We all want to be part of something bigger

24 Jun 2019

Share your experiences online to help us uncover our University’s values

As a direct response to staff feedback we’re involving colleagues across the University in uncovering a single set of values which will be at the heart of our University’s new strategic plan in the Our People Our Values theme.

We want everyone who works here to have the opportunity to get involved by sharing their stories and experiences in an anonymous online survey which takes just a few minutes to complete.

In the short article below Dr Ricardo Twumasi, an organisational psychology lecturer at the Alliance Manchester Business School, talks about why it’s so important to take part and help shape our University values.

“We all search for purpose, and seek meaningful work that is part of something larger than ourselves. The ability of organisations to be larger than the sum of their parts is why they have been integral to almost every revolutionary human achievement.

“An individual’s identity tends to be highly linked to their profession, and the organisation they work for. Employees are often drawn to an employer, and a profession that has a strong fit with the values that each individual holds important. An organisation has a set of fundamental values, culture, climate and goals that define the organisation and grow and adapt as societal norms and values change.

“People tend to be better motivated when their personal values align with that of their organisations, and when these are congruent with our ideal view of the world. We all want to be part of something bigger, and most people want to have a positive impact on the world. Knowing that your efforts each day, no matter how big or small they seem are a part of a larger plan imbues a sense of belonging and purpose into each individual’s daily endeavours. As the apocryphal story of JFK introducing himself to a man cleaning the floor while touring a NASA facility illustrates: when the American president asked the cleaner what he did at NASA, he replied: ‘Mr. President, I'm helping put a man on the moon.’”