Alexia Delfino, Bocconi University

Value Misalignment at the Workplace

Abstract

We conduct a large-scale survey with a global bank to measure workers' personal values and investigate their power to explain worker-level productivity. Using granular organizational data, we construct measures of workers' value misalignment with their teammates and their boss. We show that workers who have different values than their colleagues and than their managers perform worse than those who have similar values. This negative effect is stronger and robust for value misalignment with bosses and in hard productivity measures. Exploratory evidence suggests that value misalignment hinders workers' motivation and increases managers' difficulties in coordinating employees. However, teams with improved and frequent communication can better mitigate the challenges arising from divergent values

Alexia Delfino is assistant professor of Economics. She joined Bocconi after completing my PhD in Economics at the London School of Economics.

Alexia Delfino is an applied microeconomist with interests in Development, Organizational and Behavioral Economics. Her research explores the interplay between norms, institutions and identity in explaining differences in labor market outcomes between groups and in affecting firms’ productivity. She uses a variety of research methods, such as field experiments and survey-based techniques, and frequently collaborates with organizations in both developed and developing countries. She worked on recruitment in public-sector frontline jobs, on female entrepreneurship in developing countries and on employee culture.

You can read more about Alexia Delfino here

CEBO contact: Florian Schneider