Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities.[1] It is a set of values centered on importance of work and manifested by determination or desire to work hard. Social ingrainment of this value is considered to enhance character through hard work that is respective to an individual's field of work.[2]
Proponents of a strong work ethic consider it to be important for achieving goals, that it gives strength to their orientation and the right mindset.[citation needed] A work ethic is a set of moral principles a person uses in their job. People who possess a strong work ethic embody certain principles that guide their work behaviour; to develop and process a strong work ethic will inevitably result in the production of high-quality work which is consistent. The output motivates them to stay on track.[3] A good work ethic fuels an individual's needs and goals, it is related to the initiative by a person for the objectives. It is considered as a source of self respect, satisfaction, and fulfillment.[citation needed]
Goal-oriented actions: It is not about making plans or the next logical steps; it's about getting things done so that the work invested wouldn't be counter-productive.
Prioritized focus: Focusing on qualitative activities that a person is responsible for and in areas where they can make a difference or a high impact based on objectives.
Being available and reliable: Spending time on the work and building oneself up for the task.
Conscientiousness: A desire to do a task well, being vigilant and organized.
Creating a rewarding routine/system: Engaging in tasks that provide strength and energy which can be transferred to your ultimate goals, creating a habit and a habitat for success.
Embracing positivism: Shape a problem with the statement "good, (action) (problem)", e.g. "I'm tired and it is time for a workout" leads to "Good. Workout tired".
Work ethic also has been measured as a multidimensional variable composed of seven factors, including self-reliance, ethical behavior, valuing leisure time, hard work, giving importance/centrality of work, productive use of time, and delay of gratification.[6]
A negative work ethic is a behavior of a single individual or a group that has led to a systematic lack of productivity, reliability, accountability and a growing sphere of unprofessional/unhealthy relationships (e.g., power politics, lack of social skills, etc.).[7]
Assumptions
Assumptions about good work ethic, drawn out in the philosophical writings of Goldman, are:[8]
The path to what you want is to take action.
The success of action plans depend upon how congruent one's worldview (Weltanschauung) is with the society's.
Many problems faced are only a temporary breakdown of self management.
Setting time limits for achieving goals helps to overcome the edge of discomforts that time can have on subjective needs.
A positive problem-solving or goal attainment experience improves one's ability to cope with the next difficulty.
Hardships in life is a normality, they become a problem when they are the same over and over.
A person is what s/he does, and feelings flow from behavior.
Feelings can be viewed as beliefs about one's wants.
The Puritans who settled in New England around the 17th and 18th centuries believed that working hard at one's call was a sign that one would be saved. They were followed by Calvinists who believed in predestination and had faith that they were chosen or had the call from God to fulfill their duty in the world. To both of them, accumulation of wealth was an indicator of working to their fullest capacity as a response to the call and assurance for earning salvation. These ideologies are the foundations of the Protestant work ethic.
Remember, that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings a day by his labor, and goes abroad, or sits idle, one half of that day, though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent, or rather thrown away, five shillings besides.
Remember, that money is the prolific, generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more, and so on. Five shillings turned is six, turned again is seven and threepence, and so on, till it becomes a hundred pounds. The more there is of it, the more it produces every turning, so that the profits rise quicker and quicker. He that kills a breeding sow, destroys all her offspring to the thousandth generation. He that murders a crown, destroys all that it might have produced, even scores of pounds.[9]
Weber notes that this is not a philosophy of mere greed, but a statement laden with moral language. It is in effect an ethical response to the natural desire for hedonic reward, a statement of the value of delayed gratification to achieve self-actualization. Franklin claims that Bible readings revealed to him the usefulness of virtue. Indeed, this reflects the then-Christian search for the ethic for living and the struggle to make a living.[10]
Steven Malanga refers to "what was once understood as the work ethic—not just hard work but also a set of accompanying virtues, whose crucial role in the development and sustaining of free markets too few now recall".[11]
Experimental studies have shown that people with fair work ethic are able to tolerate tedious jobs with equitable monetary rewards and benefits, are highly critical, and have a tendency for workaholism and a negative relation with leisure activity concepts. They valued meritocracy and egalitarianism.[12]
In the 1940s, work ethic was considered very important and nonconformist ideals were dealt autocratically. It is recorded that, at the Ford Company, a worker named John Gallo was dismissed for, "...laughing with the other fellows, and slowing down the assembly line...".[13]
Countercultural groups and communities have challenged these values in recent decades.
The French Leftist philosopher André Gorz (1923–2007) wrote:
"The work ethic has become obsolete. It is no longer true that producing more means working more, or that producing more will lead to a better way of life. The connection between more and better has been broken; our needs for many products and services are already more than adequately met, and many of our as-yet-unsatisfied needs will be met not by producing more, but by producing differently, producing other things, or even producing less. This is especially true as regards our needs for air, water, space, silence, beauty, time and human contact.
Neither is it true any longer that the more each individual works, the better off everyone will be. In a post-industrial society, not everyone has to work hard in order to survive, though may be forced to anyway due to the economic system. The present crisis has stimulated technological change of an unprecedented scale and speed: 'the micro-chip revolution'. The object and indeed the effect of this revolution has been to make rapidly increasing savings in labour, in the industrial, administrative and service sectors. Increasing production is secured in these sectors by decreasing amounts of labour. As a result, the social process of production no longer needs everyone to work in it on a full-time basis. The work ethic ceases to be viable in such a situation and workbased society is thrown into crisis."[14]
Anti-capitalists believe that the concept of "hard work" is meant by capitalists to delude the working class into becoming loyal servants to the elite, and that working hard, in itself, is not automatically an honorable thing, but only a means to creating more wealth for the people at the top of the economic pyramid. In the Soviet Union, the regime portrayed work ethic as an ideal to strive for.[15]
The recession is a contributing factor that holds back work ethic, because the generation that inherits economic decline lives in an economy that isn't ready to receive them. Without work there to do, the ethic that is attached to it fails to generate distinctive value. The negative work ethic and power structures that don't value or credit work done or unethically attribute work done as a service or with higher moral ideals have dissolved the ethic presented in the society and turned the focus onto self-centered perks and individualism. Further, urbanization and an emphasis on large-scale businesses has led to eliminating avenues for learning vital concepts about work. Millennials in a research identified what made them unique was consumerist trends like technology use, music/pop culture, liberal/tolerant beliefs, clothes, and individualistic ones like greater intelligence than work, they were not able to distinguish the concept in the traditional understandings of work ethic.[16]
^"What is work ethic? definition and meaning". BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
^T. Marek; W. Karwowski; M. Frankowicz; J. Kantola; P. Zgaga (2014). Human Factors of a Global Society: A System of Systems Perspective. CRC Press. pp. 276–277. ISBN978-1-4665-7287-4.
^Part of what makes humans unique is our freedom to determine how we'll act. The Ethics Centre. Retrieved 21 June 2020. Ethics is the process of questioning, discovering and defending our values, principles and purpose.
^Schawbel, Dan (21 December 2011). "Reviving Work Ethic in America". forbes.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
^Swan, Andy (5 October 2016). "7 Work Ethic Commandments For An Entrepreneur". forbes.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
^Miller, M.J., Woehr, D.J., & Hudspeth, N. (2002). The meaning and measurement of work ethic: Construction and initial validation of a multidimensional inventory. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 451–489. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.2001.1838
^Robert Vaux. "Negative Work Ethic Definition". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
^Alvin I. Goldman (1970). A theory of human action. Prentice-Hall. ISBN9780139144400.
^Benjamin Franklin, Advice to a Young Tradesman, Written by an Old One (1748), Italics in the original
^Weber, Max The Protestant Ethic and "The Spirit of Capitalism" (Penguin Books, 2002) translated by Peter Baehr and Gordon C. Wells, pp.9-12
^"Whatever Happened to the Work Ethic? by Steven Malanga, City Journal Summer 2009".
^Mirels and Garrett (1971). Protestant Work Ethic. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 36, 40–44.
^"Intro to Capitalism - Does capitalism work for the benefit of all, or is it just a tool to exploit the working classes? Or is Anarchy the way forward?". Our Mayday. April 2003. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
^Erica Williams (8 April 2010). "Debunking The Millennials' Work Ethic "Problem"". hbr.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
Sources
Daniel T. Rodgers. The Work Ethic in Industrial America, 1850-1920. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1978 2nd edition 2014
"Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic - BBC Radio 4" on YouTube
January 07, 2023
work, ethic, also, work, etiquette, belief, that, work, diligence, have, moral, benefit, inherent, ability, virtue, value, strengthen, character, individual, abilities, values, centered, importance, work, manifested, determination, desire, work, hard, social, . See also Work etiquette Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities 1 It is a set of values centered on importance of work and manifested by determination or desire to work hard Social ingrainment of this value is considered to enhance character through hard work that is respective to an individual s field of work 2 He who does not work neither shall he eat Soviet poster issued in Uzbekistan 1920 Contents 1 Factors of a good work ethic 1 1 Assumptions 2 Capitalist view 3 Anti capitalist view 4 See also 5 References 5 1 Citations 5 2 SourcesFactors of a good work ethic EditProponents of a strong work ethic consider it to be important for achieving goals that it gives strength to their orientation and the right mindset citation needed A work ethic is a set of moral principles a person uses in their job People who possess a strong work ethic embody certain principles that guide their work behaviour to develop and process a strong work ethic will inevitably result in the production of high quality work which is consistent The output motivates them to stay on track 3 A good work ethic fuels an individual s needs and goals it is related to the initiative by a person for the objectives It is considered as a source of self respect satisfaction and fulfillment citation needed Factors are 4 5 Goal oriented actions It is not about making plans or the next logical steps it s about getting things done so that the work invested wouldn t be counter productive Prioritized focus Focusing on qualitative activities that a person is responsible for and in areas where they can make a difference or a high impact based on objectives Being available and reliable Spending time on the work and building oneself up for the task Conscientiousness A desire to do a task well being vigilant and organized Creating a rewarding routine system Engaging in tasks that provide strength and energy which can be transferred to your ultimate goals creating a habit and a habitat for success Embracing positivism Shape a problem with the statement good action problem e g I m tired and it is time for a workout leads to Good Workout tired Work ethic also has been measured as a multidimensional variable composed of seven factors including self reliance ethical behavior valuing leisure time hard work giving importance centrality of work productive use of time and delay of gratification 6 A negative work ethic is a behavior of a single individual or a group that has led to a systematic lack of productivity reliability accountability and a growing sphere of unprofessional unhealthy relationships e g power politics lack of social skills etc 7 Assumptions Edit Assumptions about good work ethic drawn out in the philosophical writings of Goldman are 8 The path to what you want is to take action The success of action plans depend upon how congruent one s worldview Weltanschauung is with the society s Many problems faced are only a temporary breakdown of self management Setting time limits for achieving goals helps to overcome the edge of discomforts that time can have on subjective needs A positive problem solving or goal attainment experience improves one s ability to cope with the next difficulty Hardships in life is a normality they become a problem when they are the same over and over A person is what s he does and feelings flow from behavior Feelings can be viewed as beliefs about one s wants How hard you work will determine how far you go Capitalist view EditSee also Protestant work ethic The Puritans who settled in New England around the 17th and 18th centuries believed that working hard at one s call was a sign that one would be saved They were followed by Calvinists who believed in predestination and had faith that they were chosen or had the call from God to fulfill their duty in the world To both of them accumulation of wealth was an indicator of working to their fullest capacity as a response to the call and assurance for earning salvation These ideologies are the foundations of the Protestant work ethic Max Weber quotes the ethical writings of Benjamin Franklin Remember that time is money He that can earn ten shillings a day by his labor and goes abroad or sits idle one half of that day though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness ought not to reckon that the only expense he has really spent or rather thrown away five shillings besides Remember that money is the prolific generating nature Money can beget money and its offspring can beget more and so on Five shillings turned is six turned again is seven and threepence and so on till it becomes a hundred pounds The more there is of it the more it produces every turning so that the profits rise quicker and quicker He that kills a breeding sow destroys all her offspring to the thousandth generation He that murders a crown destroys all that it might have produced even scores of pounds 9 Weber notes that this is not a philosophy of mere greed but a statement laden with moral language It is in effect an ethical response to the natural desire for hedonic reward a statement of the value of delayed gratification to achieve self actualization Franklin claims that Bible readings revealed to him the usefulness of virtue Indeed this reflects the then Christian search for the ethic for living and the struggle to make a living 10 Steven Malanga refers to what was once understood as the work ethic not just hard work but also a set of accompanying virtues whose crucial role in the development and sustaining of free markets too few now recall 11 Experimental studies have shown that people with fair work ethic are able to tolerate tedious jobs with equitable monetary rewards and benefits are highly critical and have a tendency for workaholism and a negative relation with leisure activity concepts They valued meritocracy and egalitarianism 12 In the 1940s work ethic was considered very important and nonconformist ideals were dealt autocratically It is recorded that at the Ford Company a worker named John Gallo was dismissed for laughing with the other fellows and slowing down the assembly line 13 Anti capitalist view EditSee also Critique of work Countercultural groups and communities have challenged these values in recent decades The French Leftist philosopher Andre Gorz 1923 2007 wrote The work ethic has become obsolete It is no longer true that producing more means working more or that producing more will lead to a better way of life The connection between more and better has been broken our needs for many products and services are already more than adequately met and many of our as yet unsatisfied needs will be met not by producing more but by producing differently producing other things or even producing less This is especially true as regards our needs for air water space silence beauty time and human contact Neither is it true any longer that the more each individual works the better off everyone will be In a post industrial society not everyone has to work hard in order to survive though may be forced to anyway due to the economic system The present crisis has stimulated technological change of an unprecedented scale and speed the micro chip revolution The object and indeed the effect of this revolution has been to make rapidly increasing savings in labour in the industrial administrative and service sectors Increasing production is secured in these sectors by decreasing amounts of labour As a result the social process of production no longer needs everyone to work in it on a full time basis The work ethic ceases to be viable in such a situation and workbased society is thrown into crisis 14 Anti capitalists believe that the concept of hard work is meant by capitalists to delude the working class into becoming loyal servants to the elite and that working hard in itself is not automatically an honorable thing but only a means to creating more wealth for the people at the top of the economic pyramid In the Soviet Union the regime portrayed work ethic as an ideal to strive for 15 The recession is a contributing factor that holds back work ethic because the generation that inherits economic decline lives in an economy that isn t ready to receive them Without work there to do the ethic that is attached to it fails to generate distinctive value The negative work ethic and power structures that don t value or credit work done or unethically attribute work done as a service or with higher moral ideals have dissolved the ethic presented in the society and turned the focus onto self centered perks and individualism Further urbanization and an emphasis on large scale businesses has led to eliminating avenues for learning vital concepts about work Millennials in a research identified what made them unique was consumerist trends like technology use music pop culture liberal tolerant beliefs clothes and individualistic ones like greater intelligence than work they were not able to distinguish the concept in the traditional understandings of work ethic 16 See also EditArmchair warrior Business ethics Contrafreeloading Happiness economics Humanistic economics Laziness Locus of control Maurice Blanchot Desoeuvrement Inoperativity Ora et labora Protestant work ethic Prussian virtues Refusal of work Workaholism Workerism Aktion Arbeitsscheu ReichReferences EditCitations Edit What is work ethic definition and meaning BusinessDictionary com Retrieved 18 March 2018 T Marek W Karwowski M Frankowicz J Kantola P Zgaga 2014 Human Factors of a Global Society A System of Systems Perspective CRC Press pp 276 277 ISBN 978 1 4665 7287 4 Part of what makes humans unique is our freedom to determine how we ll act The Ethics Centre Retrieved 21 June 2020 Ethics is the process of questioning discovering and defending our values principles and purpose Schawbel Dan 21 December 2011 Reviving Work Ethic in America forbes com Retrieved 18 March 2018 Swan Andy 5 October 2016 7 Work Ethic Commandments For An Entrepreneur forbes com Retrieved 15 April 2018 Miller M J Woehr D J amp Hudspeth N 2002 The meaning and measurement of work ethic Construction and initial validation of a multidimensional inventory Journal of Vocational Behavior 60 451 489 https doi org 10 1006 jvbe 2001 1838 Robert Vaux Negative Work Ethic Definition Houston Chronicle Retrieved 15 April 2018 Alvin I Goldman 1970 A theory of human action Prentice Hall ISBN 9780139144400 Benjamin Franklin Advice to a Young Tradesman Written by an Old One 1748 Italics in the original Weber Max The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism Penguin Books 2002 translated by Peter Baehr and Gordon C Wells pp 9 12 Whatever Happened to the Work Ethic by Steven Malanga City Journal Summer 2009 Mirels and Garrett 1971 Protestant Work Ethic Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 36 40 44 Christopher Robert 19 December 2016 The Psychology of Humor at Work A Psychological Perspective Taylor amp Francis p 149 ISBN 978 1 317 37077 2 GSD Andre Gorz Intro to Capitalism Does capitalism work for the benefit of all or is it just a tool to exploit the working classes Or is Anarchy the way forward Our Mayday April 2003 Retrieved 15 April 2018 Erica Williams 8 April 2010 Debunking The Millennials Work Ethic Problem hbr org Retrieved 18 March 2018 Sources Edit Daniel T Rodgers The Work Ethic in Industrial America 1850 1920 Univ of Chicago Press 1978 2nd edition 2014 Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic BBC Radio 4 on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Work ethic amp oldid 1130851463, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
