This post looks at the impact of two core work values–Relationships and Independence–on the percent who worked from home on an average day. According to Onetonline.org, a core work value of Relationships is defined as: “Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.” A core work value of Independence is defined as: “Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.”
First, I look at whether each occupation within a particular job family list Relationships and/or Independence as one of their top three core work values. Then I calculate what percent each job family is composed of occupations that value Relationships. I also calculate what percent each job family is composed of occupations that value Independence. Figure 1, below, shows the percent of job families that are composed of occupations that value Relationships and/or Independence.
To illustrate the methodology a little further, take the job family “Management Occupations.” There are 38 occupations under “Management Occupations” and I examine each occupation within the family. The first occupation under “Management Occupations” is “Chief Executives.” Next I look at what are the top three core work values for “Chief Executives” and find that Independence is in the top three. I do this for each occupation under “Management Occupations” and then find out what percent of “Management Occupations” are made of occupations that value Responsibility and/or Independence.
| Figure 1. Percent of Job Families that are Composed of Occupations that Value Relationships and/or Independence | |||
| Job Families Description | SOC Code | Percent Relationship | Percent Independence |
| Management occupations | 11 | 44.07% | 76.27% |
| Business and financial operations occupations | 13 | 45.10% | 84.31% |
| Computer and mathematical science occupations | 15 | 3.03% | 72.73% |
| Architecture and engineering occupations | 17 | 12.68% | 66.20% |
| Life, physical, and social science occupations | 19 | 26.67% | 70.00% |
| Community and social service occupations | 21 | 100.00% | 78.57% |
| Legal occupations | 23 | 50.00% | 37.50% |
| Education, training, and library occupations | 25 | 57.38% | 90.16% |
| Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations | 27 | 47.62% | 80.95% |
| Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations | 29 | 70.24% | 57.14% |
| Healthcare support occupations | 31 | 100.00% | 22.22% |
| Protective services occupations | 33 | 55.17% | 72.41% |
| Food preparation and serving occupations | 35 | 94.12% | 64.71% |
| Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations | 37 | 75.00% | 75.00% |
| Personal care occupations | 39 | 96.77% | 83.87% |
| Sales and related occupations | 41 | 75.00% | 75.00% |
| Office and administrative support occupations | 43 | 87.93% | 60.34% |
| Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations | 45 | 52.94% | 82.35% |
| Construction and extraction occupations | 47 | 70.49% | 57.38% |
| Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations | 49 | 44.44% | 81.48% |
| Production occupations | 51 | 66.96% | 60.71% |
| Transportation occupations | 53 | 70.00% | 72.00% |
Next, I run a basic regression trying to predict the impact of the core work values of Relationships and Independence on percent who worked at home on an average day. I find that job families that are made up of a greater percentage of occupations that value Relationships are less likely to have employees work from home. More specifically, a one percentage point increase in Relationships leads to a 10.68% decrease in percent who worked from home on an average day.
Job families that are composed of a greater percentage of occupations that value Independence are more likely to have employees work from home. In fact, a one percentage point increase in Independence leads to a 17.35% increase in the percent who worked from home on an average day. Both the 10.68% decrease and the 17.35% increase are significant statistics, which means that they are unlikely to be due to chance.
The takeaway is that core work values can have a real impact on business practices. This post links the core work value of Relationships to a decline in percent of employees who work from home. I also link Independence to an increase in percent who worked from home. Both of these core work values have real work consequences.
Sources: https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/11-1011.00#WorkValues, https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/archive/work-at-home-patterns-by-occupation.pdf