Regardless of a person’s vocation, he faces challenges every day. That’s why it is important to have a good work ethic, which Merriam-Webster defines as “a belief in work as a moral good”.
Unfortunately, this belief and its discipline and principles are not present in all individuals; that’s what makes it all valuable.
Although the belief is directly related to each individual person, it will influence the people he works with, his supervisor/boss and the business itself. The boss of any business is always interested in employees with a good work ethic.
Consider the following: a) an employee who is focused on doing his work right and on time, and maybe even picking up some of the duties not completed by others; and b) an employee who makes a lot of mistakes, rarely gets his work done on time and spends a lot of time in the break room.
Who is a boss going to want to keep around?
When a supervisor needs something done right in a short amount of time, he is more than likely going to seek out the focused, hard-working individual.
Chances are that individual will have time or will make time to take care of the important stuff. Supervisors are sure to notice that, and the employee’s paycheck is likely to reflect his appreciation.
A good work ethic will have an impact among co-workers as well. They will be interested in working with the employee who gets things done – especially during a group project.
And without realizing it, many of them will have their own effort improved.
They will work harder to make sure they don’t look like they are slacking in front of the boss. Others will want to team up with a hard worker so that their project is better than everyone else’s.
In addition, an employee who stays focused on the task at hand and works hard at every opportunity will be praised by those around him.
If someone is working harder and accomplishing more than everyone else on the staff, he won’t have to worry about “brown-nosing” the boss or bragging on himself to get noticed.
Co-workers will often let superiors know who is getting the job done. They will take care of promoting the accomplishments of an employee with a good work ethic.
Perhaps the biggest benefit for the employee himself involves what he does on a daily basis at work.
If he is doing things the right way and working hard at every opportunity, there will be no need to change anything for special occasions – i.e., owners or regional managers visit the store/facility, an open house takes place or a state inspection of the business is conducted.
Plus, someone with discipline and principles guiding him is less likely to become unhappy and/or frustrated about his job situation.
He will come to work each day focused on doing the most he can the best way possible, and that will determine his answer to the familiar question, “How was your day at work?”
A good work ethic can have far-reaching effects. Although the focus of this article was how this mindset and related actions can impact an employee, a good work ethic is no less important for a business owner or supervisor.
In fact, it can be the difference in what makes an individual a lifelong employee or the person who is signing the paychecks.
