people,
other’s religious beliefs, respect for people of different sexual
orientation (lesbians, transgender, gay, bisexual, intersex, etc.), etc.
• For social norms: This kind refers to the ability to respect all the norms
that govern society. Some examples of this type of respect would
be: respect for courtesy rules, working hours, other people’s belongings,
letting them speak and listen, respecting others opinions.
• For national symbols: This kind refers to the ability to value and
appreciate the symbols of a nation. For example, the anthem or the flag.
• For human beings: This type refers to the ability to comply with legal
norms, respect laws, etc.
• For nature: This kind refers to the appreciation of the
environment (animals, plants, rivers, etc.). Some examples of
this type of respect would be; not throwing garbage in rivers,
forests, or fields, not tearing up plants or mistreating nature, not
wasting water, not harming animals or insects, recycling, using
environmentally friendly means of transport, etc.
• For the family: This kind implies being able to understand and
respect each other within the family, and implies being able to
follow a set of rules of coexistence.
• For values: This kind refers to the ability to honour our own
principles.
• For culture: This type of value refers to the ability to recognize
that there are other beliefs and be able to respect them. Some
example of this kind of respect would be; not trying to impose
our beliefs on others, avoid making judgments about the
opinions of others, etc.
 LIVING PEACEFULLY

• Living in peace is about living harmoniously with yourself,

others, and all sentient beings around you. 
• Living in peace is both an outward and an inward process.
Outwardly, it's a way of life in which we respect and love each
other in spite of our cultural, religious, and political
differences.
 HOW TO CREATE A PEACEFUL WORKPLACE
• A peaceful workplace. It should be the goal of every organization or
business. When employees come to work excited to see their co-workers
and actually enjoy doing their job, it creates a more peaceful and
productive work environment for everyone. There are many ways that
companies can work toward creating this positive atmosphere in the
workplace, including training, open communication and a healthy
work/life balance. 
• Create a Good Work/Life Balance - Work is important, but so is one’s
personal life. When employers make a point of offering family-friendly
environments, everyone benefits. Things like flexible working hours,
compassionate leave, childcare facilities, support for breastfeeding moms,
and mental health days all create a more positive workplace where
employees enjoy coming to work and working for a particular company
that supports them.  Workplace wellness is becoming a topic that many
businesses and organizations are seeing the value in. When employees are
healthy and feel supported, they are often happier, which in turn creates a
more harmonious and peaceful working environment.
• Encourage Open Communication - A great way to create a peaceful
work environment is to foster open dialogue and communication
amongst staff as well as management. Ensuring that employees feel
comfortable to express their views or concerns can be incredibly
helpful in achieving a peaceful workplace. There is almost always
room for improvement, so be sure employees feel safe suggesting
improvements. Set up regular feedback sessions as well as group
meetings so everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas.
• Offer Training - When a company can provide their employees with
the proper training to develop, it’s more likely to create a harmonious
workplace where these workers prefer to stay and grow with the
company or organization. It will also create a happier workplace.
Whether this means in-house training, offering an opportunity to take
time off for courses or other training, is up to each company. Also,
there are other valuable training programs that can be made available
to every organization. Training like workplace harassment as well as
domestic violence awareness can make a huge difference to every
workplace.
• Be Community Minded - Take time to get to know one another.
When employees get along well and are even friends outside of the
workplace, it creates a much happier and more peaceful work
environment. They’ll generally feel more comfortable discussing any
issues that might come up and tend to work better together. You can
be more community minded by offering retreats outside of the
workplace (a one day or weekend works well), as well as participating
in events outside of the workplace. Monthly lunches or events are
good ideas. Also, think about volunteering as a team. You can join in a
charity run or walk or check out other volunteer opportunities in your
town.
• Reduce Stress - Without a doubt, an easy-going and happy workplace
with little stress is one that is sure to be a peaceful workplace.
Offering flexibility, creating lines of open communication and
providing training will all help limit the amount of stress in the
workplace. Provide employees with opportunities such as weekly
yoga or meditation to create an even more peaceful workplace, and
healthy snacks like fruit to keep everyone happy:)
 CARING AND SHARING
• - displaying kindness and concern for others.
• Caring means: Feelings of loving kindness, interest, anxiety,
sorrow for others; Looking after, providing food, attention,
etc. 
• Sharing means: Giving a share (of) to others; divide &
distribute; Having (something) & using in common;
• Having a part/ share of something. e.g. I'll share in the cost
with you.
SHARING – Knowledge base and Best Practices

What is Knowledge Sharing?

• It means an activity through which knowledge (information,
skills, or expertise) is exchanged among other colleagues,
friends, families, or organizations.
• Knowledge is about the “how” and “why,” plus the full
experience behind something.
• Knowledge sharing is essential for a company to achieve
success, since it can facilitate decision-making capabilities,
build learning organizations (through a learning routine) and
finally, stimulate cultural change and innovation. Still, overall
performance in a company improves just when people do
things differently.
 Benefits of Knowledge Sharing for Businesses

Fosters innovation and productivity

• Allowing employees to properly share knowledge and having that
knowledge be easily accessible can help your organization deliver better
results.
• The stimulation of innovation and knowledge helps the workforce be
more productive, increases idea sharing, and keeps your company on the
cusp of new trends and strategies.
 Collaboration and feedback
• By showing how important knowledge sharing is to your company,
employees are more open to collaborate and provide feedback between
departments.
• Instead of being reluctant to share ideas or thoughts, it keeps your
company as an open community of knowledge.
• Feedback is also important because it allows everyone to express
opinions and be involved in a greater conversation for the company
good.
A more involved workforce
• Opening knowledge sharing ensures more employees are involved
with information outside of their own departments.
• It encourages your workforce to openly communicate with others,
connect with executives, and overall feel more valued as an
employee.
• Your company’s employees want to feel like their knowledge and
ideas matter. Give them those opportunities to share and you have a
workforce more involved with their job and company.
Creating more individual experts
• By sharing expert information, all employees can build on their
skills and feel confident in their knowledge.
• And when your organization openly allows employees access to this
important information, you’re creating a team of experts who can
showcase their skills further.
A knowledgeable workforce is noticed by prospects, customers,
and talent
• When you have a team of informed and knowledgeable
employees, outsiders of the organization take notice too.
• This includes prospects, current customers, and talent looking to
work for a great company. External people will see this via trade
shows, networking events, content, and social media.

Reducing business costs and time

• When employees are sharing their knowledge, experiences, and
challenges to everyone, it eliminates future company mistakes
and time wasted.
• Different departments have experiences with strategies, ideas,
programs, and technologies from previous jobs that can be
beneficial to know before any implementation.
 Ways to Create a Knowledge Sharing Culture

Corporate culture is the third most influencing factor that enables

employees to make use of a digital platform

1. Keeping the Communication Transparent

• The first and foremost responsibility of a corporation is the use of
clear and transparent means of communication.
• In an open knowledge sharing environment, employees can freely
express their individualistic ideas and might contribute to future
success.
• Knowledge sharing via open communication develops a sense of
trust and awareness among employees.
2. Organizing Scheduled Meetings
• Conferences are devoted to a company’s success by enabling
employees to communicate their ideas to their superiors.
• When employees meet the upper management face-to-face, not
only they can discuss their ideas freely, but also they can boost
their confidence level.
3. Engaging People via Conversations
• When like-minded people collide, something massive or even a
new idea can occur.
• Apart from formal meetings, creating an opportunity where
people can meet and communicate freely can lead to meaningful
peer-peer conversations.
. 
4. Telling Success Stories
• Great leaders become great storytellers and it’s their stories which
become the cause of motivation for the juniors.
• It’s not only the training or the manuals that help employees gain
new knowledge; it’s the personal success stories which are shared to
make them smarter, encouraged, motivated, and more productive.

5. Open Door Policy

• In order to have an effective knowledge sharing culture, it is
important to cultivate an environment of trust and mutual
understanding in the office.
• One way to do so is to implement open door policy that helps in
breaking barriers among employees and brings them closer
intellectually as well as emotionally.
• When an employee feels that he can walk up to his colleagues and
seek any information, no matter how minute, without being judged or
mocked, he opens up, becomes willing to ask questions and share his
knowledge in return.
5. Creating a Knowledge Base
• From formally scheduled meetings to an informal chat at the
event, knowledge sharing can occur anywhere.
• To develop stronger foundations for a knowledge sharing and
management system, creation of a knowledge base is
mandatory.
• One of the reasons why information hoarding exists in the
companies is the unavailability of proper tools and technologies
that promote information sharing.
• Having a knowledge sharing platform is important.
• Knowledge sharing platforms allow admins to reckon the
frequency of knowledge being shared and by whom.
Consequently, companies can reward employees who share the
most content in order to encourage others as well.
 5 Benefits of Knowledge Sharing within an
Organization
1. Make the organization’s best problem-solving experiences
reusable
• Once you develop an effective solution to an issue and it turns
out to be the best one so far, it allows members of your
organization to use it in all future situations. Avoiding
redundant effort by managing knowledge properly, saves a lot
of time and budget – not to mention that it can significantly
streamline work and keep employees’ morale up.
• Knowledge sharing also improves communication among
employees, both intradepartmental and interdepartmental.
• The members of an organization can improve their
relationship significantly by sharing and managing knowledge
properly, no matter if they work in the same or different
departments.
2. Enable better and faster decision making
• When customers are facing problems or you have to solve an internal issue,
analyze trends, understand competition or plan new strategies, look for
information and resources in order to support such activities.
• Information overload can make this process difficult.
• However, using knowledge again and again in repositories allows decisions
to be based on the actual experiences of the members in your organization. 
• All these tasks can be performed efficiently if it’s easy to find what you
need and, most importantly, when you need it.

3. Stimulate innovation and growth

• Most businesses have the main purpose of increasing revenue, but
this can be a bit difficult when competition increases. By managing
knowledge properly, employees gain access to valuable information
and deliver better results. The organization stimulates innovation
and, directly, achieves growth a lot easier.
4. .Improve delivery to customers
• Customers appreciate a company that can demonstrate its widespread
expertise and the ability to use it in their benefit.
• The ability to deliver on time is essential and can help a company
differentiate itself among its competitors.
• Sharing knowledge and innovation can definitely reduce the time
required to deliver a product or a service, which results in increased
win rates and, of course, satisfied customers!
5. Reduce the loss of know-how
• Know-how is another important asset in each company and it should
be exploited and managed properly. Through knowledge sharing,
organizations can capture explicit and tacit knowledge and eventually
reduce their losses.
• Classic tools like forums, training events, presentations, white papers,
etc did the job before, but more dynamic and peer-to-peer centered
knowledge sharing Q&A platforms are making information
more easily accessible now.
 Benefits Of Sharing Best Practices In An Organization
It's no secret that sharing best practices is an excellent way to
improve the performance and productivity of an organization.
Sharing best practices can help organizations fill knowledge
gaps, improve efficiency, encourage leadership, and more.
• For the growth of your organization, you need to identify and
implement the best practices in your business to make it stand
out from other businesses.
• There are specific organizational factors that help
organizations with the process of sharing best practices.
Organizations with experience in sharing successes, the
presence of a structure that ensures communication within an
organization, organizational culture that supports
collaboration, and absorptive capacity where organizations
have the skills to change practice.
 The real impacts of sharing best practices in an
organization.
1. Nurtures A Learning Culture
• Sharing best practices is one of the great ways of instigating a
learning environment in an organization.
• Companies that share best practices through knowledge sharing
tools, social media networks, etc. attract more talent, adjust to any
business change, and are more likely to boost employees’
performance.
2. Identifies And Fills Knowledge Gaps
• it helps managers recognize existing knowledge gaps within the
company and admins identify which content is being accessed the
most.
• Organizations come up with better strategies this way.
• This, ultimately, leads to improvement in the productivity of an
organization.
3. Generates Creative And Innovative Ideas
• Sharing best practices in an organization helps your employees to
share their creative and innovative ideas to boost the performance and
productivity of an organization.
4. Enables Better Decision Making
• When customers are facing problems, you tend to look for
information to solve the problems. By sharing best practices in an
organization, all these things are performed efficiently.
• It ensures better and faster decision making, eventually improving
organization's performance and productivity.
• 5. Boosts Efficiency And Competence
• Sharing best practices in an organization will considerably shrink the
time spent in looking for knowledge as all employees will have access
to the right information whenever they need it.
• Employees can share their ideas, brainstorm, and collaborate in a
relaxed environment. It will improve the overall productivity of an
organization.
6. Constructs A Supportive Corporate Community
• Knowledge sharing acts as an intuitive way of forming a close-knit
community. With a dedicated information sharing platform,
businesses can store knowledge in a secure space that is accessible
only to authenticated users. Businesses can ensure the consistency
of the knowledge being shared.
7. Provides Employees With An Internal Knowledge Base
• Sharing best practices allow you to provide your reps with an
internal knowledge base as social networks have empowered
consumers with a platform where they can share their opinion
fearlessly.
• Businesses are increasingly recognizing that consumers today are
in the driver’s seat. Additionally, social networks have empowered
them with a platform where they can fearlessly voice their opinion.
Using a knowledge sharing platform facilitates your workers in
staying up-to-date with the business policies, practices, and
techniques.
8. Reduces The Loss Of Know-How
• Know-how is an important asset in every organization and should
be managed properly. By sharing best practices, an organization
can capture knowledge and ultimately reduce their losses. A 
knowledge sharing tool captures all that knowledge and makes it
accessible to employees.
9. Cuts Down Costs And Time
• Sharing best practices through a knowledge sharing platform
 allows employees to share all the valuable information they have
in their minds along with their experiences and achievements. It
saves your employees from committing the same mistakes done by
their predecessors. Ultimately, they can easily come up with the
right solution at the right time.
• In addition to saving time consumed in solving clients' problems, it
also cuts down costs that your business may experience in
problem-solving. Your representatives get all the correct responsive
easily to improve customer contentment.
Final Thoughts
• Sharing best practices can develop a community within an
organization. Employees can provide helpful insights which
boost employee efficiency and help businesses in cutting down
costs and time with the right information search. Integrating
sharing best practices into the philosophy of a business can
encourage transparency important for organizational
accomplishment.
 7 Strategies for Creating a Culture of Caring at Your Business

Developing a caring culture starts with a few initial steps aimed at

holding on to top talent and building an enviable dream team.
 
1. Know what drives and motivates your employees. 
• What do your workers love about their jobs? What keeps them excited
and engaged? Don’t know? Just ask. Then use their answers to
improve individual work experiences by allowing employees to
explore their passions while remaining true to the company’s mission
and vision.
2. Be a transparent leader.
• Trust is a direct result of transparency. Share information whenever
possible. This keeps destructive rumors and half-truths at bay and
helps employees feel that they are valued and that they belong. Most
people strive to be a part of something bigger. Give them a stake in
the company by holding regular update meetings and truthfully
answering questions.
3. Let employees take the reins.
• Your staff members have plenty of ideas that could make your
company stronger.
• Ask for their feedback? Allow them to occasionally try to test
initiatives.
• When applicable, put workers in responsible roles to stretch
their abilities and inspire confidence.
• Yes, they’ll sometimes fail. When they do, help them rebound
without judgment.

4. Be upfront about performance goals.

• When employees don’t know what management expects of
them, they become frustrated and disengaged.
• Be clear about your expectations, and show managers how to
do likewise.
5. Focus on strengths, not weaknesses. 
• It can be tempting to emphasize employees’ weak areas, but that
leads to dehumanization and demoralization. Rather than
constantly picking at workers’ problem areas, look for
opportunities to recognize them for the good they do.

6. Provide competitive compensation.

• Your workers can’t be expected to work for a pittance. They
deserve fair compensation based on market rates.
• Pay them wages that make them feel rewarded.
• Replacements are always expensive.
7. Offer rewards and celebrate wins.
• Are you regularly rewarding these acts of excellence?
Productive, happy workers must be noticed and incentivized.
Make coaching, mentoring, and even career-development
assistance available as rewards to keep your top players aware
that their contributions are respected and applauded.

• Creating a caring environment may seem like a soft perk, but

don’t make the mistake of underestimating its power to entice
employees to give it their all and stick around.
 
• Cultivating a culture of caring begins at recruitment.
 HONESTY

• Honesty is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and

virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness,
straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct,
along with the absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc. Honesty also
involves being trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere. 
• What is honesty? Honesty is the highest level of quality in
human character. It is a true commitment between behaviors and
relationships with other people. Honesty is very important to live
a prosperous life.
• If we know that we have made our commitments and promises
with people honestly then we are not worried about the results.
• If we’re in doubts then there is tension (worry, stress, and
anxiety) and these are the key causes and symptoms of various
types of diseases.
• Honesty is a key characteristic of a business because it sets
the tone for the kind of work culture that you want to create,
provides consistency in workplace behavior, and builds loyalty
and trust in customers and prospects.
 Tips to Foster Honesty in the Workplace
1) Leave the judgment at the door. It is important to give each
other the freedom to be honest, even if we don’t agree with their
assessment. Making an employee feel that his/her opinion is
judged will not foster an environment where they feel open to
express their ideas and/or concerns. Non-judgmental and
authentic listening is one of the best tools to foster honesty in
relationships. Giving another person your attention and space
needed to communicated will go a long way toward opening
dialog.
2) Clear the Pipes. In our office, at the end of team meeting, we
conclude the portion with a “clear the pipes section.” This gives
members of the team an opportunity to voice opinions, frustrations, or
to just get some things off their chest. It bonds the team itself because
we know that we can express ourselves to our colleagues. We have
also found that unresolved conflicts — when the pipes aren’t cleared
— tend to simmer leading to more conflict in the future. Therefore,
exercising courage in this area pays big dividends for team mojo.

3) Implementation is Key. It is important that you don’t just give

people an outlet or a forum to express their opinions, but you actually
DO something about their opinions. If employees see that their
opinions and thoughts matter, and leadership and staff take the steps
to improve or implement their ideas, they will be empowered.
Empowered employees are employees that perform above and
beyond, and feel a strong sense of loyalty to their company.
4) Hold Employees Responsible. If an employee wants to voice
an opinion, be it good or bad, they need to back up their opinions
with facts and substance. Griping just to gripe does not get anyone
anywhere. Employees should be prepared to offer solutions to the
issues they see. If they can’t help find the solution, then they
certainly can’t be expressing what needs to be changed. While it is
important for everyone to vent from time to time, a complaint
without a solution isn’t all the helpful — and it puts the onus on
someone else to solve the complaint.
5) Communicate the Positive AND the Negative. At the end of
the day, there will always be things that need improvement. But
there are so many things that are done well, and that voice should
always be heard from employees and leadership. Whether it is
through an e-mail, newsletter, or quarterly staff meeting, everyone
should say what they think is working and perhaps what is not
working. It’s important to focus on the positive, as well as
acknowledge the negative. Communication is the most important
 VALUING TIME
• In transport economics, the value of time is the
opportunity cost of the time that a traveller spends on
his/her journey. In essence, this makes it the amount
that a traveler would be willing to pay in order to
save time, or the amount they would accept as
compensation for lost time.
 COOPERATION

• The actions of someone who is being helpful by doing –

Dictionary meaning
• Cooperation is one of the most widely taught skills. At an
early age, we are taught “united we stand, divided we fall.”
• Cooperation means to work together to achieve a common
goal.
• In the workplace this means a healthy environment in which
employees work side by side to achieve both personal and
organizational objectives.
• They must work with others, instead of against each other, to
be productive.
 Importance of Cooperation in the Workplace
Synergy
• Aristotle defined man to be a social animal by nature. He
cannot survive without working with others toward a common
aim.
• The prime reason to cooperate in a working environment is to
achieve synergy.
• Achieving this is only possible when the management allows
staff members to work their best at their own level.
• Taking time to understanding the employees and their
behavior toward their reporting line helps create this synergy
in a work area.
Win-Win Situation
• A win-win attitude should be encouraged in organizations.
• Employees who cooperate with others and strive for mutual
accomplishment should be encouraged because a win-win
attitude leads to a favorable result for all involved parties and
subsequently leads to organizational growth.
• Teamwork helps with conflict management and ensures that
none of the employees holds grudges against another.
• This is a concept encouraged by progressive program trainers
around the world. Author Ralph Charell said- “it is through
cooperation, rather than conflict, that your greatest successes
will be derived.”
Morale
• In an organisation the working environment is defined
according to the morale of its employees.
• A worker will only do as required of him and never exceed
expectations in an organization where morale is low. Similarly,
where employees' morale is high they participate with fervour
and produce results.
• Just putting together a team of efficient and qualified
employees is not enough. An environment where employees
trust, assist and support each other produces the best results.

Competition
• It might not always be easy to achieve cooperation at a
workplace. It becomes harder where the nature of work is
competitive..
• If cooperation is not instilled in such a system, a few individuals
may flourish with time but the organization as a whole will
suffer.
• It is thus imperative to make sure that the competition is healthy
and active.

Persistence
• Instilling cooperation cannot be accomplished overnight. The key
is not to let go.
• The top management needs to keep boosting cooperation by
talking about it to the employees and setting examples.
Collaborative behavior should be encouraged.
• Making teams, assigning them projects and giving rewards based
on cumulative performances can work wonders.
Reduces unproductive competition
• Team cooperation encourages employees to work together for the
benefit of the organization. It reduces the desire of employees to
compete against each other, which often is never good for the
business, and instead focus on working together to achieve a
common goal.
• When you foster teamwork in your organization, you will realize
that employees fight less especially on issues that do not help the
organization. Politicking also reduces as employees realize they are
all valuable to the success of the organization.
Enhances knowledge sharing
every member is encouraged to participate and contribute to the task at
hand which results in compounded outputs. When employees work
cooperatively, their efforts multiply, become stronger and better. In
the process, the employees working together exchange ideas as each of
them gain new perspective and knowledge on the tasks they are
working on.
Fosters good communication
• Employees who work well together and consider themselves
as part of the team incline towards better communication. 
• Effective communication in an organization reduces
misunderstandings, conflicts, and delays in work deliverythisis
very important for the success of the organization.
Easy achievement of organizational goals
• it is important that you motivate your employees so that they
work towards a goal and set to achieve it. In an organizational
atmosphere, you must be able to promote the best possible
ethics among a workforce. This will ensure that everyone will
get on board and strive to work towards the common goal.
• With team cooperation, everyone’s morale will get naturally
boosted once there is a healthy work environment, improving
employee motivation and ultimately incline everyone towards
the achievement of organizational goals, visions, and
objective.
 COMMITMENT

• a promise or firm decision to do something.
• Organisational commitment is the individual’s psychological
attachment to an organisation.
• Organizational commitment plays a pivotal role in
determining whether an employee will stay with the
organization for a longer period of time and work passionately
towards achieving the organization’s goal.
• If an organizational commitment is determined it helps predict
employee satisfaction and engagement, distribution of
leadership, job performance, job insecurity, and similar such
attributes. An employee’s level of commitment towards his/her
work is important to know from a management’s point of view
to be able to know their dedication to the tasks assigned to
them on a daily basis.
 Theory of Organizational Commitment

Affective commitment:
• Affective committment where the employee has an emotional
bond with the organisation. They ‘want’ to be there.
• If an employee is affectively committed to their organisation,
it means that they want to stay at their organisation.
• They typically identify with the organisational goals, feel that
they fit into the organisation and are satisfied with their work.
• Employees who are affectively committed feel valued, act as
ambassadors for their organisation and are generally great
assets for organisations.
Continuance commitment:
• Continuance commitment refers to the situation where an
individual feels that they will lose more by leaving than they
will gain.
•  Possible reasons for needing to stay with organisations vary,
but the main reasons relate to a lack of work alternatives, and
remuneration.
• In effect continuance commitment is a fear of loss if they left.
The loss can be in any domain such as prestige, income,
friendships or social loss.
Normative commitment:
• This is where an individual feels they should stay for some
reason.
• Usually this is because of a sense of obligation to the
organisation. This sense of obligation can stem from the moral
(working for a charity that is doing important work), ethical,
because the organisation spent time and money training you or
paying college fees etc.
• Normatively committed employees feel that leaving their
organisation would have disastrous consequences, and feel a
sense of guilt about the possibility of leaving.
 EMPATHY

• Empathy is the ability to experience and relate to the thoughts,

emotions or experience of others. Empathy is more than
simple sympathy, which is being able to understand and
support others with compassion or sensitivity.
• Simply put, empathy is the ability to step into someone else’s
shoes, be aware of their feelings and understand their needs.
• In the workplace, empathy can show a deep respect for co-
workers and show that you care, as opposed to just going by
rules and regulations. An empathic leadership style can make
everyone feel like a team and increase productivity, morale
and loyalty.
 UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL EMPATHY
• Clark, Roberston, and Young’s (2019) - empathy is a multi-
dimensional construct  and the experience of empathy is comprised
of three primary components all of which can be seen as stable
quality or characteristic of an individual, as well as, an emotion
that can vary significantly based on the context or circumstances a
person experiences. Based on their review of the literature from
1983 – 2017, Clark, et al. (2019) define three elements of empathy:
• Affective empathy – Experiencing affective states (emotions or
moods) that is congruent (mirrors) with another person’s affective
state.
• Cognitive empathy – Understanding another person’s internal state
(their thoughts, moods, or emotions).
• Behavioral empathy – Engaging in verbal and non-verbal
behaviors that demonstrate cognitive or affective empathy.
 ORGANIZATIONAL EMPATHY AND YOUR
EMPLOYEES

• Building organizational empathy is a key element of business

strategy for organizations trying to hire and retain top talent in an
increasingly tight labour market. 
• empathy is a key driver of retention, motivation, and productivity. 
• In an increasingly competitive talent environment where
organizations are looking for ways to attract and retain the right
talent, building a culture of empathy is emerging as a key part of
the people strategy in forward-looking organizations.
• Empathetic behavior from leaders shows employees they are
valued, are being heard, and are appreciated, which in turn boosts
morale, engagement, and retention.
• that empathy contributes to the financial performance of their
organization.
 ORGANIZATIONAL EMPATHY AND YOUR
CUSTOMERS
• In his 2011 book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, behavioral
economist Daniel Kahneman highlighted the power of
empathy in driving customer experience. Kahneman notes,
“We are not thinking machines that feel, we are feeling
machines that think,” and as such, truly understanding your
customers requires you to get beyond investigating how they
make purchase decisions and to tap into the emotions they
experience when engaging with your organization.  
Common practices of high empathy organizations that any
organization can apply to improve empathy:
• They care about their cultures – Every organization has a culture
that shapes behavior and drives performance. In the most empathetic
organizations, the culture is actively stewarded to create a workplace
where constructive behaviors are recognized and rewarded, where
individuals are actively engaged, and where the value they create for
the organization is appreciated. By intentionally creating cultures that
inspire engagement and commitment, high empathy organizations
create a fertile ground for high-quality customer experience.
• They insist on transparency – According to the World Economic
Forum (2016) report, companies scoring high on the empathy index
resist the urge to cover up and deflect attention from uncomfortable
truths. Instead, they see full disclosure as the first step in dealing with
challenges and embrace the opportunity to engage their workforce in
productive problem-solving processes that drive progress toward
needed improvements.
• They share the brand’s backstory – Sharing the story of where
your organization comes from helps customers and employees
make connections between the organization’s origins and their
own personal journey and encourages them to experience their
own empathetic connections with the people who navigated the
organization through its earliest days.
• It helps people see the company as part of someone’s human
journey, rather than a detached entity focused on making money.  
• Their social media practices reflect strong empathy – Social
media provides an unprecedented capability for organizations to
dialog directly with their customers and employees. Organizations
high on the empathy index capitalize on the opportunity to interact
with their stakeholders through social media and recognize the
opportunity to deliver messages with authenticity and humanity to
a broad audience.
They see customer complaints as opportunities for insight –
• It can be tempting to ignore customer complaints or chalk them
upcoming from the far extremes of your customer experience.
• But highly empathetic organizations recognize that even the
most extreme negative feedback represents an emotional
response from the customer and provides an opportunity for
insight into the customer experience.
• Learning to learn from all forms of customer feedback and to
empathize with the experiences you deliver is key to building a
more empathetic organization.
They make ethics a priority:
• Similar to the bias towards transparency exhibited by high
empathy organizations, organizations scoring high on the
index also prioritize ethics. 
• In the words of the World Economic Forum (2016), the need
someone asking “should we” instead of “can we”.
• Customer expectations around ethical conduct are high – as
they should be – and organizations who want to maintain
positive brand images need to increasingly consider how they
maintain the highest standards of ethics in all operations and
decision making.
 SELF CONFIDENCE
• A feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities, and judgement.

• It is the trust a person has in his abilities and judgment, which enables
him to express his knowledge and opinion freely with no or little
difficulties.

• Self-confidence is not a permanent state of mind – a person’s level of

confidence may increase or decrease within a given period.

• Self-confidence is dependent on various factors including a person’s

temperament, society and culture, educational level, wealth, trends of
successes and failures etc.

• A highly confident person may begin to wilt in confidence after

suffering consecutive failures but whatever the case may be, self-
confidence is always a mind game; it is dependent on the mentality or
mindset of the person. Anyone can become confident if he tries to.
 Importance of self-confidence as a skill

• It is of tremendous advantages.
• There are certain persons and job positions that require people
with absolute self-confidence. Some of these are lawyers and
judges, journalists, managers, public relations officers, actors,
pastors, teachers, marketing managers and sales personnel etc.
• Self-confident people are able to express themselves freely
and create a lasting impression on the minds of employers
during job applications and interviews.
• Because of the relationship between self-confidence and
competency, people easily trust self-confident people.
• With a high level of self-confidence, you are able to take
independent but great decisions in your organization or your
field of work.
 How to improve self-confidence

Self-confidence is dependent on a number of factors. Ways can

help you maintain a good level of self-confidence:
Prepare and equip yourself. Being sure of your capabilities and
having a track record of successes is a natural way to raise your
level of confidence.
• Train yourself till you have acquired all the needed skills in
your specific field of work and take practice tests if possible.
• Successes in practice tests automatically raise your level of
confidence.

• Have a positive self-perception. People, for various reasons,

suffer inferiority complex. They have the perception that
others are better than them.
• Many a time, this is due to the temperament of the person, especially
phlegmatic people.
• Make a habit of thinking positively about yourself.
• Focus on your strengths and see your weaknesses as an opportunity
to learn more.
• If someone is better than you in one aspect, take a look at their
shortcomings and compare them to your strengths. Gradually, this
exercise helps you develop an I am better than him mentality which
affects you positively.
Assertiveness. People are used to criticizing people and shunning their
opinions.
• The more you allow your opinions to be ignored without taking a
strong stance or defence, you begin to lose confidence in yourself.
• Stand by words and opinions, and try to explain every little reason
for your actions or opinions.
• When people get convinced and accept your ideas regularly, your
confidence level will be on the increase.
 CHARACTER
• An organization that values character in the workplace attracts and
retains employees with good work ethics, and who take pride in working
for a company that insists on honesty and integrity. High employee morale
helps to create and sustain a positive, productive work environment.
• The goals of most businesses are to gain profits, to lead in the
marketplace, and to provide benefits to its customers. The character of all
personnel involved in the functioning of a business is important for
success in maintaining an effective organization, both internally and
externally.
• Good character is needed for internal business activities. When the
workers of a company have poor character, there can be losses and
increased costs. Poor character among sales representatives and those
involved in external business activities can result in lost business and
profits.
• Good character is also required from upper management. Poor character
among upper management results in loss of business and even the
downfall of the company. Whatever your role is within a business, your
character is also important to that business.
Internal business activities
• Internal business activities consist of work done inside a company.
This includes production and management tasks.
• Poor character traits among workers—such as being lazy, careless,
dishonest, or argumentative—can result in poor workmanship, low
productivity, and personnel problems. This results in increased costs
and lower quality goods and services. Likewise, an insulting or
demeaning manager or supervisor can be harmful to productivity.
• You want hard-working, conscientious employees, who are honest and
helpful.
External business activities
• External business activities include sales, customer service, and other
tasks that deal directly with customers, as well as with suppliers.
• Poor character traits among these workers—such as being rude,
insulting, unreliable, or dishonest—can result in lost sales, disgruntled
customers, angry suppliers, and a loss of business.
• You want those dealing outside the company to have integrity and
good social character.
Upper management
• Assuming you are in a management or even ownership position,
your good character is needed as an example to emulate among
your workers. Also, since your character and that of upper
management represents the character of the company itself, it
has a tremendous influence on the reputation of the company.
• Poor character traits in upper management can result in high
employee turnover and dissatisfied customers. A company that
has a reputation of lacking integrity is doomed to failure.

Summary
• Good character is important for an effective business
organization.
• Workers of a company should have good character. Poor
character can result in losses and increased costs. Poor character
among sales representatives can result in lost business and
profits. Good character is especially required from upper
management since they represent the character of the company.
 SPIRITUALITY

• Workplace spirituality includes many aspects like meaningful

work, sense of community, and organizational value.
Workplace spirituality is intended to interconnect past
experiences and develop trust among employees in a way that
would lead the organization into a better and productive
environment.
• Spirituality is basically, understanding oneself to the extent of
deepest core of life. Spirituality is not the same thing, as what
religion is. Bond religion is set of belief, rules and procedures
enforced from external environment, while spirituality is
basically opposite; these are set of philosophies, rules and
guidelines coming from inside the soul, inside the core of self.
Thus, Spiritual awareness denotes a type of intelligence which
comes from within.
In a spiritual work environment, people thrive because
• The organisation, through line-management, takes a personal
interest in their development and success
• People are encouraged to be all that they can be
• They are appreciated, challenged and excited at the opportunities
they have
• Business leaders promote trust and empowerment
• Participation in collaborative dialogue is encouraged – instruction
and control minimised
• Employees are supported, coached and thanked
• Positive emphasis is placed on relationships, ethics, inspiration
and reflection
• Successes are noticed and celebrated.
 The main factors inducing workplace spirituality are:
• Looking for meaning while at work: work has a meaning for
people, which goes beyond the material rewards associated to
this. In as far that the activities performed at an organization
are in line with spiritual values, they provide meaning to an
individual. As they develop behaviour which demonstrates
values, such as integrity, courage, honesty, kindness,
confidence and self-discipline or other forms that express
spirituality in organizational interactions, as well as behaviour
that could be translated into benefits for clients or the
organization, individuals may find meaning when performing
their work.
• Improved organizational performance: many organizations
encourage spirituality, as they believe that a humanised
workplace creates a win-win situation, where both workers
and the organization benefit.
• When integrating spirituality in organizational management,
the following is sought: 1) attaining a competitive advantage
through ethical behaviour, job satisfaction, committed workers
and productivity and
• 2) increasing organizational commitment, which may lead to
improved organizational performance.
• Happier workers are more productive, more creative and,
consequently, more satisfied, leading to improved
organizational performance
• Reaction to corporate greed: spiritual awakening in the
workplace is presented as a reaction to the corporate greed of
the 1980s.
• Downsizing, re-engineering and dismissals during the 1990s
made the workplace somewhere where workers were
demoralised and where there was a growing injustice in
relation to salaries.
• Often, people earn money but their personal values fall
behind. With this, many workers leave the corporate world and
those who stay tend to incorporate their personal values into
their professional lives and, consequently, their work routines 
• Need to connect with other people: organizational models of
bureaucratic and scientific administration which recommend
specialisation led to isolation and alienation between workers.
• In contrast, spirituality arose at work because people want to
feel connected with what is important and they want to feel
connected with every person at work.
• For many individuals, work colleagues almost replace the
family and a group of friends.
• The workplace is a community for many individuals,
represents and promotes the only consistent link with other
people and the human need for connection and contribution.
• The essence of the community involves a deep sense of
connection (mental, emotional and spiritual) among workers in
teams or groups in organizations, including support, freedom
of expression and genuine warmth.
 INDIAN VALUES (on the conceptual framework of Vedas)
Purushartha
• dharma (moral duty), artha (economic prosperity), kama (love or
pleasure) and moksha (spiritual liberation).
Nishkam Karma

Religion and human Values

• Several mainstream religions in the world including, Hinduism,
Buddhism, and Jainism, Christianity and Islam were engaged in ethical
reflections beginning from the late pre-historic period period.
• Hindu philosophers accepted the authoritative testimony (Ṡabda) of the
Veda (scriptures and other tradition as) as a valid means of knowledge
(pramāṇa) in the areas of ritual praxis, religious wisdom, cosmology,
and social ethics, whereas Buddhists and Jainas rejected the Veda’s
authority, but developed their own theories.
• Christianity and Islam had engaged ethics and morality extensively and
provided broader guidance to conduct an ethically acceptable life.
Overall all religions contributed to the concept of ethical values and we
can further evaluate how these historic and religions influence the
contemporary perspectives on Applied Ethics issues.
• The principal values that represent the Indian ethical system. Tyaga
(renunciation), dana (liberal giving), nishtha (dedication), satya (truth),
ahimsa (non-violence) and upeksha (forbearance) are examined as the
keynotes of the Indian values system.
 Purushartha

• Definition - What does Purushartha mean?

• Purushartha is a Sanskrit word that can be translated as the "object
of human pursuit” or “goals of man.” The term is derived from the
Sanskrit, purusha, meaning "person," and artha, meaning "purpose."
• This is an important term in Hinduism and relates to the four ideal
aims a person should have. The four purusharthas are considered to
be the following: dharma (moral duty), artha (economic
prosperity), kama (love or pleasure) and moksha (spiritual
liberation).
• The Purusharthas are the blueprint for human fulfillment. Working
with them helps you create a satisfyingly balanced, meaningful life
at the deepest and most holistic level. They offer a way for
evaluating your life and making good decisions. Knowing your
goals brings meaning to your spiritual practice.
• Dharma
• Dharma means truth, the right way of living, and human behaviors considered
necessary for the order of things in the world. On a grander scale, it refers to the
cosmic law or rules that created the Universe from chaos.
• On an individual level, you can think of Dharma as your true purpose in life or the
ethical basis on which you live your life. It is also:
– Being conscious in your actions, words, and thoughts.
– Having compassion and sensitivity to the needs of others.
– Being awake to the existence of the Divine within you.

Ultimately, Dharma leads you to remember who you really are.

• Dharma also brings stability and order, a life that is lawful and harmonious, and
the striving to do the right thing, to be virtuous, to be helpful to others, and to
interact successfully with society.

• Dharma is considered the first of the Purusharthas because without

it, Artha and Kama can easily become self-destructive. However, Artha and Kama,
when balanced, also serve to support your Dharmic Path and eventually your
outward Dharma leads you to inner Moksha.
• Artha is the security of having the material comfort you need to
live in the world with ease. While some people think that to be
spiritual means to be poor, Artha is not about rejecting the world,
but being content with the things you own. It’s to live skillfully in a
world of material objects that exist for your benefit.
• Artha is one of the basic human dignities—to have enough assets to
live on and care for your family, without hoarding or being
greedy. Artha guides you to ask the question, “What do I see as
truly valuable?”
• Artha is the pursuit of activities and means necessary for a joyous
and pleasurable life. Vedanta says that you should:
– Discover a way so money runs after you and not vice versa.
– Do work that is compatible to your nature and capabilities.
– Do work that serves society.
– Do work you really love.
– Trust in the infinite organizing power of the Universe.
• Kama: The desire for pleasure is what drives human behavior.
• Kama relates to this pleasure, which can be sensuality, but is also
art, music, beauty, love, intimacy, affection, fellowship, and
kindness—it’s what brings a sense of delight to your life.

•  Kama is good and necessary when it exists to

support Dharma and becomes part of the richness of life.
However, excessive Kama can lead to overindulgence, addiction,
sloth, greed, and lust.

• Kama is a total sensory experience that includes discovering the

object, learning about the object, establishing emotional
connection, learning the process of enjoyment, and experiencing
the resulting feeling of well-being before, during, and after the
experience.
• Moksha is your true nature—it’s who you really are. It
includes:
– Emancipation.
– Liberation.
– Freedom from the cycle of death and rebirth.
– Freedom from ignorance.
– Self-realization and self-knowledge.
– Consciousness of the Oneness of the Supreme Soul.
– The removal of obstacles to an unrestricted life.
– Access to our full human potential of creativity, compassion, and
understanding.

Moksha is seen as a final release from life’s illusion. 

 Nishkam Karma
• Definition - Nishkam Karma is a central theme in the
Bhagavad Gita. An important philosophical concept in Karma
yoga, it means to act unselfishly, or without personal gain in
mind.
• When acting out of Nishkam Karma, an individual is acting
without any expectation that good will be returned to him/her.
In Sanskrit, nishkam means “action without motive,” “work
without desire" or "desire-less.”
• Ultimately, Nishkam Karma is considered non-attachment to
the result of personal actions in life, but with selfless and
loving motives.
 Religion and Human Values
• Religion is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “The belief in
and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially
a personal God or gods.”
• Essentially, religion is the relation between the individual and the
supernatural which is based on the belief that there exist some
supernatural entities which created and govern the world. 
• Studies have repeatedly demonstrated an existing relation between value
priorities and a multiplicity of attitudes and behaviours,including
religiosity.
• Religion exerts a great influence on our social environment, and is
important as a powerful social movement itself.
• Social harmony of heterogonous religious societies presupposes a
foundation of shared values.
• At a time when religiously based conflict is more common now than at
any time since the mid-1600s, understanding the role played by religion in
human values is extremely important as people become increasingly
aware of the existence of multiple worldviews
• Numerous cases of supposed acts of religious wars
such as the Thirty Years' War, the 
French Wars of Religion, the Sri Lankan Civil War, 9/11
 and other terrorist attacks, the Bosnian War, and the 
Rwandan Civil War were all primarily motivated by
social, political, and economic issues rather than
religion.
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• Pakistan and India
• Yugoslav Wars