Our work ethic, all of us in the motherland, does need some reworking to enable us change our lives for the better. Around this day of the working person, I think it is absolutely important that we focus on our work ethic if we hope to make any progress as individuals, communities and nation motherland.
Our public sector workforce must be made to realise that ‘aban adwuma’ (government work) or ‘aban dea’ (government property) implying not my work and not my property so I couldn’t care less mentality, is productivity suicide. The private sector worker must equally surely expect a shrinking economy anytime they overprice when they have to buy for ‘aban’ to pay or under-invoice when they have to pay into ‘aban’ coffers. That’s an economic destruction way.
Seriously, my compatriots, how long it will take us to better our lives and living conditions without aid is inextricably linked to the speed with which we upped our work ethic. You work to produce so there will be some good to consume or service to access. Together, goods and services show our level of productivity and make our gross national product by which we are judged as to whether we are developed or underdeveloped.
Looking round, it’s low productivity everywhere. The Assembly people are never around to check how much noise people are making in the name of God. Neither are Assembly officials doing much about the choking gutters. They couldn’t care a hoot as to whether the penny capitalist has blocked pedestrian sidewalk access such that people have to walk on the road in the path of vehicles.
My roof is leaking all over as a result of poor carpentry work. And I suspect the plumber always buys the cheapest Chinese and charges me the highest Italian for the parts he uses in the never ending repairs.
Currently, there is a negative relationship between work ethic and unemployment. That is to say, people are unemployed because there is lack of work ethic. Businesses cannot expand to employ more people because those who are employed to work do not work satisfactorily. And mind you, it is not just businesses. People in public employment who are supposed to enable creating both public and private job opportunities don’t measure up.
They misuse public property by adding to cost and spend less time doing actual work than time and effort towards social activities. They would rather attend all night church service and report late next day to go and sleep on the job than do some reading or get themselves involved in health promoting activities to build energy for improved workplace performance.
Workplace pilfering, tardiness, absenteeism (often resulting from our obsession with death rites or fake religious belief systems) is undermining efficiency in job performance. Let’s radically cut down on time wasted doing nothing but sitting waiting for nothing.
Where workers have to collect and keep money, from taxi and trotro drivers to shop assistants, it has become impossible for the right sales to be made at the end of the shopping day or over the period an owner is absent. Workers behave like the owner’s absence is an opportunity to steal to personally profit. It never crosses his or her mind that stealing is rather against his or her personal interest because it weakens the business to an extent of losing his or her job.
If the assembly worker, and the carpenter, and the plumber and all those who have to collect money on behalf of their employers were to be guided by some work ethic, the economy would be booming. When an economy booms, employment spaces are created. Conversely, if an economy shrinks, job spaces contract leading to an increase in the number of people looking for work. In other words, if there will be more job openings, those working are the ones to do that by practising work ethics at the workplace.
In times gone by, as recently as 2009 to 2016, ministers of state had enough time to school beyond their ministerial and parliamentary assignments. It wasn’t a miracle of achievement and it wasn’t super hard work earning a law qualification at the same time one worked as a minister and a parliamentarian. It was stealing the motherland’s time for personal benefit. It was pure simple lack of work ethic.
There is so much precious time wasting in church and at funerals; sitting down for hours doing nothing but idle talk. I wonder how many tax-paying jobs are being created by the fastest growing church and mosque industries. They are investments with massive capital outlay and revenue yielding enterprises. If only the state will have the guts to enforce the tax-paying obligations of the organisations involved, we would be inching towards development beyond aid.
By Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh