Announcing The Death Of Work Ethic
On July 20th it was officially announced that work ethic has died. It took a global pandemic and more than enough free money to convince a lot of people that the real path in life is to do the least amount of work possible for the most amount someone will give you.?
Now, to be perfectly clear for all my linked-in friends - although this is true across every level/tier of employment it hits the hardest for the new working class at the entry-level. And although many people will argue against me and claim that there are still hardworking people out there, the reality of the matter is that there are a few. That is the issue. A few.?
My concerns are not isolated concerns to my business or my industry either. They are concerns that run across the board. And while it’s great that many people have had a so-called “awakening” during their 18-month hiatus and discovered what they no longer would like to do, this fresh slate has caused massive disruption in service-based businesses (i.e. restaurants) as well as manufacturing businesses.?
The result? Tons of people collecting free money pursuing job ads with no sense of urgency or excitement. And while I’d love to blame it all on the free money train the root causes run much deeper. There is a heavy sense of entitlement that has been met with the demand for elevating the minimum wages for every state to a level that would put some people out of business or cause the price of simple consumer goods to be ridiculously higher than they are now, think house salad and all you can eat breadsticks for 24.99 a person at the Olive Garden higher.?
But what has changed to offset these uniform raises in pay to offset no difference in skills, performance, or work ethic? Any small business owner will tell you that there’s not one single person in their organization that works hard, is a responsible individual, and provides consistency to the organization that makes minimum wage. Not one.?
This is because people know quality when they see it and they reward quality work when they have the ability to do so. Unfortunately - what we’re seeing right now is downright frightening. Have a conversation with a tradesman/woman and they’ll tell you not only can they not find help - they’ll tell you that the number of people who go to trade schools to learn a particular skillset is dropping and the ones who do make it out don’t really want to learn through hard work. They just expect to be paid whatever the average rate is despite having zero experience and not having one ounce of credibility to their name.?
To compound this, many of those who are not seeking a particular position for a specific trade is a cause for concern when the first question out of their mouth is how much does it pay? Instantly you know, this isn’t going to be a good conversation. In fact, when you ask people about their gaps in employment and their lack of consistency in their jobs the predictable response that follows is usually - I didn’t like it there so I moved on.?
The reality is people lie - HARD - during an interview and they think they know what they want but they have absolutely no clue what they want. Having been on both sides of the table I can honestly say that as companies we’ve done a horrible job educating people about what it is like to work in a particular position for a specific company. A job working as a mail carrier for the USPS is not the same as a job delivering mail for FEDEX. Each position is different, each organization is different.?
Personally, we've taken a bit of a different approach as we like to throw every single possible flaw about a position or organization out on the table before committing to someone so they know what they are getting into. Despite this measure, sometimes, people still come on board only to leave six months in because “it wasn’t what they thought it would be like. “
Have I lost all faith in humanity? Of course.?
Well, maybe not all of it. The people that are amazing standout and have been performing well for years. We have some incredibly amazing people in our organization. So what’s been missing over the last two years from the others we've encountered?
Gratefulness?
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Appreciation
Accountability?
Open communication?
Mutual understanding?
And last but not least a dose of reality. What has been a pattern of late is this notion that everyone thinks they work the hardest. If you ask ten people in an organization who’s the hardest working person in that organization over 50% of them will vote for themselves.?
The problem here is that hard work is objective. Fortunately for me, I interact with a lot of people on all different levels inside and outside of my organization. I get to see firsthand those that actually work hard and those that say or act like they do but really don’t.?Through my interactions with people outside of the organization, I can feel it. I can feel it through the way they communicate. I'm not with them every day but I can just tell.
I recently read another one of Ben Horowitz’s books - What You Do is Who You Are, and throughout each chapter, I’m reminded that it doesn’t matter what you say you do. It’s what you actually do that proves it. Busy executives that work 70 hours a week but have 4 hours of golfing penciled in every day aren’t really working 70 hours. Similarly, those who claim to work really hard at laborious jobs but are always on the opposite side of the room when a really hard part comes up love to play the role of someone who works super hard. And while everyone is worried about technology replacing jobs - look no further than self-checkout, the reality of the situation is we are human beings who need and thrive off of human interaction. We are culture-oriented but aside from malfunctioning from time to time that self-checkout kiosk isn’t going to call and say they can’t make it today because they have the sniffles or they think they ate too many bad beans last night (those are true, used excuses by the way).
I would take a human with a great attitude and work ethic over a machine any day. However, they are becoming harder to find. And for those out there that argue it’s not an age thing - experience has proven else wise. I have never had a person in their 20s or 30s ask if they could work weekends or more than their scheduled time but I have had people older than 50 ask.?
It’s a collision of conveniences and technological advances that spell disaster for good old elbow grease.?
Maybe we can resurrect work ethic?
Time will tell.
Ps - if anyone is interested in working in food manufacturing and can prove me differently I’ll hire you tomorrow. Reach out. Let’s chat.?
Work ethic has eroded with the passage of each generation. Pride in one's work has given way to financial stresses and "making a living" today means paying the grocery bill instead of being proud of the actual work itself.
Shelter Advocate
2 年It will only let me see one comment so I may be repeating someone else's input but I agree with almost everything you're saying! I found this post because I actually went to Google and searched, "Is work ethic dead." I'm so frustrated every day with the lack of communication, accountability, attention to detail, and so much more and it seems to be getting worse by the minute. The days of the customer always being right are long gone. The customer is never right now. I've always thought there should be a happy medium there but we've just gone the complete polar opposite in my experience. I do not, however, agree that age is the determining factor. I am 33 and would like to think my work ethic has been as good at it is now since I started working. I think it's a character issue. I'm disappointed every day at work by the ones in their 50s and 60s that are just doing the bare minimum at all times. That's the generation that taught me to get my tail to work every single day unless I was highly contagious with some awful sickness! Now I'm chasing down information every day just to be able to do my own job and spending countless hours a week cleaning up messes.
Senior Loan Workout Officer
3 年So - you’re ok with the inflation that is across the board for food, housing, cars, everyday items but wage inflation is rooted in entitlement? I think there’s a deeper issue at play. Is it possibly because people aren’t incentivized to work for wages that barely keep them off the street? Could it be that during the pandemic employees were asked to do more with less and they’re overworked and underpaid while simultaneously isolated. Now that they’re not, it’s a different sense of priority. COVID also disrupted any work life balance that was acquired. People are burnt out. People that take the highest salary for the least amount of work aren’t necessarily lazy or entitlements, they just don’t like the work they are doing which has caused people to reevaluate, take stock and quit. Which is better for companies in the long run.