Do you feel like your employees are lacking a sense of work ethic? Are you looking for tips on how to improve work ethic in your organization?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Work ethic is, to a large extent, down to individual employees: Some people have a greater work ethic than others due to their personality or life experiences. That being said, there are things you can, as a leader, do to improve work ethic among your subordinates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With this in mind, here\u2019s how to improve work ethic in your organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The first step to improving work ethic among your subordinates is to articulate your ethical expectations. This is only logical: If you want people to behave ethically, you must spell out what ethical workplace behavior<\/a> looks like and why it\u2019s important to behave in that way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In his book What You Do Is Who You Are<\/em><\/a>, CEO and venture capitalist Ben Horowitz explains how to improve work ethic within an organization. His advice is to articulate your ethical expectations clearly so there are no gray areas<\/strong>. Ethical gray areas where the correct course of action is unclear leave room for each individual to decide. This can spell disaster for an organization if an individual makes a wrong choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To demonstrate the consequences of failing to articulate clear ethical expectations, Horowitz uses Uber as an example. Although Uber founder Travis Kalanick thoughtfully designed the company\u2019s culture, he left ethical gray areas that employees filled in with the company\u2019s other values: a hustler\u2019s mentality and an emphasis on competition. The culture didn\u2019t clarify ethical boundaries, and it encouraged finding a way to \u201cwin\u201d in every situation, which made ethical breaches commonplace. According to Horowitz, this led to Uber employees committing acts that exposed the company to liability while harming employees and customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \nTITLE: What You Do Is Who You Are<\/a> In addition to having clear ethical expectations, you should foster a climate of trust in your organization. Higher levels of trust strongly predict higher organizational performance across a range of markers, including ethical behavior. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In their book The Leadership Challenge<\/em><\/a>, <\/strong>James Kouzes and Barry Posner explain how to improve work ethic by building trust<\/a>. To develop a climate of trust, they recommend three practices: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trust must be reciprocal; your team won\u2019t trust in you if you don\u2019t trust in them, and as the leader, you must be the first to demonstrate trust. Trust is contagious, so once you demonstrate it, others are likely to reciprocate. Distrust is contagious, too, so the reverse is also true: If you show that you don\u2019t trust others, they\u2019re unlikely to trust you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can\u2019t force others to trust you, but you can earn their trust by respecting them and their abilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As jobs become more automated, the real competitive advantage<\/a> of workers\u2014especially leaders\u2014will be their ability to foster strong relationships. The best leaders will be the ones people see as a partner with whom they want to work, instead of as someone merely issuing orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To show empathy for others, treat them respectfully. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the best ways to show respect for someone is to actively listen to them. Active listening is more than just hearing\u2014it\u2019s engaging in a conversation centered around their thoughts and concerns that makes them feel valued. When you listen actively, you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you share your knowledge and insights with your team, you reassure them of your competence, which increases their trust in you. Conversely, if you keep information to yourself, they\u2019ll feel you\u2019re protecting your \u201cturf\u201d and looking out for your own interests over their interests, which decreases their trust in you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Encourage your team members to share information with each other, as well, as this will similarly increase their trust in each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nTITLE: The Leadership Challenge<\/a> Finally, you should constantly watch out for any breach in your ethical code. Otherwise, the people within your organization can start to suffer a gradual decline in their work ethic, which can build on itself and eventually create a toxic work environment. This is called ethical fading<\/a><\/em>: People engage in increasingly unethical behavior while convincing themselves that they\u2019re acting fairly and properly.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Simon Sinek<\/a> (The Infinite Game<\/em><\/a>) suggests looking out for three factors that encourage unethical behavior:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poorly designed incentives can lead to unethical behavior where employees feel pressure to hit their targets by cutting corners, bending rules, and making unethical decisions. When employees who do this are then rewarded with bonuses and promotions, other employees get the message that the organization prioritizes winning<\/em> at all costs. Employees start to feel compelled to keep up with colleagues who are acting unethically in order to keep their jobs or stay competitive for promotions and raises. This can result in organizations filled with unethical actors and can lead to big problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sinek posits that unethical behavior is not merely caused by flawed incentive<\/a> structures that reward unethical employees and punish ethical ones, but also by self-deception, created when people rationalize their unethical choices. He outlines a few different ways we rationalize our own unethical behavior: <\/p>\n\n\n\n #1: Using euphemisms to disguise the true nature of our actions:<\/strong> When we use less-charged words to speak of unpleasant things, we distance ourselves from our actions and make them feel less wrong. For example, we don\u2019t \u201cfire\u201d people, we \u201crestructure,\u201d and if something goes wrong, it\u2019s \u201ccollateral damage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n #2: Blaming the system:<\/strong> A leader who\u2019s confronted with the consequences of her decisions often blames the \u201csystem,\u201d arguing that the system is designed to encourage, and even necessitate, these sorts of unethical decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n #3: Blaming the customer for enabling our behavior:<\/strong> The legal defense of \u201ccaveat emptor\u201d (\u201cbuyer beware\u201d) is frequently used by companies to disassociate themselves from their unethical decisions; the argument is that the customer should have known what they were getting into, and if they didn\u2019t want the consequences, they have only themselves to blame. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sinek notes that, at times, a leader will try to fix behavioral problems by implementing new rules and regulations instead of addressing the underlying reason behind the issues. For example, if a company starts getting an increased number of customer complaints, company executives may start requiring their customer service reps to watch a series of online training programs to improve their service skills. However, if the executives investigated why<\/em> their customers are increasingly unhappy, they might discover that their reps feel pressured to service more customers than they have proper time for, and consequently are making each customer feel rushed. If this was the case, adding additional training requirements would actually worsen the problem by taking more time out of the reps\u2019 day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Such fixes focus on the <\/strong>symptoms<\/em><\/strong> of a problem rather than the root cause<\/strong>, and more often than not, create new incentives for ethical slipping. Sinek says that to counter ethical fading, you must view it as a people<\/em> problem, not a process<\/em> problem, and you must address the root cause instead of fixing the symptoms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \nTITLE: The Infinite Game Poor work ethic can be tricky to address because it\u2019s hard to diagnose where the problem is coming from, especially in large, hierarchical organizations. Therefore, the best piece of advice on how to improve work ethic you can take on board is to make sure any efforts you put forth are organization-wide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you enjoyed our article about how to improve work ethic, check out the following suggestions for further reading: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Leadership and Self-Deception<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Leadership and Self-Deception<\/em> explains how self-deception derails personal relationships and keeps organizations and leaders from achieving the results they want. Instead of focusing on producing results, many leaders are trapped \u201cin the box\u201d of distorted thinking\u2014they blame others to justify their own failures and can\u2019t see how they themselves are a problem. They create the \u201cpeople\u201d problems that plague many organizations. Through a business fable, this book tells leaders how to get \u201cout of the box\u201d\u2014but you don\u2019t have to be a leader<\/a> to use the principles to change your life<\/a> and workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Five Dysfunctions of a Team<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable<\/em> explores how teams fail to work cohesively together through a dynamic, five-part model of dysfunction. The five dysfunctions are 1) absence of trust, 2) fear of conflict<\/a>, 3) lack of commitment<\/a>, 4) avoidance of accountability<\/a>, and 5) inattention to results<\/a>. Through identifying these root causes of poor teamwork, teams can develop specific strategies for overcoming each of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Do you feel like your employees are lacking a sense of work ethic? Are you looking for tips on how to improve work ethic in your organization? Work ethic is, to a large extent, down to individual employees: Some people have a greater work ethic than others due to their personality or life experiences. That being said, there are things you can, as a leader, do to improve work ethic among your subordinates. With this in mind, here\u2019s how to improve work ethic in your organization. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,30],"tags":[452],"class_list":["post-91180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management","category-work","tag-guides","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nAUTHOR: Ben Horowitz
\nTIME: 47
\nREADS: 61.7
\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/what-you-do-is-who-you-are-cover.png
\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: what-you-do-is-who-you-are-summary-ben-horowitz
\nAMZN_ID: XYZ
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nBuild a Climate of Trust <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Be the First to Trust<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Show Empathy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Share Knowledge<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\nAUTHOR: James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
\nTIME: 47
\nREADS: 74.2
\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/the-leadership-challenge-cover.png
\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: the-leadership-challenge-summary-james-m-kouzes-and-barry-z-posner
\nAMZN_ID: XYZ
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nPrevent Ethical Fading<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Poorly Designed Incentives<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Use of Rationalizations <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Rigid Structures Can Promote Ethical Fading<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\nAUTHOR: Simon Sinek
\nTIME: 52
\nREADS: 149.8
\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/the-infinite-game-cover.png
\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: the-infinite-game-summary-simon-sinek
\nAMZN_ID: XYZ
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nFinal Words<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n