If there is one common trait shared by every successful person, it is their strong work ethic. From Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi to Apple’s Tim Cook, they all achieved success after working incredibly hard on their way.
Sports legends like Serena Williams and Michael Jordan have achieved incredible feats in their careers due to their hard work, perseverance and discipline.
What is work ethic?
Work ethics is a set of moral principles or values that an employee adheres to and uses in their work performance. It covers an employee’s behavior and attitude towards their job, career and workplace.
From our childhood, we know, good work ethic leads to success. But how true is it? How is work ethic related to a person’s productivity and success?
Some of the primary elements of a strong work ethic are professionalism, integrity, respect for work and colleagues, teammates, punctuality and discipline. This standard of morality makes a person more responsible and more determined. It affects all activities of their daily life.
According to Malcolm Gladwell, if you work hard enough and persevere and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your will.
Work ethic is more significant in the workplace as it directly affects the quality or output of the work. When a person has respect for work and the workplace, they naturally become more productive. They utilize the company’s resources, value time, show good performance levels and lead the company to success.
10 ways managers can instill a strong work ethic in employees in a workplace-
1. Clarify goals and objectives:
Often, it becomes difficult for employees to complete tasks without clear goals and objectives. Employees’ work ethic is also strengthened when they are fully aware of the work they are doing. The goals and objectives of the team leader or manager should be clearly explained before starting a new task. Regardless of talent and work experience, employees need guidance. Every organization follows a specific corporate ethical culture. So managers need to align employees with clear goals and objectives.
So, the following points can be kept in mind while doing this-
Goals should be measurable and have a specific time frame.
It should be challenging and achievable at the same time.
It must be well received by team members before implementation.
2. Correct advice:
Managers should set clear goals and objectives regarding the organization’s work ethics and code of conduct. Once this is done, you need to offer good mentoring and training programs to build your employees. You have to take your role as a teacher/mentor and guide them every step of the way especially in their initial days.
As a manager, you need to use different training methods or a combination of methods to mentor them. Efforts can be made to make instructions interesting by using well-organized presentations, attractive graphics or videos. During the mentoring process, ensure effective communication by conducting one-on-one meetings or timely team meetings.
3. Set a good example:
According to Robert Noyce, if ethics is bad at the top, that behavior is copied down through the organization.
If you want to instill a good work ethic in your team, you must lead them from the front. Unless you (or people at the managerial level) set the benchmark for your team, you can’t expect to see good results. Having an organizational code of conduct and ethics is crucial, but making sure everyone complies is even more important. Man perceives through his senses and acts accordingly. Therefore, you must be a torch bearer to light the light of dedication and commitment.
In other words, you should always ‘practice what you preach.’ When you inspire or lead your team, you should always step back and see if you set a good example.
4. Create the right work environment:
An unorganized workplace means unorganized work practices. A messy work environment equals messy results.
A clutter-free work environment acts as a gateway to clarity of thought and ideas. It is a psychologically proven fact that our physical environment is directly linked to our mental well-being and productivity.
The aesthetics of the physical work environment differ from the size of the organization. But you can always make it a safe and friendly work environment for your employees. Make sure your employees feel safe.
5. Professionalism:
The essence of professionalism is to focus on the task and its demands to the exclusion of everything else while we are doing it.
You know how a real professional person talks, dresses, behaves at work. A professional person demonstrates a quality of craftsmanship and service. Professionalism begins with trust, behavior, loyalty, discipline and a hunger for excellence. With this work ethic employees work wholeheartedly and strive to excel in whatever position they hold.
A professional person is careful about his behavior and avoids showing undesirable attitude towards work. It draws team members to his point of view. Managers can therefore spread professionalism to other team members and enhance an organization’s reputation.
A manager can demonstrate his professionalism by practicing the following –
Keeping your word and trusting colleagues.
Strive to bring the highest good to the organization.
Be respectful, honest and transparent in work.
Stand above honesty in work.
Keeping colleagues in a learning attitude.
A professional person in the workplace who is able to maintain ethics is appreciated by his team members. It is through this that a true professional enjoys career with satisfaction.
6. Discipline:
Discipline acts as a bridge between organizational goals and achievements. Maintaining discipline is very important for any organization.
This is one of the key elements of work ethics and management must be very clear about this aspect. When discipline becomes part of the company culture, it establishes a logical relationship among all your employees. By establishing a culture of self-discipline, employers can positively review their actions and responses.
Discipline starts with punctuality. Managers can lay special emphasis on maintaining punctuality in the organization. Punctual employees are less likely to take time off. Also, employees who take frequent leave are considered a burden to the organization.
Discipline helps maintain workplace decorum. Do you enjoy working in a constantly noisy environment? Or can you concentrate on your daily tasks with high distraction? Discipline helps team members to work efficiently towards the desired goals and objectives of the organization.
7. Understand the needs of your employees:
To create a highly motivated workplace, you must keep your employees’ needs in mind. Employees exhibit higher levels of work engagement and commitment when their needs are met. They feel more motivated and more eager to express a positive attitude towards the organization’s goals and vision.
Autonomy in the workplace provides employees with self-direction. Mastery in any subject gives them confidence in their abilities and a sense of purpose makes their work more meaningful to them. In my opinion workers should be paid enough to “take money off the table”.
Also, keep in mind that employee needs vary. What worked in the past may not work today. Work trends are also changing and so are the demands of employees. For example, a high-ranking employee may not be satisfied with just a pay rise but may be motivated by promotion rather than pay. Again a new employee will want more training and development programs to improve their skills and all these directly affect their work. Therefore, understanding the needs of employees helps to stimulate performance and job satisfaction.
8. A culture of continuous feedback:
Elon Musk is right, “I think it’s really important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you can do it better.”
Feedback is an essential part of the workplace communication process and hence, continuous feedback plays an important role in nurturing an environment with good work ethics. Honest and constructive feedback is essential for any organization to build a culture of continuous improvement. Facilitate employees’ open discussion, transparent work culture, consultation, and rigorous exchange of ideas and information.
9. Fuel the spirit of employees:
As mentioned in the previous points, management plays an important role in fostering a good work ethic among employees. Another factor that managers can play into this equation is rewarding people for demonstrating good work ethics.
Tom Hopkins rightly said, keep your eyes open and try to see the people in your company doing something right, then praise them.
Humans have an inherent need to achieve gratitude. It is good practice to reward and recognize to ensure that the momentum of appreciation is maintained. It serves as motivation to “keep up the good work”. Employees who set a good example for others by their good work ethic deserve to be recognized as your top performers. It’s your responsibility to fuel the employees’ spirits and value and appreciate them.
10. Remove Obstacles:
Finally, to instill a strong work ethic in your employees, you must remove obstacles in their way. Identify serious obstacles for your employees, highlight poor work ethics. If your employees are disengaged and demotivated at work, they are more likely to not exhibit strong work ethics.
Negativity in the workplace, office politics, rigid hierarchy, lack of recognition and inadequate benefits can lower morale in the workplace. Remember, ethical values work best when they are intrinsic to employees. Don’t act impatient. Identify the reasons, talk to them and respect them. It can be anything from internal miscommunication between team members to undefined company culture or any personal issue.
Regular monitoring and monitoring of these factors is the main responsibility of managers.
Conclusion:
Manifesting success and satisfaction is a continuous process; Achieving this requires commitment and the right work ethic. You can’t paint office walls with work ethic quotes and expect everyone to follow them. Initially, it may work for you. But over time, a workplace culture evolves. So you can’t follow your old to-do. You must adapt and understand the vibe of the employees and create an environment in the workplace where everyone can thrive together.
In a workplace, managers can help instill the work ethic discussed above and bring about a positive change in work culture.
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