Man : Ethos (Work Ethics)

Work Ethics

How do ethics affect your life?

Ethics is not just knowing right from wrong, but understanding the factors behind choices we make every day, especially when right vs. wrong is less clear.

We are bombarded today with different types of ethics. As just some examples:

1. Work Ethics
2. Industry Ethics
3. Medical Ethics
4. Bio-technology ethics
5. Nursing Ethics

Whether a teen, adult, or senior citizen, we all face ethical decisions every day. One need not be a professional -- or even be employed -- to come face to face with decisions involving ethics.

The same ethics apply to all employees, in any job, including jobs for teenagers. We all know people who show up for work, punch in on the clock, then-- disappear for hours. Maybe they know a storage room where they sleep. Or, maybe they know where cameras won't catch them being lazy and not working. 
Some air traffic controllers recently got in trouble because they were caught sleeping on the job. But whether in an airport tower, or in a fast food restaurant, some employees can try to beat the system and earn money without doing their work. This is called "poor work ethics"-- and it's a form of cheating that ends up "costing" everyone (not just that employer or company). Employers can't run effectively when employees don't have strong personal and work ethics.
      A key to understanding ethics is to watch for and hear the voice inside yourself when you are in situations that you “could” do something wrong and think you wouldn't be caught doing it. If your thoughts before doing an action make you feel nervous, afraid, afraid of being caught, or feeling that you'll "get one over" on someone else, it's likely you are breaking an ethical boundary. 
It's more than just your conscience or knowing right from wrong. 
Ethics involves doing what is right, even if you temporarily feel you'd be doing better to do something wrong. But, people find that when they do follow strong ethical principles--including admitting when we've done the wrong thing or make a serious mistake-- that they actually feel much better about themselves. There is a particular kind of pride involved when you maintain strong personal ethics in all areas of life, whether at home, school, in a job or in a relationship.

Instilling a Strong Work Ethic in Children From a Young Age

The lessons in diligence and perseverance in educating and training children on work ethics is an  invaluable experienced,  the greatest gifts to parents is to instill a strong work ethic from an early age.

1) Model Hard Work Before Them

Raising children meant, "More is caught than taught". We can't expect our children to work hard if they don't see us working hard.

i.    An uphill struggle with – (especially when it comes to keeping my room clean), 
ii.   to keep the main living areas of our home picked up and clean,
iii.  the room and bathroom are the areas that often suffer.

Making it a habit to keep room and bathroom clean because it seems rather hypocritical to expect something of children that we as adult  don't do well!

2) Require More Effort Upfront

When teaching young children to work, it typically takes a lot of practice before they get it. 
a. Show them how to do a chore a few times. Then, 
b. work alongside them and help them do the chore. 
c. Finally, once you're really sure they've gotten it, let them do it on their own -- and then be sure to inspect their work.

  This takes patience and perseverance, it will pay off! Start teaching my the 2-year-old and 4-year-old to clean the bathroom. It seemed like an exercise in futility at first, with no one really picking up on what I was wanting them to do.

Keep  at it week by week, and within a few months, they were working more independently. Have the cleaning supplies down from the closet and they can pretty much do a great job on the bathroom all by themselves!

3) Give Age-Appropriate Chores

 i. Don't frustrate your children by giving them chores that are too difficult for them. 
ii. Start your children out with one or two simple chores and then gradually add more as they catch on and improve.

Remember, though, that each child is different. What might be simple for one 4-year-old, could be utterly overwhelming to another. So keep your own child's abilities in mind when assigning chores and don't feel frustrated if they struggle to do what another child their age can easily pull off.

4) Make Work Fun

Young children typically love to work -- especially if you make it fun! We have some special chore time CDs that we turn on while we're doing our morning chores. They are upbeat and motivating and my children know that turning them on means it's time to get to work. They often sing along while working (sometimes I do, too).

Have races to see who can finish their chores first. Sometimes, I'll give an incentive or reward. Oftentimes, the reward of finishing first is plenty enough.

Involve young children in what you’re doing and let them work beside me -- even if it ends up taking a lot longer. Remind yourself that the goal as a parent is to work yourself out of a job, so the sooner you can teach them to work alongside you, the more help they'll become as the years go by!

5) Praise Constantly

It’s easy to want to focus on pointing out all the things a child does wrong and where they need to improve. Instead of dwelling on what they didn’t do right, focus most of your energies on praising those things they did well.

Encouragement and affirmation go a long way. Make it a goal to praise 10 times more than you point out areas for improvement. Not only will your words of praise build up your child, but they will motivate and inspire them to continue working hard and developing the character quality of diligence.

You never know how far your example, efforts in teaching your children, and praise may take your child some day. Don't give up, keep on teaching and training your children to work hard.  You will reap the fruit of your labor someday very soon!

Building Strong Work Ethics in Teens

The tumultuous teen years may not seem like the best time to be thinking about building a strong work ethic, but actually, they are the perfect time to do some construction on your teens work ethics.

a.   Self Starter

Many teens lack the skills to be self starters. They must first be directed in what to do. Some teens are very detail oriented person and knows exactly what is expected. Some needs a detail  directive in teaching how to do the various chores. Once done, a few times there is no longer a need to ask to do them, they became a self starter. Those few first lessons were enough to get going on their own and keep that momentum going until they became a self starter.

b.   Persistence

Example :  At the tender age of 16 a teenage decided he needed a job. He went to a local fast food lrestaurant and turned in an application. They told him it would be kept on file for 30 days at which point if he hadn't been called in for an interview, he would need to fill out a new application. At the 30 day mark he went and got another application and filled it out. After that 30 day period he tried a new approach. He filled out the 3^rd application and when he turned it in he asked to talk to a manager. He told the manager he would check back on his application in 2 days. After the 2 days had passed he went in and the manager told him she didn't have a position open yet but to check back.

The teenage continued checking back every 2 days for the next 30 days. On the last day, before he would need to fill out a new application, the manager sat down with him and asked him why she should hire him. His answer? "I'm persistent and will get the job done". He got the job. He's now been at that job for 15 months and had two promotions.

c.    Motivation

Motivating a teen to have work ethics need  mom and dad as a good examples.  Motivating by extrinsic values - the money. Setting a good example by  working  for what they truly want in life. Nothing will come to them on a silver platter. If they want something, they must work for it.

d.   Dedication

Talking about a dedicated employee. In his 15 months of employment a working teenage  only missed 4 days. On those 4 days (not all at once) he was very sick and in fact went to the doctor for his illnesses. As soon as the antibiotics had kicked in (24 hours per the doctor) the teenage drag himself out of bed and went to work. He wasn't feeling 100 percent, but he is a dedicated employee. As long as he wasn't contagious and knew he could perform his job, he went in. How many adults do this?

e.   Responsibility

Teaching teens strong work ethics teaches them responsibility that will follow them throughout the rest of their lives. The teens of today will be the parents of tomorrow's teens. How will they teach their teens?

f.     Consequences

Last but not least, are consequences. For every misdeed, there is a consequence. Teens need to know that building a strong work ethic will have the consequence of a good pay off. Perhaps they'll get the raise, or a good grades for working really hard on their most recent test. If they skip school or work to play and have fun they risk the chance of being caught by a teacher or an employer. Scheduling regular work, study and play time will help them to avoid negative consequences and their strong work ethics will shine through.

Many teens aren't ready for a job while they're still in high school, but teaching these teens a strong work ethic by putting school and their education first will go far in teaching them a strong work ethic as well.

Ethical Values for Business Success

A work ethic, especially a positive work ethic, is important from a business perspective for the confidence it breeds in clients and consumers. Your positive attitude and dedication to a client's needs or creation of a product can boost your business' reputation as a company that deals honestly and fairly. Ethics also work to build a moral compass within a business and helps discourage attitudes and business models that seek to cut corners in the name of making a profit.

Here are some important values:

  i.      Honesty

 
The old adage, "honesty is the best policy" is true today more than ever. It's not just lip service. Employee business ethics manuals in most corporations are likely to containing its commitment to honesty and integrity at work. integrity at work.ual is passé. You're either honest or not. Even if you haven't got caught yet, most people know who is and who isn't.

   ii.     Integrity at Work 

Integrity connotes strength and stability. It means taking the high road by practicing the highest business ethics standards. Demonstrating integrity in the workplace shows completeness and soundness in your character and in your organization. It shows that you have solid workplace behavior ethics  that matter in the real world that promote positive work ethics.

 iii.      Responsibility

Blaming others, claiming victimhood, or passing the buck may solve short-term crises, but refusal to take responsibility erodes respect and cohesion in an organization. Ethical people take responsibility for their actions. Workplace stress issues  are no excuse. Likewise, actions show the ability to be responsible both in the little and big things. Good work ethics show a deeper commitment to personal responsibility.

 iv.       Quality

Quality should be more than making the best product, but should extend to every aspect of your work. A person who recognizes quality and strives for it daily has a profound sense of self-respect, pride in accomplishment, and attentiveness that affects everything. From memos to presentations, everything should be communicated professionally  and with quality. Don't let workplace stress issues  rob you of striving for quality in everything you do.

   v.      Trust

There's no free ride to good work ethics.  Trust is hard to earn and even harder to get back once you've lost it. Everyone who comes in contact with you or your company must have trust and confidence in how you do business ethics. Conflict of interest  in the workplace must not be on your mind agenda such as moonlighting on your day job.

 vi.       Respect

Respect is more than a feeling, but a demonstration of honor, value, and reverence for something or someone. We respect the laws, the people we work with, the company and its assets, and ourselves.

vii.       Teamwork

Two or more employees together make a team. It is a business necessity to work openly and supportively in teams whether formal or informal. You need each other for effective problem solving in the workplace.

viii.      Leadership

How many hardworking, honest employees have been tainted and led astray by corporate leadership failings? Managers and executives should uphold the ethical standards for the entire organization. A leader is out front providing an example that others will follow. Problem solving in the work place must be your first responce. The real test of these values comes from the resulting action. It takes a concerted, company-wide effort, beyond inserting these words in an employee manual, to make it happen.

Building a Reliable Work Ethic

A work ethic is a set of values based on the ideals of hard work and discipline. Building a reliable work ethic means training yourself to follow these values. Training yourself so that work becomes automatic instead of a struggle.

Constructing Habits

A work ethic is based on habits. Persistence, focus, “do it now,” and “do it right” are the key habits in building a dependable work ethic. Here are some steps for building those habits:

a.    Forming the Persistence Habit

The first part of a reliable work ethic is persistence. If you quickly burn out after only a short period of work or you can’t stay focused on a task for long, you lack persistence. Building persistence is like building endurance for a race, slowly training yourself to work harder for longer periods of time.

Persistence should always be balanced with periods of rest. Working twelve hours straight won’t usually be the most effective strategy even if your work ethic is strong. But training yourself to work longer can help you if you need to and it makes working shorter periods of time easier.
Here are some tips:

·      Measure Yourself - Figure out how long you can work effectively. Measure how long it takes before you slow down or give up. Measurement can be a source for improvement.

·      Run a Burnout Day – Try working longer for one day, following it with a lighter day afterwards. By stretching your focus for longer periods once in a while you can boost your persistence for normal days.

·      Do an Extra 20% - When you feel like quitting, go an extra 20%. If you’ve been working intensely for three hours but are feeling the desire to stop, try another forty minutes before taking a break.

b.   Forming the Focus Habit

Even more critical than persistence is focus. A car going 70 mph for one hour will go further than a car going 10 mph for six. Focusing all your energies for even a short period of time can be tiring, but combined with persistence it is a powerful ability to have.

Here are some tips for forming the focus habit:

·      Timebox - Give yourself 60-90 minutes to work on a particular task. During that time you can’t rest or engage in any distractions.

·      Accelerate - It can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes to build up a concentrated focus. Give yourself time to accelerate into a focused state.

·      Cut Distractions - Practice the habit of turning off all outside noise. Phones, e-mail, RSS, Twitter and visitors should be shut out while trying to focus.

c.    Forming the “Do It Now” Habit

Don’t let yourself procrastinate. Having a strong work ethic means having the phrase “do it now” as a constant hum in the background. Time for leisure is fine, but if you are trying to work make sure the only thing you are doing is work. Don’t let yourself procrastinate when you still have an unfinished to-do list.

·      Do it Now for 30 Days – Kill the procrastination bug for good. For the next thirty days define periods of your day you want to devote to work or personal projects. During those periods of time, remind yourself of the “do it now” phrase and get working whenever you feel the urge to procrastinate.

d.   Forming the “Do it Right” Habit

The final aspect of getting things done is doing them properly. Sloppy work, hastily finishing things or spending too little time working out details leads to poor quality. If you aren’t going to do something properly, it’s probably not a good idea to do it at all.

 
Perfectionism isn’t necessary for many tasks, but most things require a minimum standard of quality. Writing code without useful variable names or documentation. Graphics with merged layers. Articles filled with spelling and grammatical errors. The “do it right” habit means actively slowing yourself down slightly to fix problems before they occur.

Here are some tips:

·      Separate Creation and Criticism – Ideas require mess. Solving a programming problem or writing an article often requires that you first let go of your need for perfection. But once you’ve finished the idea, you should separate a specific time for clean-up afterwards.

·      Measure Twice, Cut Once – For tasks that don’t have an Undo feature, take extra care in doing them properly the first time.

·      Set Two Deadlines - Avoid analysis paralysis by setting two deadlines. One to complete the task, and another to review and polish the work. With two deadlines you won’t stumble into the trap of perfectionism, but you won’t hastily finish something that isn’t ready.

·      Sit on It – If you’ve hit a milestone in a task or project, take a few minutes to work on something else. When you come back you can use a fresh perspective to tweak problems.

List of Work Ethics

1.   Trust Among Employees

o    Hold a meeting with all employees to establish trust among everyone. Employees can compromise valuable information by talking to each other or to another company. Establishing trust between a company and its employees helps overcome the huge hurdle of employee discord.

2.   Respecting Employee Privacy

o          From the boss's side, a sense of work ethics means respecting the privacy of your employees in the workplace. Morally not sharing private employee information with other companies setting up secret cameras to monitor employees at their work stations or in other places around the office. This also functions as a work ethic among fellow employees.

3.      Persistence in Work

o    A persistence habit enables an employee to form a good work ethic when actually doing work. A measures of this ethic is by how much work you can technically do work before a burnout set in or  committing to doing 20 percent more when you feel like quitting. However, you should always know you limit and quit when appropriate for your own health.

4.   Creating Focus

o  Another strategy in work ethics is creating a sense of focus in doing good work. One technique involves allowing focus on just one project for at least 90 minutes without distractions. Allow yourself to build up focus, could take up to 30 minutes with practice. Make a commitment to work all day without Internet, cellphone or visitations from people.

5.   Getting Work Done Properly

o    While persistence and focus are essential, a good work ethic involves getting the work you're doing done accurately. For a creative task, this might require an extra day to perfect a project. Or, you can set a project aside temporarily to work on something else to give a fresh perspective to the former. But when a project needs immediate clarity, keep a sense of concentration again, using focus and lack of distraction.

A work ethic of any kind not only includes how you feel about your place of employment or position but also how you perform the duties of your job. A work ethic includes your attitude, communication abilities, behavior toward coworkers, honesty and accountability. What sets a positive work ethic apart from a negative work ethic is the focus on confidence and encouraging interactions with coworkers. Your attitude toward your job and position in a positive work ethic is just that -- positive. You arrive at work with a smile on your face, focused on the task at hand and committed to performing your duties to the best of your ability.

Excerpt and extracts taken with thanks from :

http://www.globalethicsuniversity.com/integrity-at-work.php

Greg Brian, eHow Contributor

Wikipedia

Linda L Kinyon,

Jonathan Lister, eHow Contributor

allaboutphilosophy.org/what-are-work-ethics-faq.htm

Scott H Young

Crystal Paine