What is Work Ethics?
Developing good work ethics helps employees and organisation to improve corporate growth and productivity.
Work ethics are the principles and values used by individuals to govern their actions and decisions.
Furthermore, in every human organisation, there are certain codes or ethics that must be observed to guide activities and to achieve general goals.
Also, employees must have strong personal ethics to work.
Therefore, employees are required to observe and uphold both organisational and personal work ethics.
There are duties to fulfill in the workplace; and not to exclude personal work ethics to observe and organisational ethics to uphold.
Personal work ethics to observe
Work ethics refers to values based on hard work and diligence.
Work ethics is also a belief in the moral benefits of work; thereby enhancing character.
These ethical skills helps an employee to display an unending list of qualities that leads to a successful career and corporate growth.
Some of these skills/qualities includes but are not limited to the following;
- Dedication
- Morality
- Productivity
- Good character
- Integrity
- Sense of responsibility
- Discipline
- Professionalism
- Respectfulness
- Determination to work.
Organisational ethics to uphold
In every organisation, there are rules that are to be upheld.
Organizational ethics can be referred to as the code of conduct of an organization.
It is how an organisation responds to internal or external stimulus.
Organisational ethics is interdependent with the organisational culture.
Some Organizational ethics to uphold are;
- Fairness
- Inclusion
- Integrity
- Responsibility
- Autonomy
- Problem solving
Good workplace ethics leads to happy and satisfied employees who enjoy coming to work rather than treating it as a mere burden.
This makes employees feel a sense of loyalty and attachment to their organisation.
Why employees need to develop strong work ethics
Good work ethics is important if an individual wants to be successful in his/her career because work ethics is a set of values based on the ideals of discipline and hard work.
Therefore, good habits such as focusing, staying motivated, finishing tasks immediately, helps to create good work ethics that impresses employers and also ensures a positive atmosphere at work.
Developing a strong work ethic helps a job seeker gets and stay in a desired job.
A potential worker must show dedication and determination to provide outstanding performances in any given job.
Ideally, promotions, job security and other work benefits are mostly enjoyed by employees that display sound work ethics.
Where and how to display strong work ethics
Resumes/Cover letters
In your cover letters you can highlight situations that required you to display your work ethical skills.
For instance, to display determination in your resume/cover letter, you could share an experience that required you to complete task within a short timeframe.
Interviews
During interviews, you can creatively display the level of dedication and determination that you are willing to input if given such a role.
This will make you an outstanding candidate for the job.
For example, Temi got the job with her creative display of strong work ethics. She had a good understanding of what work ethics entails and could display it in her speech and body language.
Workplace
In the workplace, your employer will require you to be ethically responsible to carry out your duties.
All duties assigned to you must be done as required. Not displaying a strong ethics to work in the workplace might cause you to be relieved of the job.
Unethical behaviour
Unethical behaviour is the direct opposite of good ethics .
An individual can exhibit unethical behaviour in the following ways:
- Misusing company time
- Abusive behavior
- Employee theft
- Lying
- Violating company policies
- Failure to honour your word
- Eating at your desk
- Chattering during productive work time.
The list is endless!
Ways to developing good work ethics
Strong ethics can be developed through the following practices;
- Set clear goals and objectives
- Set good examples
- Create right work environment
- Display professionalism
- Be disciplined
- Identify critical obstacles
- Put God first
Also, to developing good work ethics, one can engage in professional coaching and mentoring.
At Big’s Odyssey Consults, we have tactfully organised a program based on current trends to prepare our clients for the workplace.
Achieving success in the workplace is not a walk in the park and that is why all of our clients get fully geared with our Work Readiness (WR) Series.
WR helps you keep the job. The WR program begins with you taking our personality/soft skill test, which will be analysed by experts to determine your strong and weak points.
You will discover personal improvements in no time. We provide practical training in our course outline.
The program is finalized with our coaching services to get you your desired job.
Conclusion
The most important basic ingredient in the work place is diligence laced with discipline and self development is key.
Also, there must be good work ethics in place for maximum productivity,
A strong organizational structure and policy must be implemented to ensure employee compliance to organisational ethics.