Work Ethics

Work ethics is defined as a set of values based on hard work and diligence. It is also defined as a cultural norm that advocates being personally accountable and responsible for the work that one does and is based on a belief that work has intrinsic value.

Thus work ethics is connected to the working attitude and to culture. This can be at the place of work or during extracurricular activities, such as sports. Nevertheless, work ethics is most commonly used, with reference to work or sports.

Because of its connections to culture, work ethics are different all around the globe. The many characteristics of work ethics can be summarized using three terms: interpersonal skills, being dependable and initiative

How can you measure your work ethics?

The Occupational Work Ethic Inventory (OWEI) has introduced a test to measure your work ethics giving you a score out of seven for each of the three summatizing characteristics. The test can be found on the OWEI homepage: Test to measure your work ethics (http://www.coe.uga.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/~rhill/new_owei/owei.pl)

Why are work ethics important?

Work ethics have a great influence on the working place. In a working environment with people with hardly any work ethics, the productivity of the firm will be significantly lower than in a high work ethics working environment. Consequently work ethics are also very important when it comes to the decision of employing people. The employer will choose the one with the highest work ethics to be employed so that his firm gains the most benefit from the new labour.

Thus it is very important for everybody to try to improve his/her work ethics and bring them to perfection.

Links

• The Lessons on Working Ethics (http://www.coe.uga.edu/workethic/less3.htm)
• Introducing Working Ethics (http://www.coe.uga.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/~rhill/new_owei/owei.pl)