Creating Tomorrow

Dear Friends,

I confess, I regularly follow “Dear Abby”. Recently she did a follow-up on a letter from a woman disgruntled by what she perceived as a colleague’s lax work ethic. This woman felt it was unfair to her that her colleague took time off to attend her children’s school activities and beauty appointments, for example.

The responses Abby received from other readers on her answer were mixed. Some joined in to mourn the overall decline in work ethic, while others pointed out how the game has changed - and many companies have missed out on changing with it. These changes include:

The motivation to go that extra mile out of a sense of loyalty to your employer has decreased dramatically as it’s become clear that - in times of trouble  - your employer most likely won’t take care of you.

• There is no longer any such thing as a “lifetime job”. Not only that, many employers have made it more than clear that they consider their employees an expendable short- or mid-term commodity.
• Benefit packages in many companies have been cut back to the bone, leaving even people who are fully employed feeling vulnerable where health care, pensions, etc.  are concerned.

On the other hand, changes in the workforce and attitudes toward work need to be reflected in how we define “work ethic”.

• More people are interested in working smart versus putting in loads of “face time”; i.e. maintaining a better work/life balance than their parents’ generation did.
• That means not only women are looking for more flexible ways to schedule their work, so they can meet other important demands in their lives while still delivering good work on the job; e.g. be working via laptop/internet from home.

Despite the lip-service some employers/supervisors pay to contemporary leadership wisdom, the pervading atmosphere and attitudes in some organizations are still pretty 1950’s, where employees were often treated either like docile children or reticent teens - even though for the most part these same people  - outside of the workplace - were making big life decisions and living responsible lives without their employer’s/supervisor’s constant intervention.

Here’s an excerpt from my own response to Abby’s follow-up:

• Do your employees understand the overall company objective? How can they help you get there if they have no idea where you want to go…?
• Do they understand how - and why - what they do is essential to ensuring success in meeting those overall objectives? Am I just laying bricks, building a wall, or helping make a cathedral…?
• Do they grasp how the progress/quality of their work can support (or impede) the progress/quality of their colleagues’ work? In other words, do they understand their pivotal role as part of the different teams within the workplace…?
• Are deadlines, benchmarks, etc., communicated clearly (and reviewed/adjusted when necessary)? Is there a sense of relevancy or just a well-worn rut…?
• Do they receive regular behavior-related feedback and coaching to keep them on track and/or advance their skills? Or do they just hear what went wrong when things are all over (or maybe not at all)…?
• Is the good quality of their work appreciated - not only via a competitive wage package, but also via acknowledgment and praise?
• Do you make employees responsible for the quality of their results, then leave them alone to go about getting there? Or do you disempower them by micro-managing each step along the way?
• Does your company respect the fact that they are paying for specific results (output) from an employee and that these individual…um…humans also have lives and concerns outside the workplace that - if left unattended - can seriously impact the quality of their work?

We are all human and often live up to the expectations placed upon us. If it’s assumed that I am too stupid or lazy to tie my own shoe laces or will steal anything from a pencil to a turbo engine at the drop of a hat, how long will it take for me to live up to that expectation (or simply stop living up to any expectations)? If, however, I know which way I’m supposed to being going, my efforts aren’t ignored (none of the “we pay you, so why should we praise you”-mentality), I have a clear opportunity to use my talents and experience for my own and the company’s benefit, I’m made to feel like a name and not just a number, and I get a competitive wage, there is no reason for me NOT to do good work.

And that’s true whether our professional relationship lasts 2 years or 20…

 Trina