Cultivating a Better Work Ethic Culture

If you want to shock people out of their socks, quit your job. Being a country that suffers unemployment as a major issue, we are not equipped to understand people that are moving away from something that many people are looking for.

A big percentage of Ugandans are looking for jobs, and the next big percentage is looking to move from their current jobs (Ha. Hi employers).

We have all at one time mourned at the terror of working with certain people because they are so unprofesh. Yes, we want jobs but some employees/employers make the thought of unemployment not so bad. Is it that colleague that makes you beg for work, to the point of ‘buying lunch or drinks’ just to get them to do the job they are paid to do? Is it the employers who don’t quite understand the purpose of a job description, and keep dumping on you work that is out of your agreed scope of work (instead of hiring the required resource)?

How about you? How many times have you missed a deadline, without reasonable cause? Did you communicate that you wouldn’t be able to meet the deadline, or you let the concerned parties figure it out on their own?

Whatever it is, poor work ethic is a problem that we need to address. It’s not enough to find a job (especially in such tough times), if you won’t be able to keep it. If unemployment is not a scary enough reason for you, remember that this world is too small. The job you don’t like might cost you the job of your dreams.

A better work ethic culture will become a reality through working with excellence. Below are some of the ways this can be achieved;

Pay attention to detail: Anti grammar Nazis will convince you that typos are never that serious, but don’t believe the hype. There is no reason why you should send an email/report/proposal/brief/plan et al littered with typos in the era of Ms Word. And before you say that English is not our motherland, if you feel so strongly about it, maybe you should get a job where you can use your mother tongue.  Why would you send a report with a wrong date, for example, (hello to our leading dailies)? Human beings are creatures of habit, if you can’t get the small details right, you most likely won’t do better with the bigger things.

Don’t compromise standards: Don’t compromise the quality of your work. If for some reason you are not able to meet a deadline, communicate in good time, and request for a reasonable extension. Don’t malaga submit substandard work, because it will not be as helpful to the recipient, and will be a waste of everyone’s time.

Make your good better, and your better best: It is easy to ‘win’ when you compare yourself to others, especially to those that you are better than. The goal is to improve yourself, according to your standards. If you are doing things the same way you did yesterday or last week/month/quarter/year, then you need to check yourself. Something needs to change. You should be your biggest motivator to get better. This will be portrayed in your work.

Be a good steward: When your employer picked you as an employee, they made you a manager of their company. Whatever role you play in the company, it is your duty to handle it to the best of your ability. Don’t hold back your work with a ‘this is not my company’ attitude. If you feel that way, kindly quit so that someone that is ready to handle the task can do it. This includes cheating your employer by pretending to be busy without doing any work, slacking on your work load and becoming a burden to your fellow employees and your employer.

Learn to value people: Having poor work habits, and not being concerned by this is a representation of the value that you place on the people your actions will affect. Do people have to stay late at work putting in the work that you have failed to? Are team projects delayed by your inefficiency at work? If you respect and value your work colleagues, you will not slack on the job, pretend to be busy doing nothing, or not work on improving yourself.

Personal integrity: As an individual, you need to have the integrity that will not be compromised, even when you see your work colleagues get away with their poor work ethic. If you signed a contract or made a deal, you have responsibilities and duties to fulfil. If your employer doesn’t meet their side of the contract, you should either decide to quit or stay regardless. If you choose to stay, the terms of the contract on your end are still binding.

I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of the substandard work I interact with every other day. Here’s to companies giving us better services, putting up roads that will not have potholes a week later, working traffic lights, on time deliveries, better customer care and service, and all round healthier work relationships.

P.S: I customized this from the Watoto church series #CultureRevolution.

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