108 Examples of Work Values

John Spacey, March 09, 2022

Work values are principles, beliefs and priorities that an individual, team or organization sets for their work. These are a common theme of resumes and job interviews whereby organizations seek candidates that align to core values. As such, it is helpful to think about your values with examples of how you have established these values or lived up to them. Likewise, it is advisable to research the values of potential employers and think about how you may exemplify such values. The following are common examples of work values.

Acceptance & Inclusion	Acknowledging Weaknesses
Ambition / Risk Taking	Appreciate & Recognize Others
Attention to Detail	Authenticity
Be Consistent / Results Every Day	Be Friendly
Be Helpful	Be Human
Be Productive / Get Things Done	Be Yourself
Be of Service	Believe (e.g. in your mission)
Bias for Action	Break Down Barriers
Build Things (i.e. constructive approach)	Build Trust
Caring & Compassion	Celebrate Successes
Challenge Assumptions	Challenge the Status Quo
Change the Game	Conserve Resources
Continually Higher Standards	Continuous Improvement / Continuous Learning
Curiosity & Wonder	Customer First / Customer Obsession
Customer Success	Data Driven
Dedication	Diligence
Do Your Best Everyday	Do the Right Thing
Doing Good	Don't Waste Time
Dream Big	Embracing Differences
Empathy	Enjoy Work
Evolve	Exploration
Fairness	Fearlessness / Courage
Flexibility & Adaptability	Generosity
Go The Extra Mile	Good Judgement
Gratitude	Grow with Purpose
Have an Impact / Make a Difference	Help Each Other Succeed
High Standards	Honesty & Candor
Hospitality	Humility / Don't be Arrogant
Humor / Laughter / Fun / Play	Innovation
Integrity	Kindness
Lead By Example	Lead Industries
Learn, Research & Prioritize Knowledge	Learning From Failure
Listening	Live Your Mission
Mastery / Refinement	Meet Commitments
More With Less	Move Fast
Mutual Success	Not Afraid to Make Mistakes
Overcome Obstacles / Clear Issues	Own It
Passion	People & Planet
People First	Persistence
Politeness & Courtesy	Positivity / Optimism / Happiness
Quality First	Quick & Thoughtful Decisions
Relentlessness	Reliability
Respect Others	Responsibility & Accountability
Safety First	Science Mindset
Set High Expectations	Simplicity / Elegance
Solve Problems	Stability / Tradition
Stay Hungry	Stewardship of Resources
Take Charge of Your Work	Take Pride in Work
Teamwork	Testing and Experimenting
Think Big	Think Global, Act Local
Tolerance for Disagreement	Transparency
Trust	Unity
Urgency	Win
Work Quality (e.g. "excellence")	Work-ethic

Some of the terms above, particularly innovation, are overused to the extent that they sound cliche. These can be replaced with unique words to describe your values such as "pushing for ground-breaking change" if you just say "innovation" it may sound dull, mediocre and hollow.