I know you can’t judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a person by their work ethic? What does work performance really say about a person? Or what does it teach a person throughout their life? This topic is a little out of my wheelhouse, but it has been eating up my mind lately, so I am going to get it out of there.
Supervisors at my day job have recently been enforcing efforts to reduce or eliminate the use of a certain mobile device that is attached to the hip of most Americans these days. All staff received an e-mail stating that supervisors will be reporting use of cell phones and playing games rather that completing work tasks during work hours when it was not break time. At first, I was a little annoyed, as your typical employee, thinking what right do they have to dictate my spare time? I do my work and I do it well. I always take pride in that fact, and this seemed insulting, indicating that I’m not doing it well enough because I check my phone when there is nothing pertinent to do. Like most people I rolled my eyes and deleted the e-mail and continued to use my phone and play solitaire when I had no pressing tasks to perform.
A couple of days go by and I really had started thinking about the situation. I know that I would get a lot more done if I ignore my phone and avoided games to pass the time. I decided to give it a couple of days and really dedicate all my spare time at work to finding related work tasks that I could complete. I made phone calls, I knocked out the work queues, I checked my phone on my break only, and I kicked butt doing extra tasks that are not necessary to complete my daily work. It was sort of exhausting, mentally since I have a desk job, but also rewarding at the same time. Human nature sneaks in and boasts ‘this really isn’t my job’ and ‘I don’t get paid enough for this,’ but is that really what we should be thinking?
Doing a job, and doing it well, should come with its own internal rewards and not just the blue ribbon upon completion. I think an older generation took more pride in a job well done with less emphasis on what the compensation would be. Of course, compensation still had to be fair and equitable, but not to the extent of today’s expectations. Excuse my generalizations for a moment, because there are people who don’t fit the mold, but the next generation coming into the workforce expects a participation ribbon for every task they perform instead of depending on their own sense of pride for consolation. How has this happened in today’s world?
Are we taught at a young age that we need external congratulations to be happy? How do we get back the internal motivation necessary for self-confidence and strong work ethics?
Imagine a contractor building a house for a million dollars. The contractor knows he will get the money no matter how good of a job he does, as long as the project is finished in a specified amount of time and the end result looks exactly like the home owner expects. We all know that there are rules and guidelines, standards and inspections to meet throughout the home building process that have been developed through years of experience.
Imagine this particular contractor took shortcuts where he learned nobody would notice. Like telling a little white lie, or being distracted by a cell phone on the job, these little things may go unnoticed for a few months, years, decades, maybe forever. Maybe in this particular job everything turns out just fine, but on how many jobs can he take shortcuts until one actually causes damage?
What if he gets more reckless with his shortcuts because he is not getting caught? How many times will the homeowner have to call someone else to fix what could have been done right in the first place? What about the contractor’s integrity? Doesn’t he feel bad for not producing good quality work? What kind of bad habits is he building if he continues down this path? It this someone you would want to hire and work with?
This whole idea makes me think about the work that I do at my regular J.O.B. and how it spills over into my personal life. I do my job and I finish what I’m supposed to on a day-to-day basis. Sure, there’s more that I could be working on, but why don’t I? Am I taking shortcuts? They seem harmless, but it makes me wonder how many people might be picking up my slack.
Can you imagine how much more productive a company can be if all their employees worked to their best ability throughout their designated work time?
I owe it to myself to be completely at work when I’m working, not just for the benefit of my employer, but also for my own feelings of self-worth and accomplishment. Sure, everyone takes it easy every once in a while, but what if I let slacking off become a habit. I spend at least 40 hours a week at work and what if these bad habits spill over into my personal life. I don’t want to be half-in when I’m raising my children, taking care of housework, or caring for my husband. I want to be a person with habits and characteristics that I can be proud of. I want to know that I work hard at everything I do.
I want to raise my kids to be proud of their accomplishments and have great self-confidence and internal motivation to do the best job they can. What drives you to do your best?
Sincerely,
Katie Ann.
#workethics #badhabits #sincerelykatieann
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