Search
Related Links

 

 

Informative Articles

Dissatisfied with Your Job? Take Your Power Back!
Apparently, there are all sorts of reasons to be dissatisfied with your job… Statistically, studies have shown that: -Lack of career advancement -Lack of training -Lack of direction from supervisors -A challenging economy -Lack of support from...

Goals for Undergraduates: What You Should Know When You Graduate.
I loved college. I majored in a subject which fascinated me, took the classes I wanted to, and got great grades. When I graduated, I thought I knew everything I needed to know to succeed in the big postgraduate world. I was wrong. Most of my...

Holistic Junction's Featured School of the Week: Universal Body Wellness Massage School
Holistic Junction is excited to present Universal Body Wellness Massage School as the featured school of the week. Universal Body Wellness Massage School's philosophy is '...Massage Therapy is the best humanitarian effort going on the...

Instructional DVD's Help Promote Mental Action
In the domain of the fine arts more than elsewhere the creations are intimately connected with mental action and are distinctly marked as products of mind. Music, vocal and instrumental, the single singer or the multitude in the chorus, the one...

Is Buddhism a Religion?
Buddhism is a teaching which has spread worldwide absorbing the culture of each country it arrived in, which has resulted in many expressions of Buddhism. Each strand, no matter how varied in nature and practice, holds a common emphasis on the...

 
Work attitude ethics for progress

January, 12, 2004

This "fruit for thought" article is for all human beings, who somehow find themselves in the role of breadwinner and striving to improve their living standards.

© This article may be re-published only in ezines, magazines, newspapers and web sites, as long as it remains unchanged, together with the accompanying signatures and this copyright notice.

The heading of this article could just as well have been "How to position yourself for promotion" or "How to position yourself for career advancement" or "How to climb the success ladder" or something similar.

The answer on how to cultivate good work ethics is simple. Make yourself one of the linking pins in your organisation. A linking pin is someone to whom everybody turns to, to get information and advice from. It is also someone who can link persons, sections and departments for better co-operation. But most important of all, it is someone who can exert influence upwards, downwards and sideways in the organisation structure. In other words you must be able to influence people around you to carry out the wishes, policies and strategies of top management, by earning respect through your display of expertise and thoroughness. You must also be able to represent the valid wishes and needs of lower levels to top management. You can become a linking pin by striving to attain the following traits:

Cloak yourself with expert knowledge in your technical field of operation.

If you are an electrician, do not only be satisfied with your qualification. Try to gain more in depth expertise in this technical field of yours, to distinguish yourself from other electricians.

If you are an accountant, avail yourself of in depth knowledge about bookkeeping practices by studying or reading up on subjects pertinent for your field of technical expertise.

You can bluff your way during interviews, but once you have been appointed, people expect from you to perform. This is where the cookie crumbles or you succeed. The point is you must not only perform at an average level, but you must display exceptional or above average expertise, so that others can start to rely on your opinions and advice.

Produce accurate work.

Cultivate a habit to carry out your work correctly with a minimum of mistakes. Sloppiness or tardiness must definitely not be present in your attitude, personal appearance or any of your work outputs, be it notes, memo’s, letters, spreadsheets, conversations or anything related to your work.

Imagine what will happen if debits and credits are being processed the wrong way around in a financial department. It will have disastrous consequences. Strive for professionalism in what you do.

Be quicker than most.

This is one of the best ways to demonstrate your superiority and efficiency. By executing duties and tasks speedily, you are being more productive and can entice more important tasks your way and thereby not only increase your merit ratings, but also your ultimate job rating. If you can perform your duties speedily, do not wait and stay idle, but present yourself to your superior for more work. Find a balance to be both quick and accurate.

Display awareness of productivity.

This must start with your own self-evaluation. Ask yourself constantly if you are giving more back to the organisation in value, than what you are being paid every month. Although not easy to calculate, just thinking about it may have enough of an impact. Just imagine for a moment if your organisation were to be solely dependant for profit on the output of human beings only. In other words nothing to sell or produce but labour output. If you can do more, it reflects directly on profit. Luckily a lot of organisations have machines that make up in productivity for what is lost by unproductive employees. But being more productive in what you do as a human being, can contribute significantly to the profits of any organisation. As salaries are one of the highest cost elements in any organisation, this is one of the first cost elements that come under scrutiny during times of cost reduction efforts. You have to show your worth in order not to be included in downscaling of the labour force. But more positively, you have to show your worth to be counted in for consideration for promotion.

Get rid of time wasters.

Arriving late for work, stretching of tea and lunch breaks and elongated private conversations on the phone, are not only wasting your valuable time, but are a reflection of your poor awareness of productivity. Private conversations on the telephone are one of the most abused methods of stealth stealing from your employer. If you cannot be trusted on the use of the telephone, what else can you be trusted with? Are you a role model for getting rid of these time wasters or for abusing it? Are you earning respect for your ethical conduct in eradicating time wasters or are you just one of the crowd? If you discipline yourself and others around you on the economical use of time, you are on your way to earn a respected leadership role. Others must detect a sense of urgency in your execution of duties to begin to respect and follow your example. Do you want to be a follower or a


leader? Do you want to stay obscured in the crowd for the rest of your life or do you want to be recognised? There is such a thing as telephone ethics, you know. If you are prepared to pay for your use of the employer telephone, you are not abusing it. Do you really know what you are costing your employer for using the phone? You are not supposed to use it for private purposes in the first place. It is a privileged instrument entrusted to you to help you in your work and not to cause financial loss to you employer.

Be open-minded and ready for organisational changes.

Whenever changes are announced, be positive and display a leadership role in executing the new policies and strategies. If you participated in the planning of the changes, then you were forewarned. But even if you experience unexpected changes, be first to look out for positive reasons for such changes and to influence others around you to accept it with positive attitudes. Defending superiors and higher management will increase your leadership status and trustworthiness. In a political sense it will display your role as siding with management against the disgruntled crowd.

Arrange and organise your paperwork.

A good filing system allows you to retrieve required documents and information fast for own use or for use by other parties. It is a reflection of your efficiency and your ability for sound logic thinking. If you surround yourself with paperwork to impress on others how busy you are, you are making the mistake of your life. It can be interpreted in many different ways, like you cannot cope with the workload, you cannot delegate, you spend too much on time wasters, you are too slow and worst of all you cannot manage yourself or others. If you cannot get rid of papers, you will not find the time to attend to the needs and development of your subordinates. You will also not find the time to liase with colleagues or to discipline your section or department. You will be a walk over and ripe for being misused by subordinates not respecting you. Rather be a reliable source of information with the time for training your subordinates and others. Clean up your desk to make time for others.

Read up on the principles of supervision and management.

Familiarise yourself with the knowledge on how to be a good supervisor or manager. If you can display management capabilities, you will sooner be identified for promotion. It is better to be promoted for your managerial capabilities than for your technical proficiency. It will allow you to perform your managerial duties better. Apart from being technically proficient, prepare yourself in advance for possible promotion. Make yourself ready and available for your employer and the future needs of your organisation.

Confidential information.

Your treatment of confidential information is going to be a good gauge of your character. You only have to make one mistake in this area, not to be trusted ever again. If you have a problem in this area, rectify it quickly. Your superiors and employer have to trust and rely on your discretion with confidential information. Some information must be kept confidential or secret until it is time for disclosure.

You must proof your ability for discretion with this type of information, so that they know they can trust and rely on you. Let them know and understand that you are part and parcel of management.

Show initiative.

Make suggestions to improve methods of work and systems. See problems as opportunities for improvement. Do not just report problems, but analyse it wisely and make recommendations for improvement. Recognise opportunities for improvement and development and utilise it.

Be honest, open and direct.

Harboring a secretive attitude of slyness with hidden agenda’s, will not remain a secret for long. Other persons will eventually detect it and despise you for it. You can just as well fire yourself, because that is where you will end up. Nobody will trust you after you have been exposed. Be open and direct in your communications and handling of conflict situations. Do not be afraid to air your opinions, as long as it is genuine and true. Truthful mistakes can always be remedied later on.

Summary:

Life is ever so short that nobody can really afford to remain average in the obscured crowd of nobodies. Make yourself stand out as someone with strong principles and work ethics, so that others can rely on your strengths. Qualifications alone, without work ethics, are totally worthless. Make the following words part of your life and your philosophy on your outlook of work:

Tenacity – keep on trying
Conscientious – keep on thinking about ways to finalise and improve your work
Humorous – make life bearable and enjoyable
Urgency – you must finalise your work with speed and accuracy
Trustworthiness – proof yourself to be a reliable and dependable person
Openness and honesty – be a person of honour and proud of yourself


About the Author

Company: Leaders Circle, specialising in corporate consulting and the design of training manuals and lectures for the development of human resources. http://www.digiproducts.net/
http://www.geocities.com/jungletruth/

 

philosophy: the best cosmetic is great-looking skin
the best skin of your life is at your fingertips. owner and ceo of philosophy, cristina carlino, is the creator, founder and former ceo of BioMedic, ...
www.philosophy.com
 
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Non-profit organization that collects and makes available original articles about philosophy topics. University of Tennessee at Martin.
www.iep.utm.edu
 
Philosophy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The entrance page to all articles in the philosophy section of the free encyclopedia.
en.wikipedia.org
 
Philosophy Pages
Aids to the study of philosophy, including study guide, dictionary, timeline, discussion of major philosophers, and links to e-texts.
www.philosophypages.com
 
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Online encyclopedia of philosophy created and maintained by Stanford University.
plato.stanford.edu
 
Table of Contents
Arabic and Islamic Philosophy, historical and methodological topics in ... Beattie, James — see Scottish Philosophy: in the 18th Century; Beauvoir, ...
plato.stanford.edu
 
Philosophy Collection
Links to canonical philosophic texts available for viewing.
philosophy.eserver.org
 
Guide to Philosophy on the Internet (Suber)
A regularly updated collection of online philosophy resources by Peter Suber of Earlham College.
www.earlham.edu
 
Humanities > Philosophy in the Yahoo! Directory
Browse resources about philosophers and philosophy, including schools of thought, study guides, university departments, and conferences.
dir.yahoo.com
 
Bristol University - Department of Philosophy - Home
With 13 permanent members of staff, we are larger than many philosophy departments in the UK. Our interests cover a wide range of topics within the Analytic ...
www.bris.ac.uk
 
Google Corporate Information: Our Philosophy
Our Philosophy. Never settle for the best "The perfect search engine," says Google co-founder Larry Page, "would understand exactly what you mean and give ...
www.google.com
 
Philosophy of the GNU Project - GNU Project - Free Software ...
This directory describes the philosophy of the Free Software Movement, which is the motivation for our development of the free software operating system GNU ...
www.gnu.org
 
Intute: Arts and Humanities - Philosophy
Search or browse the database of Philosophy resources which have been selected, evaluated and described by subject specialists. ...
www.intute.ac.uk
 
EpistemeLinks: For Philosophy Resources on the Internet
EpistemeLinks is a comprehensive resource for philosophy on the Internet, providing thousands of links categorized by philosopher, topic, and resource type.
www.epistemelinks.com
 
Cambridge Journals Online - Display Journal
Philosophy is the journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, which was founded in 1925 to build bridges between specialist philosophers and a wider ...
journals.cambridge.org
 
MIT philosophy home page
Department of Linguistics and Philosophy - Cambridge, Massachusetts - BA, PhD.
web.mit.edu
 
The Philosophers' Magazine Online
Philosophy articles, bookstore, events, and discussion board.
www.philosophersnet.com
 
VoS - Voice of the Shuttle
The Philosophy of Complexity Per Se with Application to Some Examples in Evolution" ... Philosophy is Everybody's Business: Great Ideas from the Great Books ...
vos.ucsb.edu
 
Philosophy Now
Bi-monthly, non-academic publication with news, articles, and columns aimed at those with an interest in philosophy. Site features select full-text articles ...
www.philosophynow.org
 
Philosophy around the Web
Guide and a gateway to philosophy resources on the Internet, by Dr Peter J. King, University of Oxford.
users.ox.ac.uk