Boris Crnković

A CROSS-SECTORAL STUDY OF VALUE PROFILES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EMPLOYEES IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE

Abstract This study of cultures across 6 countries (7 regions) shows that each region has its own specificity and its own unique employee value profile. Value profiles have been explored as a potential diagnostic tool on the basis of Hofstede’s value dimensions in the service of human resource development at the local level. The resulting employee value profiles are based on a representative sample of employees in the private and public sectors. Significant similarity in value profiles have been found for employees from Croatia and Serbia compared to Romania, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy, both in the public and private sector. The research results suggest the direction that managers and policymakers need to take in order to understand what employees’ values are, how they can be used, and how to address the challenges of human resource development in their region.

Employees’ individual values as a source of human capital

Abstract The paper is an analysis of individual values of employees carried out on the basis of the Schwartz theory of basic human values. On a sample of 1166 respondents from a population of six European countries (Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia) it has been shown how individual values in organisational context can be used in a form of value profiles at regional level. Individual values of employees in companies and local government units were analysed. The research showed how value profiles can be formed and how they can contribute to increase managers’ awareness of human resources potentials and thus increase human capital of an organisation. Croatian and Serbian value profiles show similarities, while Romanian and Hungarian employees’ profiles are more distinctive. Values of stimulation and tradition dominate at top management positions.