Developing strong work ethics in employees can have a significant positive impact on the business. No matter whether one runs a small business with just a couple of employees, or is responsible for managing a large corporation, they need to focus on establishing, promoting and encouraging strong work ethics within their team. As Richard Ghilarducci says, good work ethics can involve working hard, taking initiatives, making the right choice when faced with complex situations, and so on. A person with a strong work ethic will not shy away difficulties, but rather work hard to solve the issue and guide the company towards growth.
Richard Ghilarducci marks certain pointers that can help business leaders to develop good work ethics on their team
To start developing a good work ethic in their team, business leaders firstly must think about what exactly makes up a strong work ethic for them. To orderly develop good work ethics in their team, business leaders need to identify their personal values when it comes to working hard for something. Each individual is different, and hence so can be their perceptions of work ethics. However, broadly speaking, people with strong work ethics tend to be intrinsically motivated. They do their job well and effectively meet the expectations of others. A leader who aims to foster such qualities can do so by providing opportunities for group learning and collaboration.
Here are a few simple yet effective ways to foster good work ethics on a team:
- Firstly, business leaders need to communicate the importance of work ethics and make it clear what exactly they expect from their team. Setting proper expectations early on provides everyone a standard to aim for and lowers the chances of any confusion. A lack of clarity can hamper both trust and productivity.
- Business leaders should try their best to provide a supportive culture to their employees. A culture of strong work ethics both rewards hard work and encourages autonomy, and hence can encourage employees to be more productive and encourages autonomy. It would also support experimentation and collaboration.
- Business leaders should pay proper attention to employee morale. In many situations, low morale tends to be mistaken for poor work ethic, but it actually is likely to be an indicator of burnout. If one sees low morale in the team, then they should not be quick to blame the employee. After all, a negative work culture is as contagious as a positive one. Hence, if employees are upset, then business leaders should try to find the reasons why they are upset, try to solve the problem and build employee morale. This would help motivate the employees to work harder.
- Every small and big win of the employees should be celebrated at the company. Business leaders must not underestimate how much getting recognized means to the employees. They should especially recognize behaviours that they want to see more of, like creative thinking and teamwork.
As Richard Ghilarducci says, strong work ethics are vital as they ultimately lead to a positive working environment. On the other hand, weak work ethics can make a stressful work environment even worse. It is the responsibility of the business leader to not just create a team with a strong work ethic but also keep them motivated with positive feedback when they do something right.
