The Variance of Value Judgment on Professional Growth- Part 1

An assessment that measures people’s values in a spectrum of either goodness or wrongness.

The purpose of this study was to determine the variance of value dimensions on professional growth as measured by the HVP and to discover whether there were significant differences between the HVP Part 1 world side (work side) pre-test and post-test scores after participants had been made aware of their results and coached on their opportunities.

This study analyzed the HVP Part 1 scores in three major categories. The Intrinsic, which is the aptitude for relational judgment or people.

The Extrinsic is the aptitude for work, projects, and processes or tasks and the Systemic are the aptitude for long-term preparation, deliberate visioning, and integration/acquisitions. This quantitative study used secondary data to analyze the variances and utilized a casual comparative research method to conduct a non-experimental pre-test and post test study.

The study analyzed 120 assessments using a t test data analysis methodology to determine the significant difference in scores after a coaching session was conducted. During the coaching session subjects were informed of their scores and offered suggestions and recommendations on how to improve future HVP Part 1 scores. 

An individual’s capacity to think and make value judgments is a natural ability often based on past and previous experiences (Ramaswamy, 2011).

Value skills can be learned and unlearned as well as improved with the right combination of tools, resources and supports (R.S. Hartman, 2011). Humans process the world and themselves through their judgment value by using their intelligence, access skills, organize and direct emotions based on previous experiences (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).   People are born with certain valuing skills, aptitudes, and a unique value pattern. 

For example, some people are kind and warm, while others might lack those attributes.  Some individuals are naturally more inclined in making collaborative decisions, prioritizing and being pleasant, while others prefer to look at their best interest rather than the best interest of others. 

When organizations understand their workforce better as individual people it enables them to coach, guide, and help them become better equipped personnel for them to become better at working with other individuals (Mitchell, 2013).   

The more organizations understand people, the better collaboration in the workplace (Mitchell, 2013). Appreciating and valuing others’ values systems and understanding each other allows for deeper relationships. Individuals supervising other people in leadership roles must know that everyone is unique and has their own set of values that may or may not agree with their own and the other employees (Porter, Riesenmy, & Fields, 2016).  

There are many types of people possessing different skills, values, and qualities. It is important that organizations become aware of their ways of making decisions based on individual values (Tajeddini & Trueman, 2012). Hartman (1967) states that values are part of people’s personalities.

Therefore, helping people become more aware and more sensitive to someone else needs and their development opportunities is essential for making sound judgments and living an intention life. By becoming more aware of others’ needs as well as their own, individuals can improve and become more efficient workers.  

Coaching using the HVP assessment where people’s strengths and opportunities are heightened regarding their judgment scores is beneficial for employees seeking to develop. Individuals have a greater chance of developing and becoming stronger leaders with more significant impact when exposed to coaching (Ellinger, 2013).  

Every year organizations spends thousands of dollars conducting a variety of assessments such as the 360 assessment, the DISC and the Hartman Value Profile (HVP) to name a few.

The 360 assessment measures 67 most desired competencies for the most sought-after employees in the workforce. Jantti & Greenhalgh (2012) state this assessment also assesses specific competencies and attributes for succession planning and character evaluation.  The DISC assessment has been in used since the 1970’s, and this assessment focuses on four specific behavioral traits of individuals.

The four traits are dominant behavior, induce behavior, submissive behavior and compliant behavior (Beamish 2005). The Hartman Value Profile (HVP) assessment measures the values that drive individuals to make judgments that then become habitual traits. 

Many Health Systems (HS) I consulted with through this study used this assessment for pre-employment assessments, succession planning, executive coaching and professional development across their multiple networks across the states.

The HVP attractiveness and demand have increased tremendously, sky-rocketing the requests for the HVP assessment to be administered throughout the Health Systems reaching over 40,000 employees throughout half dozen health networks. HS plans to use the HVP assessment as the primary assessment in their organizations to screen candidates during the hiring process, succession planning, coaching, professional development and executive leadership development with all their top-level executives, managers and nurse leaders. 

There was, however, a lack of research evidence to document whether individuals who are exposed to coaching using the HVP Assessment improved their leadership abilities and become better and stronger leaders or remain the same.

The HVP works by assessing individuals’ value of judgment in three main areas. Intrinsic, Extrinsic and the Systemic- the Intrinsic measures the aptitude for strong relational judgment, the Extrinsic measures the aptitude “for strong tasks, projects, and processes and the Systemic measures the aptitude for strong long-range planning, strategic visioning, structural integrations, implications and consequences” (Byrum & Harrington, 2016). 

This study focused on the impact of coaching on leadership values as measured by the Hartman Value Profile (HVP).  HVP is a value judgment assessment which underlies the factors that make good leaders. 

This is determined by scores retrieved from pre-and post-assessment results. A result coaching session reveals scores after an assessment is taken. During a coaching session participants’ are provided with ways to improve their future scores.

This coaching intervention helps to measure the variances in scores before and after coaching in the HVP Part 1 world side (work side) three major categories:

• Intrinsic
• Extrinsic
• Systemic Values

Research by Byrum and Taylor (2016) found that organizations that promote achievement and professional growth lean their focus towards an (a) strategic vision-how to articulate, the layout in terms of tactics and how to get buy-in from others; (b) work ethic; and (c) trust. Therefore, they need measurable achievements and development in these areas. Providing evidence that these values and then the judgments, traits, and behaviors that will follow, are present in individuals (Anghel, 2015). 

Values become a trait when the value drives judgments and decisions over enough time that some become habitual in practice.

The habitual judgment manifested over time, can be identified as a trait. These traits are important to organizations because they lend themselves so readily to successful outcomes that are both productive and profitable.

Values are essential to the effectiveness and functioning of organizations because individuals are the fabric of the workplace (Dean, 2012).  Value is a judgment of either rightness or wrongness of something or someone based on a person’s priorities and life experiences (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).  

Workplaces lacking values or one that demonstrates a weak value system may struggle significantly.  The struggle might be more likely where individuals who function in leadership roles because the decision they make has a greater impact on the organization (Griffiths, 2010).  

To achieve superior excellence in the service they provide as well as to receive good customer satisfaction scores, employers seek employees with good value systems (Dean, 2012). This research will help coaches, human resource, and organizational development professionals identify the most desirable traits when it comes to classifying leadership qualities in their organizations.

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